Dr Grace Bediako
Loading
8th September, 2009
WATCH IT, CENSUS OFFICE
A research fellow of the Ghana Muslim Academy has raised a number of issues about the last census in Ghana.
From a survey he had apparently conducted, the research fellow claims that “in some instances, census officers answer questions they ask the people by listening to what they say and interpret them in their own way”
According to him, many of the officers complained that the questionnaire was so bulky that the officer needed not to have asked all the questions of which the answers were obvious.
“Interestingly, that included the person’s religion. So we can see how some of the census officers can be so ignorant to think that names always determine a person’s religion”
These are serious allegations which Dr Grace Bediako’s National Census Office needs to address. Indeed, we would even go so far to suggest that the Census Office must come out to set the records straight.
If these acts of omission and commission were truly committed, then Ghanaians need to be assured that these infractions would not be repeated in next March’s census.
A census is such an important national project that nobody or group of persons must be given cause to raise question marks about its integrity.
It is based on the facts and figures generated from census surveys that government is able to plan effectively.
Ghana is no greenhorn in the conduct of census. The nation has, in the past, won the admiration of, and awards by the United Nations for the integrity of her census.
It is for this reason that no effort should be spared to ensure that the figures from the 2010 Census would be acceptable to all.
The enumeration officers must be properly schooled. The training must go beyond assurances of technical accuracy, to proving total neutrality in a census devoid of personal biases by enumeration officers.
It is good that opinion leaders in the Muslim community have begun sensitizing their members to the need to get involved and ensure that they are counted.
We are particularly glad that the leaders are using their various platforms to disabuse the minds of Muslims in Ghana that the purpose of the census “is to find out about aliens to sack them due to past political experiences”.
The Ghanaian Times can only caution at this stage against any utterances and any actions that have the tendency to incite violence.
By all means, let us show concern, especially when we feel that a particular section of the society is being discriminated against.
However, we are afraid of the implications of statements like the following, attributed to the research fellow, when he says that “If the actual number of Muslims in Ghana is not given correctly, it can have serious implications for us.”
Although the statement is true, the fact is that it is true also for every section of the society, including farmers, masons, cultural industry workers, practitioners of African traditional religion, Christians, Buddhists et al.
The research fellow may mean well – and we have no cause to suspect that he has any ulterior motive.
In this country, as in the rest of Africa, however, religion, politics and ethnicity have proved to the prime destroyer of otherwise peaceful societies.
It is recalled that Muslim scholars and others came down hard on organizers of the last census when certain figures did not sit well with them.
But as the research fellow himself admitted, it cannot be proved that anyone deliberately doctored the figures to reduce the population of any segment of the society.
The Ghanaian Times is compelled to issue this word of caution because even the most innocent of remarks can spark off emotions, especially when the issues are of a religious, political (NDC-NPP) or ethnic nature.
There are desperadoes and misguided elements in the society who are ready to read anybody’s lips to mean a call to action, an unfortunate interpretation which must be avoided at all costs.
That is why the Census office cannot afford to allow its officers to make any mistakes. The stakes seem very high.
From a survey he had apparently conducted, the research fellow claims that “in some instances, census officers answer questions they ask the people by listening to what they say and interpret them in their own way”
According to him, many of the officers complained that the questionnaire was so bulky that the officer needed not to have asked all the questions of which the answers were obvious.
“Interestingly, that included the person’s religion. So we can see how some of the census officers can be so ignorant to think that names always determine a person’s religion”
These are serious allegations which Dr Grace Bediako’s National Census Office needs to address. Indeed, we would even go so far to suggest that the Census Office must come out to set the records straight.
If these acts of omission and commission were truly committed, then Ghanaians need to be assured that these infractions would not be repeated in next March’s census.
A census is such an important national project that nobody or group of persons must be given cause to raise question marks about its integrity.
It is based on the facts and figures generated from census surveys that government is able to plan effectively.
Ghana is no greenhorn in the conduct of census. The nation has, in the past, won the admiration of, and awards by the United Nations for the integrity of her census.
It is for this reason that no effort should be spared to ensure that the figures from the 2010 Census would be acceptable to all.
The enumeration officers must be properly schooled. The training must go beyond assurances of technical accuracy, to proving total neutrality in a census devoid of personal biases by enumeration officers.
It is good that opinion leaders in the Muslim community have begun sensitizing their members to the need to get involved and ensure that they are counted.
We are particularly glad that the leaders are using their various platforms to disabuse the minds of Muslims in Ghana that the purpose of the census “is to find out about aliens to sack them due to past political experiences”.
The Ghanaian Times can only caution at this stage against any utterances and any actions that have the tendency to incite violence.
By all means, let us show concern, especially when we feel that a particular section of the society is being discriminated against.
However, we are afraid of the implications of statements like the following, attributed to the research fellow, when he says that “If the actual number of Muslims in Ghana is not given correctly, it can have serious implications for us.”
Although the statement is true, the fact is that it is true also for every section of the society, including farmers, masons, cultural industry workers, practitioners of African traditional religion, Christians, Buddhists et al.
The research fellow may mean well – and we have no cause to suspect that he has any ulterior motive.
In this country, as in the rest of Africa, however, religion, politics and ethnicity have proved to the prime destroyer of otherwise peaceful societies.
It is recalled that Muslim scholars and others came down hard on organizers of the last census when certain figures did not sit well with them.
But as the research fellow himself admitted, it cannot be proved that anyone deliberately doctored the figures to reduce the population of any segment of the society.
The Ghanaian Times is compelled to issue this word of caution because even the most innocent of remarks can spark off emotions, especially when the issues are of a religious, political (NDC-NPP) or ethnic nature.
There are desperadoes and misguided elements in the society who are ready to read anybody’s lips to mean a call to action, an unfortunate interpretation which must be avoided at all costs.
That is why the Census office cannot afford to allow its officers to make any mistakes. The stakes seem very high.
Popular stories from Editorials
