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Kiambu woman hides for three days to avoid being enumerated

August 31st, 2019 2 min read

A woman in Riabai location of Kiambu County who had been hiding for three days was finally enumerated after neighbours contacted the chief.

Area chief Anthony Kariuki, Riabai told KNA on Friday that when the woman, whose name he did not disclose, spotted the census officials approaching her neighborhood, she sneaked away and that she went missing for days in order to avoid being enumerated.

“We noticed that the house had no occupants and when we spoke to the neighbours, they said that owner had fled since Monday,” Mr. Kariuki said.

The chief added that he instructed the neighbours to reach him in case they spotted her. The woman resurfaced after three days and the enumeration team including the chief promptly went to her house for the exercise.

“She got surprised when she saw us because she thought that we were long gone from the area. Fortunately, she cooperated when we approached her for the exercise,” he said.

BECAUSE OF RELIGION

Besides the woman, Mr Kariuki also revealed that there were cases where various individuals refused to participate in the national exercise because of religion and other beliefs.

He revealed that some residents were adamant on the enumeration process on the pretext that their religions did not allow them to participate.

“This particular cult is practiced by a small number of individuals and it is not clear what it stands for but what we know is that the followers were against us conducting the activity,” Mr Kariuki said.

He also added that after having long conversations with the believers, the census officials, accepted to co-operate.

According to Mr Kariuki, there have been no other setbacks while conducting census besides lack of cooperation among a few individuals.

He said that the police patrols in the area are important and have enabled the census officials conduct the exercise smoothly without insecurity incidences being reported.