News / Local
'Census results a ploy to underfund Bulawayo projects'
15 May 2014 at 19:01hrs | Views
THREE former Bulawayo mayors say the 2012 census results showing the city's population in decline are suspicious, echoing the incumbent mayor who says he has "reservations" about the findings.
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) says Bulawayo Province has the lowest population in the country with just 653,337 people, down from the 676,000 counted in 2002.
Bulawayo mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo, rejected the findings, saying the city's population was above a million based on housing units and the average occupancy.
The city's PR department went further, using the official Twitter account to claim that "it's a ploy by the government to underfund our projects".
Former Bulawayo mayor, Joshua Malinga said he estimates there are over two million people living in Bulawayo. Census results, he says, have a bearing on the "allocation of resources and political power" by central government.
"I agree with Clr Moyo and my thinking is that there're more than two million people in Bulawayo. There's just something wrong with the figures. The reason being that we allow people from somewhere else to come and count us," said Malinga, who is also a Zanu-PF politburo member.
"When I was mayor of Bulawayo, I once warned that this is a political issue that needs transparency. It's the same issue that has divided Nigeria and I'm afraid the same thing will happen in this country."
Malinga says a census must "always be treated with sensitivity", adding: "You can't count, collate information and code everything without involving the city council and the political leadership.
"People must understand the whole process, see how counting was done, information collated and codified… this information must be understood.
"People must understand that a census is an issue of national importance and interest, a sensitive issue about political power and resources allocation affecting even how many schools are built in an area."
Malinga says the participation of communities who are subjects of the census is "minimal" and is demanding "inclusion".
Bulawayo's last executive mayor, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, says he has previously raised his concerns over what he sees as undercounting, and reveals that the 2012 figures are "worse".
He believes the problem has also manifested in the Matabeleland South (683,893) and North (749,017) numbers.
Ndabeni-Ncube said: "The statistics show that there's a decrease in the population. Something's not right.
"I don't want to criticise Zimstat because they are professionals, but we've a right to express our views so that they look into the issue."
The former mayor says "the figures don't seem to reflect the true picture on the ground", adding:
"In 2002, I raised the same concern and I thought they would come closer to the ground. Unfortunately, this year's figures are even worse."
The census, which put the national population at 13,061,239, was conducted during the power sharing government era and was overseen by the then Ministry of Finance under the MDC-T's Tendai Biti.
The same census showed Harare with the highest population of 2,123,132 followed by Manicaland with 1,752,698, Midlands with 1,614,941 and Mashonaland West fourth with 1,501,656 people. Masvingo (1,485,090), Mashonaland East (1,344,955) and Mashonaland Central (1,152,520) followed closely behind.
Councillor Thaba Moyo, who was Bulawayo mayor when the census was conducted, says Zimstat is guilty of deliberately undercounting people in the city.
"When preliminary figures were released last year, we had reservations and we knew that it was a deliberate move by the government to underfund the council," he fumed.
"I would like to believe that Bulawayo has slightly more than a million people. What makes me more suspicious is that I was not counted in the 2012 census exercise, yet I was in Bulawayo."
He urged the government to revisit the census outcome to avoid future mistakes.
City fathers are concerned Bulawayo's declining population, based on the census results, will discourage investors from coming to the city.
A senior Zanu-PF official last night said attempts to link the census results with an alleged plot to underfund the council by the Zanu-PF government were "unfair".
"Bulawayo is under an MDC-T council, and the minister who oversaw this census was none other than the MDC-T secretary general Tendai Biti.
"If it's true that there is some such funny plot against Bulawayo, let the blame be channeled to the MDC-T," the official said.
Zimstat director general Mutasa Dzinotizei says he is surprised by the protests from Bulawayo.
He insists they used "scientifically agreed standards where every person in the country is enumerated".
And a professional statistician, who requested not to be named, said there was no way Zimstat could "cook" figures as it would give the officials a tough time.
