Zanzibar President, Dr. Hussein Mwinyi yesterday assured full support to the envisaged sixth national population and housing census in August next year. President Mwinyi described the exercise as highly important to the government and all development stakeholders, arguing that the population enumeration provides vital statistics for the government's various development plans.
Dr. Mwinyi was speaking to the Census General Commissar, Ms. Anna Makinda at the Vuga based State House in Unguja. Ms. Makinda, former Speaker of the National Assembly, told the President that preparation works for the people counting in the islands are in good progress, with 40 percent of the census areas already demarcated. "We are doing well in Zanzibar, already 40 percent of the census areas have been ear marked and we are certain to accomplish the task within the prescribed period," Ms. Makinda assured President Mwinyi.
She said the 2022 census will use digital data entry and it will for the first time count buildings as well. Zanzibar Census Commissar Ambassador Mohamed Hamza accompanied the chief commissar to the State House visit.
Meanwhile, President Mwinyi yesterday met the Ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs delegation and discussed various issues of interest to the nation and Zanzibar in particular. Minister Palamagamba Kabudi, who led the ministerial delegation, told the President that among the motives behind the visit was to learn from Zanzibar on the best way to enact laws and appropriate use of Kiswahili language in legal services.