Tema Development Company and TMA clash over land authority

A legal and jurisdictional dispute has emerged between the Tema Development Company Limited (TDC) and the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) following the demolition of parts of a housing project at Community 1, Site 3.

The conflict began in early August when the TMA issued a stop-work order and an enforcement notice against TDC. On August 12, the TMA task force demolished portions of the development after receiving resident complaints regarding the felling of trees, the appropriation of green belts, and the obstruction of local access.

TMA Metropolitan Chief Executive Ebi Bright maintains that the Assembly holds the statutory authority for planning and enforcement under the Local Governance Act, the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, and the 1992 Constitution. She asserts that TDC's land management does not exempt it from complying with metropolitan development permits.

In response, TDC Managing Director Courage Nunekpeku argues that the company possesses an independent statutory mandate to plan and develop Tema, citing its origins in the 1952 Tema Development Corporation Ordinance. TDC contends that its long-standing institutional arrangements with other local assemblies have functioned without such interference, and the matter is now headed toward a legal standoff involving the Presidency.