You risk a fine of up to Ksh100,000 or six month in jail for giving false information during census according to the Statistics (Amendment) Act and the Accreditation Service Act.
Also, dodging the exercise will attract a fine of up to Ksh100,000 or one-year jail term.
This follows signing into law the Statistics (Amendment) Bill and the Accreditation Service Bill by President Uhuru Kenyatta last month. The law aims at enhancing authenticity of the data collected and public compliance with the census.
“Any person who hinders or obstructs the director-general (of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics) or any authorised officer in the execution of any powers conferred under this Act commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to both,” says the Act.
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In the 2019 Population and Housing Census, enumerators will collect information from you including profession, employment status, property and wealth ownership, gender, age, number of wives and disability data.
“Any person who willfully fails to give any information or particular as required under this Act commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both,” adds the law.
This year’s exercise will kick off in the night of August 24/25 and end on August 31. The exercise will entail people found in the households, those in transit, individuals in hotels and lodges and institutions such as hospitals and prisons, among others.
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The initial census report is expected after three months, while the detailed analytical reports will be released within one year.
A total of 138,572 enumerators, 22,268 content supervisors and 2,467 ICT supervisors.
This will be the eighth census for Kenya since the first one conducted in 1948 and the sixth since Kenya’s independence. It will be the first one to be conducted electronically.
This year’s census will cost Kenyans at least Ksh18.5 billion, as compared to the last one done in 2009 which cost Ksh8.4 billion.
Kenya conducts her census after every 10 years.
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