National Disaster Management Organization
The National Disaster Management Organisation is the government agency that is responsible for the management of disasters as well as other emergencies in Ghana. The board operates under Ghana's Ministry of Interior.
History
Ghana formed the National Disaster Management Organisation in 1996, backed by an act of Parliament to manage disasters and emergencies. This was after Ghana had responded to the United Nations Declaration GAD 44/236 of 1989 declaring 1990 to 1999 as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.NADMO is part of the Ghana Ministry of Interior. The board was chaired by Dr. G. K. Dei at the time was the Commanding Officer of the country's 37 military hospital. The board included representatives from the Ministries of Health, Finance, Social Welfare, Interior, Information, National Mobilization Programme, Ghana Armed Forces, and non-governmental organizations, among others.
Prior to the formation of NADMO, the National Mobilization Programme—set up after the 1982-1983 crises of drought, bushfires, famine, and the deportation of 1.2 million Ghanaians from Nigeria—served as the implementing agency of the Disaster Relief Committee. After the formation, Kofi Portuphy, a member of the Relief Committee who had been instrumental in coordinating the drafting of the Act, became the first National Coordinator of NADMO.
Below is a table of all the Director Generals of NADMO:
Year | Director General | |
1 | Jan 1997 − June 2001 | Kofi Portuphy |
2 | June 2001 − August 2006 | Brigadier General Joseph Odei |
3 | August 2006 − December 2007 | Hon George Isaac Amoo |
4 | January 2007 − December 2009 | DCOP Douglas Akrofi Asiedu |
5 | January 2009 − May 2015 | Kofi Portuphy |
6 | May 2015 – March 2017 | Brig Gen Francis Vib Sanziri |
7 | March 2017 − | Eric Nana Agyeman-Prempeh |
Functions
NADMO performs specific functions which are all aimed at ensuring that in times of emergency, the government is ready to support relief efforts. These functions are:- Rehabilitation services for victims of disasters
- Mobilization of people at various levels of society to support governmental programmes
- Ensuring the preparedness of the country in the management of disasters
- Coordinating the activities of various governmental and non-governmental agencies in the management of disasters.