Editor,

I recall census as an exciting period when I was a child. As weird as it seems it was quite strange to see several officials coming to our home in exile counting us and asking us several questions as they stored data in their notebooks. Thereafter was a chalk writing on the wall, which remained intact rain or shine for years until we were all grown up.

I now understand the necessity of this formal act of counting; a census by definition is the act of taking an inventory of the total population of a specific area and collecting information about its demographic, social and economic characteristics. The sole purpose is to find accurate information for planning purposes and record-keeping.

However, with the limited capacity of trained personnel and inadequate resources as well as equipment to carry out statistical work in many parts of Africa, Rwanda inclusive censuses have come of age.

There are numerous economic merits that come with counting a population; for instance, understanding the number of people in a specific location can help in forging market strategies that increase the chances of creating very successful businesses.

Governments who are solely responsible for conducting censuses are able to analyze and properly plan for the population and in Rwanda’s case appropriately address the growing population.

As much as there is a global fight against malaria and HIV/Aids, there should be a global fight against overpopulation, therefore, funding a population census is one of the fundamental aspects of curbing population growth.

Janine Kashangoha
Kigali