National Census Delay Opens a New Fight Over Who Controls the Facts

National Census Delay Opens a New Fight Over Who Controls the Facts

Jun 7 , 2026. By NAHOM AYELE ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

The Ministry of Planning & Development advanced the first major amendments to statistics laws in two decades. The legislative scramble reveals a deep institutional deficit where the country has been operating without an updated population and housing census since its last count in 2007. The draft law dissolves the long-standing Statistics Council, which included representatives from regional states and two city administrations, in favour of a centralised framework under the Ethiopian Statistics Services (ESS).

The long-delayed census has returned to Parliament not as a counting exercise, but as a fight over who should command the country’s numbers.

The Ministry of Planning & Development has introduced amendments to the laws governing statistics for the first time in two decades, sending the revised legislation to federal lawmakers after securing the Council of Ministers' nod. The bill comes as the country continues to operate without an updated census for population and housing, nearly two decades after the last count in 2007. It has left public institutions, researchers, and policymakers working with competing estimates of the country’s population at a time of acute demand for reliable and nationally credible demographic baselines.

The Council of Ministers reviewed the draft proclamation weeks earlier. On June 4, 2026, with Parliament's legal term a day away from expiring, lawmakers held a general meeting dominated by approvals of legislation and referrals of bills to standing committees. The draft law on statistics was sent to the Planning, Budget & Finance Affairs Standing Committee, chaired by Desalegn Wodajo, for review.

Presenting the bill, Tesfaye Beljige (PhD), the government’s chief whip, framed the reform as an attempt to restore credibility to official statistics. According to him, the bill seeks to improve the quality of public data, ensure professional independence, separate regulatory and executive functions, and institutionalise stronger coordination mechanisms within the National Statistical System (NSS).

"The draft law would help support priority development agendas and accelerate national growth by creating a framework capable of collecting, compiling, analysing and disseminating timely, quality-assured official statistics," Tesfaye told lawmakers, whose term in the legislative chamber is soon to be over.

The bill's most visible institutional change is the removal of the Statistics Council, a body established under the existing law and composed of representatives from federal institutions, regional states and the two city administrations. The Council has been mandated to review the implementation of national statistical programs and to approve strategies for creating and maintaining statistical databases, particularly those derived from administrative records and registration systems. Regional governments have also participated in overseeing these activities and contributed to the work of the statistical authority.

The bill replaces this arrangement with a more centralised governance structure, giving the Ethiopian Statistics Services (ESS) greater authority to coordinate and standardise the production of official statistics. It places heavier emphasis on nationally harmonised statistical standards, coordinated data production and central oversight, while seeking to reduce conflicting figures produced by different public institutions.

Critics argue that the shift could narrow the space for generating parallel regional data. According to a senior government official at the Ministry of Planning & Development, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly, the change was partly designed to minimise data inconsistencies among government institutions.

"It will address institutional conflicts of interest and promote a more cooperative relationship among data-producing institutions,". “If regions prepare data independently without the knowledge of the central statistical authority, the data may not be accurate. This is particularly sensitive in official census operations where demographic variables such as population, ethnicity and religion can become contentious. The new bill is intended to minimise such conflicts and strengthen the reliability of official statistics.”

In place of the Council, the draft proclamation introduces an Ethiopian Statistical Board. The Board will serve as the highest oversight body of the ESS and will report directly to the Office of the Prime Minister. Both the Chairperson and Board members, who would serve for three years, would be appointed by the Prime Minister. The Board would have nine members, excluding the Director General of the ESS. Its members would be drawn from public agencies as well as academic and research institutions. The bill requires members to have recognised expertise in statistics, economics, population studies, or data science.

The appointment structure is likely to draw eyebrows. A national statistical authority is expected to operate autonomously from political influence and produce reliable official statistics. However, the bill's authors place the appointment role in the Prime Minister’s Office, raising questions among critics about neutrality, institutional independence and the credibility of official data.

Samuel Hailu, a former employee of the Ethiopian Statistical Service and current secretariat head of the Ethiopian Statistical Association (ESA), welcomed several elements of the bill but questioned its governance model.

“The Prime Minister appointing the Board members and the Director General could undermine the neutrality and independence of the Service,” he told Fortune.

Samuel argued that the institution should instead be established as an independent body accountable to federal lawmakers, rather than reporting to the Prime Minister’s Office through the executive. His concern cuts to the centre of the reform that a stronger statistical authority can produce more coherent data without concentrating too much influence within the institution that defines the country’s official facts.

The debate is sharpened by Ethiopia’s census vacuum. The country last conducted a national census almost two decades ago, its third national census. Since then, no subsequent national count has been completed. The gap has forced officials and institutions to rely on varying estimates, with government representatives often citing different figures when referring to the country’s population size.

PUBLISHED ON Jun 07,2026 [ VOL 27 , NO 1362]