Youth in Teso North have threatened to boycott the national census.
They are unhappy with the recruitment of supervisors and enumerators, saying some are from outside Teso North.
They on Wednesday alleged that some census officials who attended training at St Thomas Amagoro Girls High School had been booked in hotels in town. They say this implies they are not from the area.
“That tells you they are from far away. They are new to us. They have been leaving guest houses in the morning to go training then return to their rooms in the evening," Teso North Amani National Congress youth leader Fredrick Epalat said.
"Unless the criteria they used in the recruitment is clarified, we will scuttle the census. We will chase them away.”
Epalat said their parents laboured to educate them, but many youths do not have jobs. He said it is unfair to see people from outside Teso North getting census jobs and they are left out.
The youth demanded that a list of successful applicants for the posts of ICT officers, content supervisors and enumerators be publicised for transparency.
But Teso North deputy county commissioner Justus Musau urged the youth to take part in the census. She said the initiative helps the government to know the country’s population so that it can plan for the future.
He warned that authorities will not allow anyone to disrupt the exercise that is conducted after every 10 years.
Musau said recruitment of officials was transparent. He asked the youth to channel their grievances to the relevant authorities.
“Nobody will disrupt the Census. We are going on with preparations. We are sending a message to them," he told the Star on the phone. “
Musau said there will be adequate security during the census which will begin on Saturday night.
A month ago, teachers from Teso North also threatened to disrupt the census in case they were denied jobs.
There have been calls from some leaders especially politicians that the jobs be reserved for unemployed youth. Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria backs the call.
The census will run until August 31.
