President John Dramani Mahama has ordered an urgent review of the country\u2019s disaster preparedness and emergency response systems following recurring floods, market fires and other emergencies, a presidential adviser has said.<\/p>\n
Ernest Brogya Genfi, Presidential Adviser on National Resilience and Emergency Preparedness, announced the directive at a high-level symposium marking the 2026 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.<\/p>\n
The assessment, to be conducted by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on National Resilience and Emergency Preparedness (NAREP), will inform the development of a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen disaster prevention, response and recovery.<\/p>\n
Brogya Genfi said the initiative would establish a coordinated framework to improve Ghana\u2019s capacity to anticipate, manage and recover from disasters.<\/p>\n
The directive follows a series of emergencies that have claimed lives, displaced residents and caused significant damage to homes, businesses and public infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Heavy rainfall on 29 June triggered flooding in several parts of Accra, including Weija, Mallam, Achimota, Spintex, Teshie and Kwame Nkrumah Circle, disrupting transport and leaving commuters stranded.<\/p>\n
Flooding in Hohoe, following the overflow of the Dayi River, also displaced residents, damaged property and disrupted livelihoods.<\/p>\n
Fires have added to the losses, with outbreaks at Kumasi Central Market on 9 and 11 October and destroying merchandise and damaging 35 commercial stalls. A separate blaze at Accra\u2019s North Industrial Area also caused extensive property damage.<\/p>\n
Brogya Genfi said such disasters disproportionately affected traders, small business owners and vulnerable households, many of whom lost their investments and livelihoods within hours.<\/p>\n
He cited the incidents, alongside past tragedies including the 3 June 2015 disaster at Accra\u2019s Kwame Nkrumah Circle and the 2022 Appiatse explosion, as evidence of the need for a coordinated national approach to disaster risk reduction.<\/p>\n
NAREP will begin consultations with key institutions and stakeholders next month to develop a strategy addressing existing vulnerabilities and strengthening national resilience, he said.<\/p>\n
The consultations will involve government ministries and agencies, local assemblies, security and emergency services, development partners, academics, civil society groups, the private sector, traditional authorities and community leaders.<\/p>\n
Brogya Genfi said their contributions would help improve institutional coordination, risk governance and emergency preparedness.<\/p>\n
Speaking under the theme \u201cResilience Starts at Home\u201d, he also called for stronger household preparedness, accessible early-warning systems and better urban flood-risk management.<\/p>\n
He urged improvements to drainage infrastructure, regular desilting of waterways, effective land-use planning and stricter enforcement of building regulations to reduce flooding.<\/p>\n
The proposed strategic plan is expected to provide a unified framework for disaster prevention, preparedness, response and recovery, while protecting lives, livelihoods, critical infrastructure and national development gains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President John Dramani Mahama has ordered an urgent review of the country\u2019s disaster preparedness and emergency response systems following recurring floods, market fires and other emergencies, a presidential adviser has said. Ernest Brogya Genfi, Presidential Adviser on National Resilience and Emergency Preparedness, announced the directive at a high-level symposium marking the 2026 International Day for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123458,"featured_media":17946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17947,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17945\/revisions\/17947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}