The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has come under fire from opposition leaders over its management of the 2024 national census results. Led by the Leader of the Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi, members of the Shadow Cabinet raised concerns about errors in the initial census report and the lack of transparency in communicating the corrections to the public.
During an oversight visit to Statistics House, Ssenyonyi questioned why UBOS had not adequately informed the public about the corrections made to the flawed data. He emphasized that given the controversy surrounding the first report, the release of the final version should have been more prominently announced.
“When the errors were identified, there was a national outcry. UBOS assured us that a corrected version would be ready by December 2024, but instead of formally presenting it, they quietly uploaded it online,” Ssenyonyi noted. He argued that the statistical body should have made a greater effort to rebuild public trust.
James Muwonge, UBOS’s Director of Methodology and Statistical Coordination Services, acknowledged that mistakes had been made but maintained that the agency had adhered to principles of transparency by publicly correcting them. He also welcomed the suggestion for more public engagement, stating that further outreach efforts were planned.
Opposition MPs also raised concerns about inaccuracies in reporting ethnic groups and statistics on Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). Muwonge explained that discrepancies in PWD data resulted from differences in classification standards rather than errors in enumeration.
Additionally, Ssenyonyi criticized the absence of UBOS’s top leadership from the meeting, saying it signaled a lack of seriousness in addressing parliamentary concerns. Some MPs called for a formal parliamentary inquiry to investigate the credibility of the census process, arguing that errors in the report had undermined public confidence in UBOS’s work.
