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Census start, but many not counted

The 1999 census kicked off on Tuesday night in what President Daniel arap Moi called the "best ever" in terms of its planning. However, on Wednesday thousands of people from estates surrounding the capital, Nairobi, reported they "did not see the enumerators" and were not counted. Those in a few estates, particularly the sprawling slums, said they had been counted. Although the government has assured the public of its measures to ensure security during the process, which continues to 31 August, people are "worried" because of rising crime. "We have mobilised virtually all uniformed forces, apart from the army, to assist in ensuring security for both the public and the enumerators," Nairobi's Provincial Commissioner and national census officer Cryus Maina was quoted by the 'Daily Nation' newspaper as saying. The census, conducted every decade, is intended to help government planning for socio-economic advancement by mapping social and economic factors in the population social as well as demographic trends. Power rationing to start in September Energy Minister Francis Masakhalia announced on Tuesday that his ministry will start rationing power from September, a move which he said was necessitated by the failure of the long rains between March and June. The rationing will affect some 480,000 consumers countrywide, with power cuts lasting four to five hours at a time. Masakhalia said the poor rains had left water levels in Kenya's three main energy reservoirs very low, but promised that essential services and installations such as hospitals, schools, military sites and vital industries like oil refineries would not be affected by the cuts.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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