Martin Endjala
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) is set to conduct the final phase of the 2023 Population and Housing Census, known as the Post-Enumeration Survey (PES), in February.
This exercise serves as a quality check to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the census data. After completing the major phases of the census last year, this PES phase is crucial.
Alex Shimuafeni, the NSA Chief Executive Officer and Statistician-General announced that the third and final phase, called the reconciliation operation, will take place from 1 to 14 February 2024.
“During this period, NSA officials will revisit households where discrepancies were found in the data, meaning that the details collected do not match the Census and PES information. This is done to establish the correct final match status of individuals,” he said.
He added that households will be contacted either in person or by telephone to facilitate this process, ensuring the content and coverage of the data remain accurate.
According to Shimuafeni, the reconciliation operation will be conducted nationwide but will focus on constituencies and selected/sampled Enumeration Areas (EAs) for PES where mismatches were discovered between Census and PES results.
It is important to note that the PES, being a survey, only interviewed households within the sampled EAs. These interviewed households will be used to account for those not interviewed for PES.
Shimuafeni explained that it is worth emphasizing that households not interviewed for PES will not be visited during the reconciliation operation. Similarly, not all households contacted for PES will be contacted again for reconciliation.
The PES plays a crucial role in evaluating and ensuring the quality of census data by identifying and resolving discrepancies in Census coverage and content.
These discrepancies can include differences in age, sex, relationship, and marital status, even if other demographic characteristics are consistent.
The NSA will recruit 364 staff from all regions, including six reserves per region, for this exercise.
Shimuafeni said that training for these staff will occur on 29–30 January 2024, in their respective regions. Following the training, 280 field staff will be deployed for the reconciliation operation on 31 January 2024.
“It is important to note that the staff selected for reconciliation are the same individuals who worked on PES data collection. However, they will not be assigned to the same Enumeration Areas or households as in the previous phase,” he said.
Additionally, 115 vehicles will be deployed for this operation. These vehicles will be sourced from individuals within each region, but not necessarily from every constituency.
To ensure fairness, the NSA will not use the same vehicles that were used for the Census or PES. Instead, they will draw from their existing database of applications and select the next qualified vehicle service provider.
The PES reconciliation operation is a vital part of the 2023 Population and Housing Census, and it is mandated by the Statistics Act No. 9 of 2011, which also guarantees confidentiality.
The entire nation, particularly the selected households, is encouraged to cooperate with and assist the NSA in this final phase of data collection and reconciliation to ensure the accuracy of statistics for Namibia’s development.
