Police in Luwero district have arrested an enumerator over the theft of a tablet ahead of a census exercise on Thursday.

Uganda Bureau of Statistics has deployed 1532 enumerators and 192 supervisors in Luwero district for the National Population Census scheduled to start on Thursday, May 10, 2024. Each enumerator has been given tablets to record the data of residents during the exercise.

However, hours into the exercise, a tablet designated for the enumeration of residents of Kikube village in Luwero sub county has been stolen.

Richard Ssimbwa, the LC 3 Chairperson of Luwero sub county says that the tablet was allegedly stolen last night from the home of the enumerator who is residing in Bukalasa zone, Wobulenzi town.

Ssimbwa said that the matter has been reported to the Police and district to trace the whereabouts of the tablet or replace it to ensure the exercise is not affected.

John Ojokuna, the Luwero District Police Commander said that upon getting the report from the sub county leadership, Police arrested Marvis Wamuzigo the enumerator for the village to explain how the tablet was stolen.

Ojokuna added that Wamuzigo is being detained at Luwero Central Police Station as investigations into the matter go on.

Richard Bwabye, the Luwero Resident District Commissioner said that enumerators have been advised to keep all the gadgets at nearby Police Stations in case they have no security at home to avert the cases of theft of government property.

Luwero District and UBOS are yet to comment on the matter but the local authorities have already indicated that Wamuzigo and the tablet will be replaced to ensure the exercise goes on as planned. Luwero district and UBOS have registered 36 reserve enumerators in case of any emergency.

Uganda Bureau of Statistics has recruited 114,460 enumerators and 18,483 supervisors across the country to conduct the exercise starting tomorrow.