It is these reports that would reveal the full economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Kenyans need to know the institutions or individuals who are delaying this very important activity.
Under the law, the agency is mandated with collecting, analysing, storing and releasing economic surveys among other statistics.
The step by Parliament to probe the delayed release of critical data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) is welcome.
The National Assembly wants to know the reasons for the delay and non-release of official statistics including the annual Economic Survey 2021, Leading Economic Indicators report, the Quarterly Gross Domestic Product report, quarterly jobs report and other official statistics.
Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has directed the Finance and National Planning Committee to file a response to the House within the next 14 days.
Many investors and government institutions rely on data from the agency whose dates are well known if not cast in stone to plan and make important decisions.
The reports also guide international partners in policy making and assessing the impact of various programmes. The delayed release of the critical reports by the agency, therefore, is hurting the economy in many ways.
It is these reports that would reveal the full economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Kenyans need to know the institutions or individuals who are delaying this very important activity.
Under the law, the agency is mandated with collecting, analysing, storing and releasing economic surveys among other statistics.
Therefore, any attempt to block the agency from undertaking its role is unconstitutional and should be exposed.
Inconsistency in releasing data could raise doubts over the credibility of the information collected.
Because statistics do not lie, it behoves the agency to make sure that its work and processes are beyond reproach.
It is important that we have the true picture of the impact of coronavirus on the economy to inform recovery measures that will be taken by various bodies and individuals that use data from the KNBS to lead.
Kenya should use lessons from the developed countries that have been active in providing real-time data to government agencies, private sector and non-profit organisations as they battle the economic fallout from Covid-19.
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