NADMO conducts simulations to assess readiness for election
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has conducted a pre-election simulation to assess and strengthen its readiness for potential crises in the upcoming general election.
Advertisement
Dubbed "Exercise Stay Safe," the initiative is designed to enhance the capacity of key stakeholders, improve coordination, identify weaknesses in crisis management and ensure that robust systems are in place to mitigate any election-related crises.
The initiative, carried out in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP), took place in three key regions — Northern, Greater Accra and Ashanti, yesterday.
It involved the creation of realistic election scenarios with simulated crises to test response strategies.
These controlled scenarios provided valuable insights to refine NADMO’s preparedness and collaboration with other agencies.
Election crises
The Deputy Director-General of NADMO, Seji Saji, said although the country had generally established a firm perspective in the sub-region for the conduct of a peaceful election and a smooth transition of power, the observable occurrences across the sub-region provided context and lessons necessary for it to prepare towards the mitigation of any fallouts from the election.
“It is worthy of note that Ghana is not immune to electioneering crisis. The differences in personalities, psychological behaviour, ideology, ethnic, religious, political orientations and temperament remain thriving catalysts for election crisis.
“In the recent past, internal party elections and primaries generate violence to considerable proportions. This scenario suggests a situation of more concern, especially where different political parties engage in election with opposing ideologies,” he observed.
Other Trending Stories
“In line with NADMO’s mandate to coordinate agencies and stakeholders towards the management of activities with humanitarian consequences, these simulation exercises are organised to enable us to test our readiness to manage possible election crisis,” Mr Saji said.
UN
The Deputy Country Director for WFP, Anna Mukiibi - Bunaya, commended NADMO and other stakeholders for their unwavering dedication to fostering a peaceful and secure environment as the country prepared for this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
She said the pre-election simulation exercises came at a crucial time as the country prepared for its upcoming elections.
She said elections were not isolated events but complex processes that required comprehensive planning, coordination, and preparedness at all levels of society.
This year, she said, the UN's approach to the elections was more measured.
That, she said, was partly due to the absence of a formal National Assessment Mission (NAM), which had impacted the scope of its involvement in spite of the absence, she said the UN had identified some key areas to support national efforts in the upcoming elections.
That, she said, comprised peace processes and peacebuilding, hate speech, misinformation and disinformation, as well as the safety of journalists.
”Let me express my confidence in Ghana's ability to conduct free, fair, and peaceful elections, drawing from its exemplary track record in democratic governance across the continent.
The UN remains fully committed to supporting Ghana in maintaining peace, security, and democracy throughout the electoral process,” Ms Mukiibi- Bunaya said.