The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has pledged the support of the legislature to the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHS) and has called on all citizens to participate in the national exercise.

The Speaker, who was among the first personalities to be counted in the exercise on Monday morning, said the exercise is necessary for planning, budgeting and coordination of state response to the challenges facing the development of the country.

“The population and housing census is so critical to survival - quality of life - and the development of the country. I therefore call on every body to stand up and be counted,” he said.

Speaker Bagbin said Members of Parliament (MPs) would be deployed to their various constituencies to actively participate, mobilise, educate and sensitise their constituents on the ongoing exercise.

He noted that five post-independent censuses were conducted in the country in 1960, 1970, 1984, 2000 and 2010 with the last two consisting of both a population census and a housing census making the 2021 PHC the third Population and Housing Census to be conducted in the country.