ENUMERATORS CONCERNS WON'T AFFECT CENSUS (PAGE 46, SEPT 20, 2010)

The Upper East Regional Statistician, Mr Festus Manuh, has played down assertions that the ongoing training for census enumerators is under threat following some concerns raised by some trainees in the Bawku Municipality over the quality and quantity of food served them.
He told the Daily Graphic in Bolgatanga that a minor incident could not in any way disrupt the programme, emphasising that everything was moving according to plan.
“You have to bear in mind that since the exercise covers a large group of people, you can in no way meet the expectation of each individual.
It is, therefore, expected that some people will be uncomfortable with a particular occurrence but this has not in anyway affected the training of the enumerators,” he said.
Last Wednesday, some trainees in the Bawku Municipality raised concerns about the quantity of food served them and questioned why they had not been served an egg as part of the menu during the programme.
Responding, a Zonal Co-ordinator for Upper East, Mr Owusu Kagya, said going by the arrangements on the ground, the trainees were to be given eggs every other day contrary to the assertions by the trainees that they should be served eggs every day.
He re-affirmed the position of the Regional Statistician that due to the large number of the participants, the situation might have overwhelmed the caterers assigned to provide meals at the various centres but that had in no way affected the conduct of the exercise.
Touching on the training programme, Mr Manuh said all the necessary materials needed for the programme were in place and so far all the resource persons were carrying out the training as expected.
He said he and his officers also carried out regular assessment of the programme to ensure that the right thing was done and where there were difficulties, steps were taken to address them.
A visit to the Bolgatanga Girls’ Senior High School and the Bolgatanga Senior High School where training for enumerators in the Bolgatanga Municipality and Talensi-Nabdam District indicated that the exercise was going on as expected.
A few of the enumerators who spoke to this reporter said so far, the exercise had been devoid of problems and where they found challenges, the course prefects and trainers were available to address them.
In the Upper East Region, a total of 2,257 persons are participating in the training programme with the Bawku Municipality having the highest number of trainees.
In Bawku 460 participants have been enrolled for the programme.
The Regional Capital, Bolgatanga, has 302 trainees; Talensi-Nabdam, 243; Kassena Nankana East, 257; Garu-Tempane, 277; Bawku West, 218; Builsa, 197; Bongo, 169 and Kassena-Nankana West, 134.