National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust has announced plans to set up a situation room to enable its observers virtually registers issues noted during the September 16 General Election.
Nice Trust executive director Grey Kalindekafe, speaking in an interview on the sidelines of an observers training of trainers workshop in Lilongwe yesterday, said the situation room will complement the observer role the trust will play as part of their mandated role.
Situation Room. | Courtesy of Women’s Manifesto
“Stakeholders can visit the situation room and if they find that there is an anomaly that has been entered by our observers, they can use the same platform to intervene,” he said.
In his remarks, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Malawi chief technical advisor on elections Isaack Otieno said that the Situation Room is an evidence-based hub that turns citizen observation into verified, timely information for public accountability and rapid response.
He said through the platform, Nice Trust is strengthening a culture of accuracy, impartiality and inclusion.
Otieno said that operationally, the situation room is national in scope but its strength depends on local reach which includes constituencies, wards, district centres, polling centres and the digital channels.
The training cascaded from the national hub to local levels to ensure that every corner of the country becomes part of a trusted observation network.
