Census equipment stolen at Anansi Sasowa Rest House in Ntcheu
Malawi Police in Ntcheu are hunting for thieves who broke into a Rest House room and stole two phone tablets and three power banks for the National Statistics Office (NSO) to be used by two Population and Housing Census (PHC) supervisors.
Police spokesperson in Ntcheu Hastings Chigaru said two enumerators for the ongoing population and housing census left the ICT gadgets for the exercise in a rest house room when they went out to get food.
“When they came back, they didn’t find the tablets and the power banks but we are hunting for the gadgets,” he said.
Chigaru said the tablets cannot be used for any other systems, saying they were programmed for the census only.
Meanwhile, some enumerators met at Kalambo primary school to discuss crucial issues affecting their job, saying NSO has not given them their allowances apart from a K20, 000 training allowance out of the agreed K120, 000 and another K120, 000 two week field work.
They have agreed to down tools on Monday if they are not paid their allowances and the NSO fails to provide them with adequate tools for the job.
NSO spokesperson Kingsley Manda played down the threat, saying NSO has already started paying all the enumerators through their bank accounts, saying the delay was as a result of some enumerators failure to provide up to date bank accounts information.
He said the K120, 000 field allowance would be given after the enumerators hand over all the equipment they were given.
Meanwhile, police is advising all enumerators and supervisors to safeguard their gadgets.
Census yakukanikani iyi NSO. Vuto lotsogoza umbava at the expense of quality
Mbuzi ya mano pansi
planned deal. nde pa MW pano pamenepa
Spare key was used to open the door into the room where the clients had kept their properties. The owner of the lodge is answerable. What would have happened had the properties been left at the reception?