Tema Traditional Council reiterates appeal for indigene to be appointed MCE

The Tema Traditional Council on Wednesday appealed to the government not to appoint a non-indigene as the MCE for Tema.

The council members who made the appeal at a press conference said it was about time traditional consideration was given a priority in the appointment of MCE for Tema.

Nii Amarh Sompuno II, Spokesperson for the Council and Tema Shipi, said it was sad that despite losing their occupation by giving their lands out, the government was also bent on giving the MCE position to a non-indigene.

He said even though Tema West and Ashaiman were also under its paramountcy non-natives were MCEs in the two areas therefore it was not out of place for them to insist on at least getting one of their own for the Tema Metropolis where the Council was located.

According to him, Tema can also boast of natives with good educational backgrounds who were also activists of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) therefore there was no justification to bypass such persons for another tribe to head the TMA.

Giving a brief history of Tema, he said in 1952, the government acquired about 32 square miles of its lands making them lose their ancestral home and farmlands,a situation that led to them relocating to Tema Newtown and losing their livelihood.

He added that the government then ceded most of their lands for industries without anticipating its effect on their occupation, these lands he said were given to the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority, TDC Development Company Limited with part used for their resettlement.

According to him, part of the land given to them for resettlement was also used for the construction of the Eastern Naval Base and the West Africa Gas Pipeline without any form of replacement.

He said all the industries situated on their lands often import labour from other parts of the country whenever there were recruiting, stating for instance that recently when the GPHA recruited about 380 workers for its security and fire departments, the Council was given only two slots for the teeming unemployed youth.