Makinda: Why public education on census results crucial for planning

Dar es Salaam NATIONAL census Commissioner Anne Makinda has called for Regional Commissioners (RCs) and Regional Administrative Secretaries (RAS) to educate members of the public about the importance of disseminating and using census data.

Ms Makinda, a former speaker of the National Assembly, said this during a one day-training for RCs and RASs on the importance of public education on the area as she emphasized on role of data in the planning, implementation of development programs.

“Finalizing the exercise of enumerating people is not the end,” Makinda said. “The big task ahead of us is to educate people about the results of the census and how to use them in their daily activities for sustainable development.”

Makinda also praised the cooperation, hard work and dedication of the RCs  in making the last year census a successful. She said that their efforts had helped to improve the lives of Tanzanians by providing accurate data on the country’s population.

“The results of the 2022 people and hosing census show that the average life expectancy of Tanzanians has increased from 44 to 65 years,” said Makinda. And added that this is a testimony to the work that the regional leaders are doing to improve the health and well-being of your people.

She insisted that the use of accurate data is essential for making informed decisions about how to allocate resources to improve services.