UBOS ED Mukiza rejects calls to resign over census mistakes

"I hear everybody saying ‘errors, errors.’ Is it true that every time a newspaper makes a mistake, they close it or the managing director resigns?" Mukiza questioned. He drew a parallel with a mistake made by Daily Monitor, where the newspaper published an incorrect Ugandan population figure of 49.5 million on June 28th this year, which was quickly corrected. "Did the managing director resign, or was the paper closed?" Mukiza added.

The controversy surrounding the census data began when UBOS released incorrect population figures for certain tribes, including the Acholi and Bagisu, sparking public backlash.

The original report had falsely indicated a decline in the populations of these groups, showing that the Acholi had dropped from 2,131,443 to 1,941,913, while the Bagisu population had fallen from 2,390,975 to 2,096,149. UBOS later clarified that these figures were incorrect, stating that the actual population of the Acholi had risen from 1,470,884 in 2014 to 1,941,913, while the Bagisu had grown from 1,647,382 to 2,096,149 during the same period.

While UBOS has acknowledged these mistakes, Mukiza was firm in rejecting the notion of resignation, emphasising his expertise in the field of statistics.

"Therefore, I am not resigning; 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," Mukiza stated confidently.

UBOS is currently working to rectify the errors in the census report, with a focus on harmonising the data concerning the Acholi, Bagisu, Bakiga, and Langi tribes. Mr Didacus Okoth, the senior public relations officer at UBOS, has assured the public that the revised report will be uploaded once the necessary corrections have been made.

"We are harmonising the data that mismatch on the four tribes, and then we shall upload," Okoth said during an interview.

Despite the public criticism, UBOS has reassured Ugandans of its commitment to transparency. At a recent media briefing, Vincent Ssenono, the acting Deputy Executive Director, explained that an error occurred during the final compilation of the report, which led to the initial misreporting. He reiterated that the 2024 census figures were accurate but that the data from 2014 had been miscalculated, affecting the results.

Ssenono also addressed concerns regarding discrepancies in religious population data, noting that the growth rates for major religious groups, such as Catholics, Muslims, and Anglicans, had slowed, though their overall populations had increased.