Accra, June 21, GNA - Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister of Information has appealed to the public not to use the results of the 2010 census to segregate the nation. He said the exercise is aimed at counting the actual number of people in the country to ensure effective economic planning by government, adding that nobody should try to influence the figure for the benefit of his or her parochial interest to create unhealthy social cohesion. "The census should unite us, not segregate us," he said at a Youth Colloquium in Accra on Monday, organised by Curious Minds, a youth development non-governmental organisation (NGO), sponsored by United Nations Population Fund.

The colloquium, which formed part of the organisation's quarterly engagement with the youth to deliberate on pressing national issues, was attended by students drawn from various schools within the Accra Metropolis, policy makers, civil society organisations and NGOs. He said evidence had shown that during census, some group of persons comprising ethnic and religious bodies, try to influence the results with the thought that it would give them some level of recognition in society. He therefore, cautioned against such acts to ensure that the exercise is successful.

He appealed to the youth to serve as ambassadors for the Ghana Statistical Service and inform their parents on the impending exercise to ensure that they all enumerated. Dr Grace Bediako, Government Statistician educated the participants on the benefits of the exercise and the processes the enumerators would adopt. Dr Bediako said data on all persons would be safely and securely protected and appealed to the public to avail themselves of the exercise. She urged students to be agents of information dissemination on the exercise. Mr Kingsley Obeng-Kyereh, Executive Co-ordinator of Curious Minds observed that the youth are critical to the success of the census, hence the need to broaden their understanding of the exercise.