‘Best Statistician Spends Shs347bn on Census, Asks Ugandans 180 Questions – then Makes Them Guess Figures!’

Ugandans continue to react to a decision by Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) Executive Director Dr Chris Mukiza not to resign despite glaring errors in the final results report for the 2024 population census.

Dr Mukiza has made it clear he will not resign his job as UBOS ED after it emerged that his 2024 census report figures had indicated a reduction in the population of the Acholi and Bagisu yet there was no reason to explain such a drop.

““There is no reason for me to resign. The error was a simple human mistake, and we have acknowledged that. But I am still here, and I’m not going anywhere,” he said at a media breakfast called in Kampala to sanitize the controversial figures.

“I’m still here, leading this institution, and I will continue to serve until the time is right for me to step down.”

Mukiza even bragged about being best there is in Uganda and even claimed to love his country.

“I am still serving the country I love, and I am one of the best statisticians, by the way. If you want to bring a better one, good luck,” he boasted.

He even bragged that he had held the country’s first ever digital census and that he had managed to collect a lot of data, asking over 160 questions from households and over 60 questions about communities.

But Ugandans are neither impressed by Dr Mukiza’s experience nor his recently released census results, which some believe were cooked. Opposition politician Joseph Kabuleta of the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) wonders how the country could have spent billions only to end up guessing census figures.

“$100m blown on a botched census with 180 questions, some of them very weird, and we’re back to estimating the population. Then the UBOS boss who superintended over the whole mess gives us the mi**le finger assuring  us that everyone makes mistakes and ‘I am one of the best statisticians, if you want to find a better one good luck,” Kabuleta noted.

“Let nobody lie to you, Uganda is a rich country which can afford sh380bn “mistakes.”

Available figures indicate that Government of Uganda injected Shs 328.74 billion in the 2024 census while development partners like UNHCR, UNDP and UNFPA provided up to Shs 18.5 billion to support the exercise.

But NRM spokesperson Emmanuel Dombo defended Dr Mukiza, saying “I think the errors were not fetal! If indeed what they are saying is true, that someone who extracted the 2014 figures mixed them up, and it created a comparison problem. It would have been worse if they had cooked some figures!”

UBOS has come out to apologize over the questionable figures. President Museveni was the first to complain about the figures, making it clear they were below his expectations. (See Details Here and There).

You can see Uganda’s biggest tribes and most popular religions as Balokole numbers rise Here and There.

(For comments on this report, story tips or sponsored content, send us a Whatsapp message on +256 705 690 819 or E-mail us on pearltimesug@gmail.com). 

Please Follow our Whatsapp Channel for More Stories HERE