The long-overdue fourth National Population and Housing Census being carried out by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) is scheduled to begin on Monday, 18 September 2023 and end on 3 November 2023. This approximately three-month timeframe set aside for the crucial exercise is expected to cover both the enumeration and the post-enumeration survey (PES).

The PES, which is a quality assurance exercise, has been described as a critical aspect of the census, as it aims to ensure that the NSA disseminates quality statistics. 

President Hage Geingob launched the 2023 census in the capital on Wednesday, urging all Namibians to play their part to actively participate and cooperate during the exercise.

The NSA, as implementing agent, said enumerators will conduct interviews in all households across the country’s 14 regions. 

“Households will be required to provide information on the household’s members who spent the reference night, 24 September 2023, in their households,” they stated.

The agency further shared information that enumerators will conduct PES to provide an independent assessment of the completeness of the census. The PES will also determine any under- or over-count of the population during the census. 

NSA field staff members, the public has been informed, will be easily identifiable as they will be wearing NSA branded t-shirts and hats with the census logo.

“They will always carry census fieldwork identification cards and a letter of authorisation to collect information from households,” the NSA added.