Digital census set for April next year
Gracious Ndlovu
Zimbabwe will conduct its fifth population census since independence in April of 2022, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube revealed while outlining a road map for a three-step online population and housing census to be held from the 21st to the 30th of April 2022.
The process will be completed before the delimitation of constituencies ahead of the 2023 national harmonized elections.
The National Census Committee, in its inaugural meeting resolved to use computer tablets and online platforms for enumeration in the census next year for the purpose of efficiency while also countering the Covid-19 pandemic plaguing the country.
“The 2022 population and housing census will be the first digital census in the history of Zimbabwe and will be making use of computer tablets during the enumeration process,” said Ncube.
Ncube added that the NCC had agreed on a three-stage road map which consists of pre-enumeration, enumeration, and post-enumeration.
The Minister stressed that the first two stages are a census field mapping exercise which is actually the subdivision of the whole country into enumeration areas of 80 to 120 households and is to be completed by the 21st of January next year.
“The enumeration phase is the most critical stage in the census programme since the quality of the national data will largely depend on it. The actual field enumeration phase for the census is scheduled for 21 to 30 April 2022.”
Census results are expected on 1 August 2022 ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections.
The committee also unanimously resolved to adopt terms of reference that provide an oversight on the 2022 census project and give policy guiedlines at national level. The NCC was tasked to promote and publicise the census at national level while ensuring that all necessary legislative reviews to support the census processes are undertaken.
