Africa-Press – Uganda. An enumerator who passed away in Namayingo District on Sunday may have succumbed to hunger and stress, a local leader has said.
Annet Tibiwa, a resident of Mulombi village in Mutumba sub-county, collapsed on Saturday and was rushed to a nearby medical facility where she died the following day, according to the Namayingo District Census Officer, Mr Martin Mangeni.
Ms Betty Nabwire, the Mutumba female district councillor, says the deceased had earlier complained of headache and general body weakness before she collapsed.
“We have been told that she complained of severe headache and general body weakness before collapsing,” Nabwire said on Tuesday.
Whereas the official cause of death is yet to be established, Nabwire says stress and hunger could be some of the contributing factors.
“The enumerators are moving long distances on foot from one household to another without eating anything, or drinking water, while their equipment has been malfunctioning, adding to stress,” Nabwire said.
Plight of enumerators
Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) embarked on the National Housing and Population Census 2024 (NPHC 2024) last Friday amidst huge shortfalls of basic logistics.
The enumerators and supervisors in several areas are yet to receive their training allowances.
Ronald Ojambo, an enumerator, said because he has not been paid his allowance, he and other colleagues are working on empty stomachs yet they are each required to cover at least 10 households a day.
“Each day, we each have a target of 10 households and the questionnaire has 87 questions for each member in every household,” he said, adding that footing on an empty stomach with several questions to ask is breaking them down.
Another enumerator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said for the past five days, he has failed to hit the target because some households have over eight adults, meaning one has to spend close to three hours interviewing them.
He described the exercise as “tedious”.
In Busia District, the enumerators were only given tablets without other basic requirements like umbrellas, meaning they had to brave the scorching sun or chilly rains. They also lack reflector jackets for easy identification.
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