Census Hiring Irregularities Threaten to Disrupt the Countrywide Exercise

Kangemi residents came out in large numbers to protest against what they termed as flawed hiring of census staff.

The residents of Kangemi engaged police officers in running battles which led to the lobbying of tear gas canisters for a period of two hours.

Kangemi, which is in Westlands Constituency, residents stormed into one of the Census enumerator’s training center in hundreds accusing the exercise officials of denying them a chance to be part of the process.

Kangemi residents chanted slogans reprimanding their chiefs for what they termed to be a corrupt process of census personnel recruitment that according to them has seen people who are not members of their constituency hired.

The residents threatened not to cooperate with the given census employees unless a solution was availed to them.

A number of residents felt the recruitment of ‘outsiders’ to run the process was to manipulate the process and figures released after the process.

Kangemi youths demanded a fresh recruitment process that would include the residents. Flora Mworoa, the Nairobi County Commissioner promised to have the residents included in her effort to calm down the protesters.

“We have listened and we will have your people included, bring the names,” Mworoa told the protesters.

“We are here to agree and believe that everyone should be allowed to count irrespective of their tribe, region or race,” the National Gender Commission chair Joyce Mutinda said trying to convince the protesters who would hear none of it.

According to data showing the list of people contracted to undertake the Census exercise in Kangemi, the majority are from Riverside, Eastlands and South B in Nairobi.

Another concern raised by one of the protesters was how the enumerators selected outside the Westlands Constituency would understand the area better than the residents who had been left out of the process.

Budalang’i Muslims Threaten to Boycott Census Citing Religious Bias

The Muslim Community in Budalang’i threatened to boycott the Census exercise citing religious bias and corruption that left them feeling sidelined in the recruitment process.

Represented by the Imam of Marenga Mosque, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Mohammed during the Idd Adhuha celebrations, the Imam said that they had unanimously resolved not to be counted unless the problem is solved.

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