Population and housing census kicks off

ELIZABETH JOSEPHKEETMANSHOOPThe Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) launched its latest population and housing census on Friday.According to NSA spokesperson Nelson Ashipala, deployment started yesterday, with Sunday, 17 October being the night of reference for the survey.In the past, enumerators had been denied access to the homes and property of residents and have now been trained in that area, allowing them to deal with similar scenarios."Out of about 15 000 applications received for the enumerators' positions, we chose 14 applicants as field workers in the //Karas Region and close to 70 across the country.“The training, which lasted two weeks, covered an overall census manual and the applicants wrote a test on what they learned," Ashipala said during the swearing-in ceremony.Covering all bases"The enumeration period will be from 17 October to 30 October 2021. The reason behind this is to allow residents to remember the number of people that stayed at their homes on which days," Ashipala elaborated.New recruit Hendry Frederick described this opportunity as new and exciting."Before the training started, I was unemployed and this gave me a new purpose. It was extensive but we had competent and professional trainers, working with us to achieve a common goal," he said.Frederick said the training helped him step outside of his comfort zone and encouraged his punctuality.Stakeholders come togetherIn recent times, some residents have refused to answer with the questions asked by field workers."The NSA has undertaken the decision to join forces with the Namibian defence forces to assist our teams when doing home visits," Ashipala said when addressing team safety.He also said that the process helps with demarcating certain areas and helps with nationwide planning."The team takes their duty very seriously and are therefore sworn in. They understand that the information acquired is confidential and there will be consequences for anyone who goes against oath.“The NSA has invested in state-of-the-art tablets that will help with data collection instead of having field workers and residents manually filling in forms," he added.

Population and housing census kicks off

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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Population and housing census kicks off

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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