New questions teenagers will be asked during upcoming national census

ruby orimba

November 26, 2018 12:47 PM

Those aged 15 years and older will be required to answer the questions or face punishment

KNBS boss Zachary Mwangi speaks at the launch of 2019 mock census

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has introduced a new set of questions that will be asked to teenagers during the August 2019 national census.

Following a successful pilot of the exercise, KNBS will quiz teenagers aged 15 years and above on whether they are familiar with e-commerce.

Toddlers aged 3 years old and older will also participate in the census as they will be required to disclose whether they own a mobile phone.

KNBS officials will also ask the children if they know how to operate a computer, laptop and tablet.

Older members of the households will answer whether they know how to use the internet.

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The Sh100,000 Fine

Treasury CS Henry Rotich has warned of a Sh100,000 fine and one year jail term to those found to have withheld crucial information.

"Any person who fails to provide the required information, commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to a fine not exceeding Sh100,000 or to both such fine and imprisonment," the CS's memo read in part.

KNBS has previously found that citizens were likely to lie about number of wives, those living with disability, number of children in households, deaths in the family and ownership of household goods.

Census report Release Date

The exercise will kick off on August 24, 2019 at midnight and is estimated to cost Sh18.5 billion.

In February, KNBS Director-General Zachary Mwangi assured the National Assembly’s Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee that preliminary figures from the census will be released before October 2019, basic reports within three months of the census and the detailed report will be released by June 2020.