The fourth national census has been postponed for the third time indefinitely due to the impact of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It was postponed during a joint session of the parliament and the House of Federation held at the end of last week. The session, which was attended by 292 MPs and 119 members of the House of Federation, was chaired by the newly appointed speaker of the House of Federation, Adem Farah. Five attendees opposed the postponement, while 13 more abstained. Tagesse Chafo, the speaker of the parliament, explained that the nature of the virus hinders any large-scale movement throughout the country. The census was first scheduled to be held in November 2017; however, it was postponed again to March 2018 due to public unrest and violence in the country. The instability led to the internal displacement of people, forcing the census back to April 2019.
