Tension is brewing in Tema between the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and TDC Ghana Limited over the execution of a major government housing project in the metropolis.
The tension escalated on Wednesday, August 12, when the TMA, led by Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) Ebi Bright, allegedly moved to halt and destroy portions of an ongoing government project at Site 3 in Community One.
The Assembly’s action followed a directive issued to TDC Ghana Limited to halt construction and produce the requisite statutory permits for the project.
In a letter dated August 10, 2026, and accompanied by an enforcement notice, the TMA accused TDC Ghana Limited of developing the site on an open space designated for public use.
The Assembly cited Section 91 of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), as well as Sections 113, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 160 and 161 of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925), together with the TMA By-Laws, 2018 on unauthorised development.
The TMA subsequently gave TDC Ghana Limited a seven-day ultimatum to stop work on the project and furnish the Assembly with all statutory permits covering the development.
It warned that failure to comply within the stipulated period would compel the Assembly to exercise its enforcement powers and halt the project.
But TDC Ghana Limited, in a response dated August 11, just a day after receiving the TMA’s letter, pushed back against the Assembly’s position.
The company argued that the TMA’s posture was inconsistent with long-standing institutional arrangements between the two entities governing the execution of government projects in the metropolis.
The TDC Ghana Limited, however, indicated that it would escalate the matter to the relevant statutory bodies for an amicable “inter-institutional” resolution of the concerns raised by the Assembly.
But before the seven-day ultimatum could elapse, the TMA moved in.
On the morning of Wednesday, August 12, the MCE, accompanied by police officers and Assembly staff, allegedly stormed the project site and ordered an immediate halt to construction.
The intervention has effectively brought the government project to a standstill.
The project, being executed by TDC Ghana Limited on behalf of the government of Ghana at Community One, Site 3, Lots 1 and 2, involves the construction of shops and office spaces.
At the time of the Assembly’s intervention, the development was still at the setting-out and site-clearing stage.
The latest confrontation has raised fresh questions about the relationship between the two public institutions and whether the dispute could derail the government’s development plans for the area.
For now, work on the project remains suspended, with uncertainty hanging over when construction will resume and how the permit and land-use concerns raised by the TMA will be resolved.
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