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NewsDay

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Census not extended

News
Finance minister Tendai Biti and director-general of the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstats) Mutasa Dzinotizei yesterday quashed speculative reports that the national census programme had been extended following mishaps that nearly wrecked its launch nearly 10 days ago. The 10-day programme, which officially ends tomorrow, was initially rocked by logistical challenges which included shortage of […]

Finance minister Tendai Biti and director-general of the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstats) Mutasa Dzinotizei yesterday quashed speculative reports that the national census programme had been extended following mishaps that nearly wrecked its launch nearly 10 days ago.

The 10-day programme, which officially ends tomorrow, was initially rocked by logistical challenges which included shortage of stationery, T-shirts for the enumerators and gate-crashing by Zanu PF youths and members of the State security sector.

The shortages had threatened to derail the exercise, the fourth since independence in 1980.

“There is no reason for extending it, I am informed that it is going on well,” Biti said.

Dzinotizei said contrary to reports that the programme was likely to be extended due to delays experienced during the first three days, the enumerators had by yesterday covered 98% of the country.

“I have visited quite a number of places and I have been assured by the co-ordinator and supervisors that 98% of the work has been covered, especially in urban centres,” Dzinotizei said.

He said at most centres enumerators were only attending to households which had been left out during the first visit.

“These are the only cases remaining which we hope to conclude by end of day tomorrow (today),” he said.

So critical was the shortage of materials that some enumerators, mostly in Masvingo and Bulawayo, temporarily shelved household visits until they received copies of the data capture documents. In some instances, enumerators reportedly conducted business without Zimstats identification T-shirts, a development that threw a cloud of doubt on the process whose beginning was also marred by chaos as soldiers demanded to conduct the census ahead of other civil servants.

Dzinotizei confirmed the shortages which he blamed on firms that won the supply tenders but failed to deliver on time.

“Tendering was done above board, according to the State Procurement Board regulations, but the problem was that the people who won the bid failed to deliver in time, forcing us to make a last-minute resolution to engage well-established suppliers,” said Dzinotizei.

Sources said soldiers, who were believed to have been flushed out at the beginning of the process following Cabinet intervention, were reportedly still involved in the programme mostly at centres located in rural areas.

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