• They are categorized as special population excluded for the counting on the night of ASugust 24, the reference night for the exercise
• Others in this group are those who spent in hotels or were traveling on the same night
Image: COURTESY
Street families will not be counted in the ongoing population census, government spokesman Cyrus Oguna has said.
Oguna on Tuesday said people living in the streets are regarded as a special population which is excluded from the census that started on the night of August 24.
"They fall in the same category with those who were travelling and those who spent in hotels on the said night," Oguna said.
He did not explain an alternative arrangement for factoring in the numbers of street families in the census.
Failure to enumerate the street families and urchins may portend a planning nightmare given the fact that they affect city security planning, environment management among other government policy interventions.
There is hope, however, for the two categories except for street families as they may be counted within the enumeration period in their houses.
Oguna spoke in Nairobi as he gave updates on the progress of the exercise.
Only last month, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko intensified the crackdown on street families, arresting more than 100 muggers, beggars and parking boys.
City Hall said the operation was necessary because the street urchins "have been linked to harassment of pedestrians and motorists.
Oguna said the enumeration period that ends on August 31 will not be extended.
"If you fail to be counted within the set period of one week, sorry, you have to wait for the next census after ten years," he said.
On the securing the credibility of the process, Oguna said the government has ensured proper security of the census officials with prompt arrests of those attempting to obstruct the process.
"We have made a total of 16 arrests. We continue to be vigilant to ensure that the census officers do their work professionally without any form of hindrance."
Among those arrested are three chiefs and an enumerator.
A chief was arrested on Monday in Wajir South for allegedly facilitating inflation of census figures through double listing.
National Police Service spokesperson Charles Owino said the chief was overseeing the registration of people twice, in a move aimed at exaggerating the outcome.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics director general Zachary Mwangi said the digital system of counting is "foolproof and cannot be tampered with."