Tanzania:NBS conducts statistics law awareness session

By CHRISTINA MSEJA

THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) conducted a one day training session in Dar es Salaam yesterday for various stakeholders, focused on enlightening them on the Statistics Act of 2015 and its operations.

Officiating the opening of the session, the Bureau’s Director General, Dr Albina Chuwa, said the training would deepen the understanding of the participants on official statistics. She pointed out that the legislation had thrust unto the bureau, overall regulatory mandate, adding that the system would facilitate easy accessibility to statistics for the users and reduce barriers across various institutions.
“Under the fundamental principles of official statistics, there would be no barriers in providing accurate and reliable statistics to the public for national development,” she said.
Dr Chuwa remarked further that “…to retain trust in official statistics, the statistical agencies need to act according to strict professional considerations, including scientific and professional ethics, on the methods and procedures for the collection, processing, storage and presentation of statistical data.”
The statistics law of 2015 recognised the presence of different stakeholders in providing official statistics to private sector players, government institutions and also acknowledged that bilateral and multilateral cooperation in statistics contributed to the improvement of official statistics systems in all countries.
She further explained the legislation did not prohibit anyone or any institution to give statistics, but stressed on the pursuit of laid down procedures.