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The country’s fourth population census since independence in 1980 will start at midnight on 17 August up to 18 August in the morning to cater for the homeless and those who would be travelling.
After that it would then continue up to 28 August.
In an interview yesterday, Zimstat director Mr Washington Mapeta said they were doing everything in their power to ensure that the 2012 census was a success.
“We have managed to secure about 700 vehicles of all sizes from the Central Mechanical Equipment Department (CMED) and these will be used by our personnel supervising the census exercise,” said Mr Mapeta.
He said some of the vehicles would help enumerators access some areas that are difficult to access on foot.
“We are happy that we have managed to get 30 100 enumerators to conduct the census and these would undergo week-long training on how to use the census questionnaires and other counting instruments,” said Mr Mapeta.
He said training would be conducted from 5 up to 12 August.
“The major areas that they will be trained on will be methods of asking questions on sensitive issues such as disabilities and making them understand concepts such as unemployment and mortality rates,” said Mr Mapeta.
He said preparations were going smoothly.
“We are happy with the progress we have made so far and we hope that members of the public will complement this by co-operating with our enumerators on the census days,” said Mr Mapeta.
He said every citizen should ensure that they are counted.
“We would like to urge each and every person who will be in the country on 17 August to make sure that they are counted by our enumerators by all means. This way the population census will be a success,” said Mr Mapeta.
The first census was held in 1982, and two others were subsequently held at 10-year intervals.
The 2002 census put Zimbabwe’s population at 14 million.
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about members of a given population, and is a critical tool for economic planning.
Online Reporter