"The method used is structured in such a way that a lot of people have to be included in conspiring to come up with false figures," he said.
The census is conducted after every 10 years.
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) says Bulawayo Province has the lowest population in the country with just 653,337 people, down from the 676,000 counted in 2002.
Bulawayo mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo, rejected the findings, saying the city's population was above a million based on housing units and the average occupancy.
The city's PR department went further, using the official Twitter account to claim that "it's a ploy by the government to underfund our projects".
Former Bulawayo mayor, Joshua Malinga said he estimates there are over two million people living in Bulawayo. Census results, he says, have a bearing on the "allocation of resources and political power" by central government.
"I agree with Clr Moyo and my thinking is that there're more than two million people in Bulawayo. There's just something wrong with the figures. The reason being that we allow people from somewhere else to come and count us," said Malinga, who is also a Zanu-PF politburo member.
"When I was mayor of Bulawayo, I once warned that this is a political issue that needs transparency. It's the same issue that has divided Nigeria and I'm afraid the same thing will happen in this country."
Malinga says a census must "always be treated with sensitivity", adding: "You can't count, collate information and code everything without involving the city council and the political leadership.
"People must understand the whole process, see how counting was done, information collated and codified… this information must be understood.
"People must understand that a census is an issue of national importance and interest, a sensitive issue about political power and resources allocation affecting even how many schools are built in an area."
Malinga says the participation of communities who are subjects of the census is "minimal" and is demanding "inclusion".
Bulawayo's last executive mayor, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, says he has previously raised his concerns over what he sees as undercounting, and reveals that the 2012 figures are "worse".
He believes the problem has also manifested in the Matabeleland South (683,893) and North (749,017) numbers.
Ndabeni-Ncube said: "The statistics show that there's a decrease in the population. Something's not right.
"I don't want to criticise Zimstat because they are professionals, but we've a right to express our views so that they look into the issue."
The former mayor says "the figures don't seem to reflect the true picture on the ground", adding:
"In 2002, I raised the same concern and I thought they would come closer to the ground. Unfortunately, this year's figures are even worse."
The census, which put the national population at 13,061,239, was conducted during the power sharing government era and was overseen by the then Ministry of Finance under the MDC-T's Tendai Biti.
The same census showed Harare with the highest population of 2,123,132 followed by Manicaland with 1,752,698, Midlands with 1,614,941 and Mashonaland West fourth with 1,501,656 people. Masvingo (1,485,090), Mashonaland East (1,344,955) and Mashonaland Central (1,152,520) followed closely behind.
Councillor Thaba Moyo, who was Bulawayo mayor when the census was conducted, says Zimstat is guilty of deliberately undercounting people in the city.
"When preliminary figures were released last year, we had reservations and we knew that it was a deliberate move by the government to underfund the council," he fumed.
"I would like to believe that Bulawayo has slightly more than a million people. What makes me more suspicious is that I was not counted in the 2012 census exercise, yet I was in Bulawayo."
He urged the government to revisit the census outcome to avoid future mistakes.
City fathers are concerned Bulawayo's declining population, based on the census results, will discourage investors from coming to the city.
A senior Zanu-PF official last night said attempts to link the census results with an alleged plot to underfund the council by the Zanu-PF government were "unfair".
"Bulawayo is under an MDC-T council, and the minister who oversaw this census was none other than the MDC-T secretary general Tendai Biti.
"If it's true that there is some such funny plot against Bulawayo, let the blame be channeled to the MDC-T," the official said.
Zimstat director general Mutasa Dzinotizei says he is surprised by the protests from Bulawayo.
He insists they used "scientifically agreed standards where every person in the country is enumerated".
And a professional statistician, who requested not to be named, said there was no way Zimstat could "cook" figures as it would give the officials a tough time.
"The method used is structured in such a way that a lot of people have to be included in conspiring to come up with false figures," he said.
The census is conducted after every 10 years.
Source - chronicle
