Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, says the ongoing Population and Housing Census (PHC) is for national planning and development.

He said the exercise had no political connotations and asked the public to reject such misinformation.

Mr Ablakwa, who was speaking to the media after touring some part of his constituency, called on everyone to ensure that the exercise was done in the spirit of national unity and achieve the needed result.

He said interaction with some field officers revealed that some people were not cooperating with the enumerators because they thought the exercise aimed at identifying people, especially people purported to be linked to the secessionists' group.

Mr Ablakwa said these conspiracy theories had no basis and urged the populace to ignore them and avail themselves to be counted.

The MP said accurate and reliable data was a sine qua non for pursuing a scientific development, therefore, the PHC was essential to obtain such data for national planning and development.