Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Population Circus in Accra

The homeless hustlers of Accra loathe being counted by the government. They’ve been reckoned once or twice before, but they were not lavished with the loot or nice living. Why should they let you number their foreheads in their open-sky bed-and-bath-rooms? Do you care? They heckle and harangue the head-counters from ‘their’ streets until they ‘heel’ it to the hotels. There, some managers would not let them count the guests. Maybe they aren’t supposed to be there. There’s a census going on. Or did I hear wrong; is it a circus?

2 comments:

  1. Hmmm. Nana, you can imagine the shock when I heard on the news that enumerators didn't even have enough questionnaires to even perform the task of recording details they are able to acquire from the heads they count. And with this info you've given, I'll have to agree that census has so far been a chaotic failure.

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  2. Kwame Mensa-Bonsu29 September, 2010

    We were able to count in the 19th and 20th centuries. And we cann't do it in the 21st? Quo Vadis Ghana?

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