In the heart of Tema, Community One, where the machinery of local governance should function with order and dignity, disorder has taken root.
The Tema Community Centre, part of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) complex, once a symbol of civic engagement, has degenerated into a chaotic mix of governance and informal enterprise.
The centre, which houses vital state institutions such as the District Court, National Disaster and Management Organisation (NADMO), National Youth Authority (NYA), Business Advisory Centre (BAC) and other departments, such as the Motor Court, now shares its premises with drinking bars, chop bars, salons, sewing shops and makeshift stores.
Some of these structures have encroached on offices originally meant for official departments or sanitary facilities, while others are wooden structure extensions attached to the main building.
The environment paints a disheartening picture of institutional decay and lax enforcement.
Staff of some of these agencies working in the complex have described as undignified the daily struggle they have to go through accessing their offices as undignified.
Even basic sanitary amenities within the complex have been compromised, with some TMA workers reportedly walking to the nearby Community One Market to use public toilets.
“My Lady can barely squeeze past all these to access her chambers. She cannot help but stare at the Akpeteshie business, as she performs her service to this nation, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Tema,” Ebi Bright, who toured the facility, said, referring to the Presiding Judge of the District Court.
Eviction
Determined to address the situation, the MCE has taken a bold step by declaring the complex and other specific public areas within the metropolis as security zones, prohibiting such unauthorised activities around government installations.
As part of the assembly's “Tema Facelift Campaign”, the MCE led a task force of the assembly to evict the illegal occupants of the structures, after five months' notification had elapsed.
Ms Bright explained that the move was aimed at safeguarding public infrastructure, restoring order and reinforcing the authority of local governance.
“This is not just about clearing traders,” she asserted. We must maintain security, protect lives, enhance social infrastructure, uphold law and order and restore dignity to our nation,” she added.
She said the eviction formed part of a citywide beautification and reorganisation drive aimed at restoring order and dignity to Ghana’s first planned city.
The “Tema Facelift Campaign” has already seen the reorganisation and beautification of the spaces beside the assembly’s main office complex.
The MCE said the exercise marked the first visible step in a broader effort to reclaim public spaces, remove illegal structures and enforce development control throughout the metropolis.
"Tema was built as Ghana’s first planned city — and we are determined to keep it that way,” she said.
Background
Tema, Ghana’s first planned city, in the late 1950s, was designed to promote industrial growth, efficient housing and green urban living.
Over the years, however, uncontrolled developments, encroachments and neglect have compromised that original vision.
The assembly has also hinted at extending the facelift campaign to other parts of the metropolis, targeting public spaces, transport terminals and unauthorised structures.
Writer’s email: benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh
