The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) this week engaged journalists from different media houses to help them tell the story behind numbers. 

The engagement focused on supporting media professionals in using and interpreting complex and turning them into compelling narratives that resonate with the broader public. 

"The expected outcome is to have journalism on developmental matters backed up with data. We wanted stories to be written factually and statistically correct, and we just wanted to empower or give journalists an opportunity to enrich their stories with data. That was really the purpose of this, and we just want the nation to be informed correctly and adequately what the census says," said NSA Corporate Affairs Manager, Ipumbu Sakaria.

The NSA, in its 2023 Population and Housing Census report, introduced new data relating to ethnicity data. 

Sakaria also addressed some concerns raised regarding the authenticity of the data, which was introduced because of user demand. 

"We heard a lot of views and opinions from different stakeholders, from different people, and they are not wrong, but it is not the full information. The report they look at lists the tribes with the highest percentages, but it only uses the top 20. So it's a table that indicates the top 20, however the full data is available, it's around. So many of the concerns that are being raised are actually answered in that report. It is just that maybe people did not have the opportunity yet to engage it fully. But all concerns that have been raised, they all recorded."

Sakaria assured the nation that no Namibian was excluded when the data was collected, adding that those who chose not to disclose their sub-tribe were classified as Not Elsewhere Classified.