The President's answers, like those of any other citizen, are confidential, since the census data are used for aggregate, statistical purposes, and never to pinpoint individuals.
In a message to the nation broadcast on Tuesday night, Guebuza said the involvement of all citizens was crucial to the success of the census. He urged all residents in the country, Mozambicans and foreigners alike, to welcome the duly identified census takers into their homes.
Citizens should answer the census questions "clearly and truthfully", he said. They had nothing to fear, since "the secrecy of your answers is guaranteed by law".
Guebuza said the census will provide an accurate profile of Mozambique, and of all its administrative units down to village and neighbourhood level.
"The census data will allow the government, civil society and our cooperation partners to plan better their actions and interventions", he added. "The private sector will also benefit from the census data, since it will provide information on which companies can base theiur business decisions".
The census was preceded by 18 months of detailed mapping of the country to ascertain precisely where all the human settlements are. On the basis of this work, the country has been divided into 45,951 enumeration areas, in each of which a census taker will interview every single household over the coming fortnight.
No census ever covers literally everybody living in the country, and so from 15 to 30 September a coverage survey will be held to estimate how many people were left out. The INE is aiming for an omission rate of less than five per cent (in the last census, in 1997, the omission rate was 5.1 per cent).
Speaking to reporters last week, Loureiro stressed "Wherever there are people, the INE will go there. We want total coverage.
For us there is no such thing as an inaccessible area".
The total cost of the census is 35 million US dollars, mainly provided by foreign donors. That works out at around 1.75 dollars per inhabitant. Since the data will be valid for the next ten years, Loureiro thought the price was "a bargain".
On the first day of the census, those counted include the top and bottom of society. Government leaders, with their crammed timetables, should all be counted on Wednesday.
But so too should the homeless. The INE says that beggars, street kids and others living rough must all be counted on one day, for fear of double counting, since some of them sleep in different places every night.
The 1997 census, and the subsequent coverage survey, showed that the population of Mozambique on 1 August 1997 was about 16,099,200. Of this population, 4,601,000 were living in cities and towns, and 11,498,000 were living in the countryside. That census estimated the annual populaton growth rate at 2.3 per cent.
The INE's estimate for the current size of the Mozambican population, based on projections from the 1997 census, adjusted to take account of the increased death rate due to the AIDS epidemic, is 19,679.053. The current census will tell us how accurate this estimate is.
Preliminary results from the census are expected in November, but the full results will only be published in 2009.
SOURCE: AIM
