adminAccording to the 2012 preliminary census report made availabe on Monday, Bulawayo has 655 675 people, 304 446 males and 351 229 females.
Bulawayo and Matabeleland South are rated as the least populated provinces each accounting for five percent of the country’s population.
Some sections of Bulawayo dismissed the report as “inaccurate” while others said it represented an accurate reflection of reality on the ground.
Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Thaba Moyo said the preliminary census report was inaccurate.
“Personally I do not have comfort in these statistics, in any case this is the not the first time this has happened, in 2002 the figures they gave us were resisted by the people,” said Clr Moyo.
He said he believed that Bulawayo had more people than what the report suggests.
“We have many races and tribes resident in this city, in fact we have the highest number of tribes residing here and with that said, we should actually represent the highest figure in terms of the population proportion,” said Clr Moyo.
Bulawayo Residents Assosiation (Bura) chairperson Mr Winos Dube said the figure did not reflect the actual population of Bulawayo.
“This figure they are giving us is from long back, they gave us the same figure in the previous census. I am really dissapointed to note that the city’s population is said to be actually going down,” said Mr Dube.
He said he had hoped that the city’s population would be more than a million people by now after having reached the 600 000 mark in the 2002 census.
“The fact that we represent five percent of the country’s population means that we will no longer be a priority in terms of resource distribution. In that regard we are not sure whether the census process was done correctly,” said Mr Dube.
He said it was a suprising revelation that the city has not been “productive” in the past 10 years.
“I am quite certain that we are more than what they are saying, we are more than that,” said Mr Dube.
The population of Zimbabwe has grown by 1,1 percent between 2002 and 2012 and as of 18 August this year it stood at 12 973 808.
According to the 2012 preliminary census report the country has 6 234 931 males and 6 738 877 females.
In 2002 the population was 11,6 million with 5,6 million males and six million females and the sex ratio was 95 males per 100 females.
A Bulawayo political analyst Mr Effie Ncube also disputed the 2012 preliminary census report as inaccurate, saying Zimstat should develop counting tools that are up to date, which could count people in the diaspora as well.
“This figure can only be accepted as a sign that most people have migrated to other countries due to economic hardships.
“It tells us from a distance that Bulawayo will easily lose seats in Parliament in the next polls and therefore poor representation of the people,” said Mr Ncube.
However, Bulawayo Metropolitan Governor and Resident Minister Cain Mathema said Bulawayo has always had a small population.
“People have not come to this city because industries are closing down and this has been the situation since long back. Why would people want to come to Bulawayo when there is no investment?” said Governor Mathema.
He said the figures were genuine.
“The figures are accurate just like in any other national programme, what it simply means is that people have either gone to neighbouring or European countries in search of jobs,” said Governor Mathema.
National University of Science and Technology (Nust) Dean of the Faculty of Communication and Information Science Dr Lawton Hikwa said the census process remained a scientific research, which has testable results.
“In actual sense the report tells us of the flight of citizens to other countries because of economic hardships, as well as the city’s proximity to Botswana and South Africa,” said Dr Hikwa.
He said the report would not prejudice national processes such as the budget and the elections, as it was mainly for planning purposes.
“I don’t buy the idea that the figures would lead to the city being disadvantaged in, for example, elections, because the constiuency demarcations are based on demographics,” said Dr Hikwa.
According to the report, Harare has the highest proportion of the country’s population with 2 098 199, having 1 011 831 males and 1 086 368 females.
Manicaland province has a population of 1 755 000 with 831 762 males and 923 238 females, Mashonaland Central 1 139 940, with 559 702 males and 580 238 females, Mashonaland East 1 337 059 people with 648 207 males and 688 852 females.
Mashonaland West’s population is 1 449 938 with 721 218 males and 728 720 females, Matabeleland North 743 871, with 359 173 males and 384 698 females while Matabeleland South has 685 046 people, 328 009 males and 357 037 females.
The total population of Midlands is 1 622 476, with 779 233 males and 843 243 females and Masvingo has 1 486 604 people with 691 350 males and 795 254 females.
The final report will be released in March next year.
Online Reporter