Census not a sin, get counted – Pentecost Pastor to Christians

The Resident Pastor of Pentecost International Worship Center (PIWC-Koforidua), Rev. Musa Yahaya has dispelled some 'erroneous' assertion about the 2021 Population and Housing census stating that God does not frown on such an act.

Some Christians are of the view that a census is a sinful event in which must be avoided. This impression stems from the scripture of Second Samuel chapter 24 where the Bible talks about how King David incurred the wrath of God for conducting a population census.

Sensitizing members of the Church Sunday on the importance of census to nation-building, Pastor Musa Yahaya explained that, David incurred the wrath of God because he conducted census for self-aggrandizement against God’s will.

Pastor Musa Yahaya cited census taken by Caesar Augustus which caused Mary and Joseph to go up to Bethlehem, in the account given in Luke 2:1, during which Jesus was born to emphasize the historical antecedent of census.

He admonished Christians to avail themselves to be counted and provide accurate information required of them by enumerators of the 2021 population and housing census which begins tonight June 27, 2021.

Pastor Musa Yahaya said the census is very important for fiscal planning, human capital development, and the development of the country at large.

An officer from the National Commission for Civic Education, NCCE, William Offei said the Census night which falls on midnight of June 27th is the reference point for census enumeration and all questions in the census will relate to that night.

He advised that everyone takes note of the census night date and remember to answer questions accurately during the enumeration about their location during the night.

According to him, the reference Census Night is necessary to build complete and accurate data about the population size in Ghana.

William Offei appealed to the public to be friendly to the enumerators.

“Some refuse to be counted, others release their dogs to chase the officials so we are pleading with you to collaborate with the enumerators and provide all needed information”.

This year’s census is the first digital Population and Housing Census in Ghana.

A real-time data collection and real-time data quality monitoring mechanisms to scrutinize the data daily have been synchronized for error identification for correction.

According to the Ghana Statistical Service, the monitoring is an additional layer of supervision added to enhance the accuracy of the data collected.

The technology will also offer Management an opportunity to monitor the movement of enumerators and supervisors, timing, and origin of interacting with servers.

The 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) is estimated to cost the country GHS 521 million.

Out of this amount, the government has raised and disbursed GHS 467 million for the start of the exercise.

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) says the 2021 census will begin across the country from Sunday, June 27,(Census night). The exercise will run till July 11, 2021.