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The Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) has paid an estimated 44,000 enumerators and supervisors who were recruited to conduct the 2022 Census of Population and Housing.
The agency has also disbursed an initial amount of K2, 894,310 to clear all those outstanding allowances for claimants whose names have been verified on the bank statement.
ZamStats conducted the 2022 Census of Population and Housing from 18th August to 14th September 2022 where over 45,000 data collectors were recruited to undertake the task.
As at end of December 2022, the Agency had paid an estimated 44,000 enumerators and supervisors for various training and field allowances throughout the country, Zamstats interim Statistician General Mulenga Musepa said in a statement issued on Monday.
Read more: Zambia’s population density swells, capital Lusaka leads
“For the field staff who did not return the lost items, the Agency invoked the contractual requirement by deducting the costed value of the item from the outstanding balance,” Musepa stated.
On the outstanding allowances, the Agency stated that it was still dealing with reported omissions, missed, bouncing and replacements payments.
Musepa stated that its active engagement in resolving the issue of outstanding payments, which included training allowances as well as 40 percent and 60 percent enumeration allowances.
According to Musepa, thorough verification on the Bank statements to identify bouncing cases had been done and the names of those indicated as bounced had been compiled for all the 10 provinces.
Given continued challenges with online payments in some cases the Agency has decided to settle the outstanding payments in cash.
“To this effect money to pay the identified field staff has been sent to all the provincial centres and the Provincial Accountants will pay the enumerators in their respective provinces.
“An initial amount of K2, 894,310 has been disbursed to clear all those claimants whose names have been verified on the bank statement,” Musepa indicated.
Also read: Zambia’s population hits 19.6m, Northwestern scores highest at 74%
On outstanding claims, Zamstats indicated that the identification and verification of all account details for the reported non-payment of the training and field allowances was being continuously resolved.
Further, Musepa stated, Provincial Accountants were also engaging the bank managers for the respective branches to verify that money paid to the enumerators was not in suspense account, without the beneficiaries knowing.
There have been reported cases of monies sitting in suspense accounts.
Meanwhile, Zamstats awaits the completion of the vetting and subsequent recommendations by the security wings for an estimated 300 claimants under the Lusaka district Census redeployment programme.
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