Police in Luweero district have arrested an enumerator over the theft of a tablet ahead of a census exercise on Thursday. Uganda Bureau of Statistics has deployed 1,532 enumerators and 192 supervisors in Luweero district for the National Population Census scheduled to start on Thursday, May 10, 2024. Each enumerator has been given tablets to record the data of residents during the exercise.
However, hours into the exercise, a tablet designated for the enumeration of residents of Kikube village in Luweero sub-county has been stolen, leading to his arrest.
Richard Ssimbwa, the Luweero sub-county chairperson said that the tablet was allegedly stolen last night from the home of the enumerator who is residing in Bukalasa zone, Wobulenzi town.
Ssimbwa said that the matter has been reported to the Police and district to trace the whereabouts of the tablet or replace it to ensure the exercise is not affected.
John Ojokuna, the Luweero District Police Commander said that upon getting the report from the sub-county leadership, Police arrested Marvis Wamuzigo the enumerator for the village to explain how the tablet was stolen.
Ojokuna added that Wamuzigo is being detained at Luweero Central Police Station as investigations into the matter go on.
Richard Bwabye, the Luweero Resident District Commissioner said that enumerators have been advised to keep all the gadgets at nearby Police Stations in case they have no security at home to avert the cases of theft of government property.
Luweero District and UBOS are yet to comment on the matter but the local authorities have already indicated that Wamuzigo and the tablet will be replaced to ensure the exercise goes on as planned. Luweero district and UBOS have registered 36 reserve enumerators in case of any emergency.
Uganda Bureau of Statistics has recruited 114,460 enumerators and 18,483 supervisors across the country to conduct the exercise starting tomorrow.
*Source – URN*