Photo: Ephraim Nsingo/IPS

Voting (file photo): Mr Mapeta said enumerators and supervisors who took part in the 12-day exercise would be paid part of the money while Government mobilises resources to pay outstanding funds.

THE payment of full allowances for 2012 census enumerators is now in doubt as Government is concentrating on raising salaries for civil servants.

Finance Ministry principal director Mr Pfungwa Kunaka said Treasury was trying to strike a balance between raising money for salaries and paying the enumerators.

He described the delay in paying enumerators as a "cash-flow management issue".

"We also have salaries to pay and this means we have to strike a balance between paying the salaries and paying their allowances. We are looking for the money to pay them."

Mr Kunaka however, said the enumerators were likely to be paid "something" this month.

"We gave them the first payment through the US$8 million we released to Zimstats and we will make another payment this month once we strike the balance."

Government released US$8 million soon after the 10-day exercise, with the enumerators being paid US$150 each. They were reportedly promised US$500 each.

About US$10 million is needed to pay the 31 000 enumerators and 10 450 supervisors.

The enumerators have since raised complaints over delays in the payments. They claim that they used their own money for transport and other expenses thinking Government would pay them on time.

Most enumerators were drawn from the education sector.

Population Census director Mr Washington Mapeta yesterday said Zimstats was still receiving material from various centres.

"We are still getting the papers from the field and once we finalise that we will move to the next stage," he said.

The United Nations Population Fund released US$12 million for administration of the census.

The census was riddled with problems from the start.

The exercise, which was scheduled to start on August 17, only got underway the following day in some areas due to logistical challenges.

The process was also affected by late disbursement of materials, while transport shortages had a bearing on the deployment of officers in remote areas.

The population census will provide data on the demographic and related socio-economic characteristics of the population at national and sub-national levels.

It is also used for planning and implementing development programmes such as housing, provision of water and sanitation.

Zimbabwe holds a census after every 10 years and the first census was held in 1982.