The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has suggested it may be helpless in supporting people in the event of a conflict arising out of this year’s general elections.
It says although it has put in place a contingency plan for the December 7 elections, it is unable to carry out a nationwide simulation exercise to test an aspect of it due to lack of funds.
National Coordinator of NADMO, Brigadier Francis Vib-Sanziri, told Winston Amoah, host of 3FM’s Sunrise morning show, that it is critical for NADMO to rehearse its contingency plan as part of preparations for the December 7 elections.
“We have completed a contingency plan, and I want to conduct a nationwide simulation exercise of that plan, but that’s my challenge. A plan is not effective until it is implemented, simulated or rehearsed,” he said.
He added: “It is a contingency to help us know what to do when something goes wrong in the elections, with conflict and movement and displacement of people.
The police and other security agencies will have their role to play to stem the tide.
“But mass movement of people away from conflict zone will create a displacement of people; how does NADMO take care of that, that’s a humanitarian issue,” he asked.”
He noted the Organization doesn’t have the needed logistics for any eventuality, saying “the plan has a financial component that must be implemented”.
Brigadier Vib-Sanziri said they have reached out to the UNDP to help them to undertake the simulation exercise. “I have written to the UNDP appealing to them to support us to simulate that contingency plan and I hope they will.
“If we do the exercise, it will bring up the e expectations of how to address issues when they come up. We don’t have to wait for the issues to happen before we run around procuring logistics,” he said.
He expressed the hope that the UNDP which is one of its formidable supporters would continue to support them.
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