By Laudia Sawer
Tema, April 15, GNA – Residents of Tema Metropolis are experiencing an uneasy calm as different groupings push for the president to nominate their favourite candidate as the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).
The metropolis, which is made up of the Tema East and Tema Central Constituencies, houses the Tema Traditional Council, Tema Port, Fishing Harbour, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), the West Africa Gas Pipeline, and many private institutions and industries.
Even though no official communication has been released from the presidency on the nominees, the Tema Traditional Council has reiterated their call for an indigene to be appointed to the position to help protect their culture and traditions.
To back the calls of the traditional leaders, priestesses clad in red stormed the premises of the TMA, singing traditional war songs, pouring libation and breaking eggs to invoke the spirits of their ancestors to intervene.
According to them, even though no announcement has been made, they have discerned spiritually that a non-Indigenous person was being considered for the position.
Meanwhile, several groups have held press conferences to call on the president to nominate people they deemed fit for the position.
One of the groups, calling itself the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Tema Central grassroots, has called on the president to nominate Ms. Sedina Matanawui as the Tema MCE, noting that she would unite the entire metropolis.
Mr. Emmanuel Hans Anane, a member of the group, appealed to the traditional council and the people of Tema to look at the contributions of the family of Ms. Matanawui and herself to the growth of Tema and support her nomination.
He also called on stakeholders and the party members of Tema East and Tema Central to plead with the president to nominate her as the grassroots choice for the MCE position.
Another group named the Concerned Non-Indigenes of Tema has reaffirmed their respect for the natives of Tema, noting that they have co-existed for many years and must therefore not allow political appointments to divide the residents.
According to them, there is no record of any NDC appointee who is not an indigene exhibiting any disdain and disrespect to the Tema natives or the traditional council, indicating that they do not foresee any non-indigene MCE appointee disrespecting them.
The NDC Tema Central Executive Committee has also called for peace, unity and non-divisiveness in the appointment of an MCE, stressing that all stakeholders must refrain from actions, statements, or demonstrations that might incite division or disrupt the peace and harmony of the harbour cum industrial city.
The committee added that the selection and appointment of an MCE was a constitutional mandate bestowed upon the president, guided by consultations and in the best interest of the people, and therefore they trust in the wisdom and leadership of the president to appoint a competent, visionary, and inclusive leader who would serve the people of Tema with integrity, fairness, and commitment to development.
GNA
LS/BM