2005 census:

Population figures that do not convince
- Released five years after the census operation, many Cameroonians doubted the authenticity and credibility of the figures contained in the results of the 2005 general census
Will the weaknesses of the 3rd general census of 2005 be corrected in this 4th national population census that has been commanded by the president of the Republic Paul Biya? This is the worrying question that many Cameroonians were asking when the presidential decree calling for the 4th census was signed on 15 September 2005.
    The worries of the population could be expected given that the debates sparked by the results of the 3rd population census organised in 2005 are still on. Many Cameroonians contested the results of the 3rd census as very incredible, doubtful and doctored to suit the expectations of those who commanded it.
    The first worry about the results of the 3rd census was their late release. The results were released five years after the census operations took place. Organised in 2005, the results only came out in 2010.
    More so, the 3rd census that was supposed to be organised in 1997 by virtue of international recommendations was only finally organised in 2005.
    It should be recalled that the first general census in Cameroon was organised in 1976 and the population stood at 7.663 246 people; the second in 1987 gave a population figure of 10 493 655 persons. By international recommendations, the 3rd census was supposed to be organised 10 years after that is, in 1997. It however did not take place, probably due to the financial hardship that hit the country in that period. 
 
    Finally organised in 2005, the 3rd general census produced a population figure of 17 463 836 people. It gave the composition of the population as comprising 8.8.831.800 women and 8.632.036 men. It said more than half of the population were less than 18 years old, with about 43.6% being under 15 years old.
    However, these figures were hardly trusted by Cameroonians. Apart from complains by many Cameroonians that they never saw any census operators counting people on the field, the fact that the results of the operation were only released five years after further cast doubts as to the credibility and veracity of the figures contained in the results.
    Many wondered whether the figures published five years after was the population of Cameroon in 2010 or that of 2005 when the census operation took place.   
    However, drawing from the results of the 2005 census, the National Institute of Statistics extrapolated that Cameroon had a population of 19.406.100 people as of 1st January 2010.   
    Analysing the results of the 3rd census, the statistics institute extrapolated that there was a marked degree of urbanisation, with the number of towns with population above 100.000 persons passing from 6 to 9 between 1987 and 2005. Also it emerged that two cities Douala and Yaounde counted more than 2 million people each.
    But what was surprising to many observers about the results of the 3rd census was the fact that the economic capital Douala with its suffocating population was said to be less populated than Yaounde, the political capital. Also, that the centre region was said to have a bigger population than the Far North and Littoral regions could not be easily believed by many.   
    A fact that was also very worrying about the 2005 census was the refusal by the DG of the counting body BUCREP, Bernadette Mbarga, to submit the results to the then MINEPAT, Augustin Frederic Kodock, even upon the insistence of the latter for the former to do so.
    It should be recalled that like is the case with the just commanded census, the 2005 census was placed under the authority of the MINEPAT. It should also be noted that the results of the 2005 census were only released after Augustin Kodock had been sacked from the MINEPAT and replaced with the ‘more trusted’ Louis Paul Motaze.
    According to political economists, it is very dangerous when census results are faked. This is because it is from such results that important development policies are hinged. Also, census results are depended on to carve out electoral districts and in creating political constituencies.
    That is why it is the hope of many that this 4th general census is done with all sincerity and seriousness and that it should be used to correct the errors and weaknesses that characterized the 3rd census operation in 2005.