Author: Nicholas Akussah
As part of the measures aimed at mitigating election-related violence, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) and National Peace Council has successfully launched the Election Situation Room, ESR.
The Election Situation Room is an integral part of the Electoral Violence Monitoring, Analysis, Mitigation ( E-MAM) project which is designed to curb election violence in 12 West African countries through National Early Warning Systems (NEWS).
The ESR comprises five operational sections: the Data Gathering Room, Analysis Room, Decision Room, Fact-Checking Room and Communication Room.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, 6th December, 2024 chairman of the Election Situation Room, Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu Gyamfi highlighted the need for the sustainability of the Election Situation Room.
According to him, Five hundred and ten (510) accredited observers, including 319 observers from WANEP, have been deployed mainly to 276 priorities “very high-risk” to “medium-risk” constituencies across Ghana’s 16 regions and 191 deployed by the NPC across all the regions.
He mentioned that, these observes will use a checklist comprising 63 questions, divided into six forms, to monitor voting processes within their assigned areas.
“Reports will be submitted through a Geospatial Information System (GIS) designed for this purpose. Additional updates will be received via dedicated whatsapp channels and phone calls between the situation room and field observers”, he revealed.
He again stated that, due to the ideals of peace and cohesion, the ESR is committed to observing the ethics, integrity and transparency of the electoral process to prevent violence and human rights violations.
Despite the challenges raised prior to the elections, the ESR recommended that the EC continue to maintain communication with stakeholders throughout the election period, National election security taskforce encouraged to continue to uphold the principles of neutrality, impartiality and professionalism.
He added that the National Communication Authority, Ghana Journalists Association and the National Media Commission encourage their members to respect the ethics of the journalism profession and refrain from disseminating information that could exacerbate tensions and among others.
The Executive director of WANEP, Levinia Addae-Mensah emphasized that the ESR is not an activity but the culmination of a series of activities that began last year.
She expressed gratitude to the European Union for their funding across the 12 West African countries including Ghana, to the Australian Development agency and the Swedish International Development Corporation Agency for funding WANEP’s operations.
The Election Situation Room, supported by the European Union and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and with complimentary funding from the Governments of Sweden, Austria and United Kingdom.
The Election Situation Room will make opening and closing statements on election day, a preliminary statement to the public Sunday, 8th December, 2034 and a general report at the end of electoral process.
