The battle for the enviable position of Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) for the Industrial City of Tema, Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) in a period of 4 to 5months of lobbying and campaigning for individuals since the New Patriotic Party won power, came to a successful end with the announcement of Mr. Felix Mensah Nii Anang-La, who was once an Assembly member at TMA, as the President’s nominee for the position.

 

It was electrifying and intense moment for the Assembly members, staff, traditional leaders and the good people of the Tema Metropolitan Area during the confirmation of the President’s nominee of MCE for Tema Metropolis on 12th May. The confirmation event which was a special General Assembly meeting was held at the New Assembly Hall of TMA with the Presiding Member, Hon. Richard Fiadomor, presiding over the Assembly together with the Secretary to the General Assembly, the Metro. Co-ordinating Director, Mr. Emmanuel Abuanor Nortey. There were lots of individuals present which includes; Assembly members, heads of departments, past MCE’s for TMA, traditional leaders, some important dignitaries, party sympathizers, the press among others.

 

Dignitaries and Invited Guests Present at Event

In attendance to witness the event were the Regional Minister, Hon. Ishmael Ashitey; the three (3) Members of Parliament (MP) from Tema, Tema East Constituency MP and Deputy Minister for Transport, Hon. Daniel Titus Glover; Tema West Constituency MP and Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Carlos Ahenkrah; and Tema Central Constituency MP, Hon. Kofi Brako. Also present at the event were Tema Mantse, Nii Adjei Kraku II who was flanged by other Chiefs and Queenmothers from the Tema Traditional Council; the Ewe Chief of Tema, Togbe Datsumoh; the Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr. Ernest Nyagbe; a Representative from the Office of the First Lady of the Republic of Ghana; the confirmed Municipal Chief Executives for Ga West and Ashaiman Municipal Assemblies were equally present. The former MP for Tema West and Majority Leader in Parliament, Hon. Richard Aidoo was equally present.

 

Speeches made by Key Personalities

There were brief speeches from the 3 MPs in Tema, who gave their unflinching support to the endorsement of the nominee, Mr. Felix Mensah Nii Anang-La. They called on all the Assembly members including the government appointees to vote massively for the nominee so at the end, the President of the Republic will be glad that his nominee was well endorsed by all for the progress and development of Tema. A lawyer and former Majority Leader and MP, Hon. Richard Aidoo also gave a brief message to the effect that, he had known the nominee for several years and sees him as his son whom he believes will deliver on the mandate of the Assembly and also fulfil the promises made by the government under H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo.

 

The Regional Minister also gave his speech by intimating that, he recalls political history in Tema, when he used to engage the nominee with his youthful exuberance doing well for the party. He said, “he has the strongest believe the nominee is a positive minded gentleman and will put his ideas for the transformation of the Tema Metropolis”. Hon. Ishmael Ashitey added that he has been to 11 Assemblies within Greater Accra Region and all the nominees there had attained 100% endorsement. He therefore admonished all the Assembly members to give the nominee a resounding endorsement for the good of the Assembly and for peace and development to prevail in Tema.

 

Confirmation/Endorsement of the MCE

In conformity with the standing orders of the Assembly, the Electoral Commission (EC) in Tema was mandated to conduct the voting exercise for the confirmation of the nominee. The voting therefore began at exactly 11:00am. Statistically, there were 38 elected Assembly members from various electoral areas and 9 Government appointees making a total of 47 members of the Assembly who were qualified and present at the hall to cast their vote. A member of the Assembly present during voting was required to vote either “Yes’ or “No” to endorse the nominee or otherwise.

 

At the end of voting which lasted for only 24minutes, counting of ballots and declaration of results was nearly marred with chaos and disturbances. It was reported that, 1 ballot paper which was believed to be a “No” vote was found missing. This took the intervention of the Police, the Regional Minister, the Presiding Member, the MPs present among others to calm tensions and allow the EC to declare the results. The total votes cast was 47 and out that 46 voted “Yes” and only 1 voted “No”. The nominee, Mr. Felix Mensah Nii Anang-La was confirmed by attaining 97.9% of the votes cast.

 

Victory Speech and Laying Foundation for Restoration Agenda

In laying down his vision and ideas for the good people of Tema, Hon. Nii Anang-La gave his powerful speech in a strong voice to the gathering at the Assembly hall as part of his victory speech. He first found it as a privilege to be nominated by His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of the Republic of Ghana to the office of MCE for Tema. He equally thanked the Assembly members for confirming him and also praised the Chiefs of the Tema Traditional Council and concerned people of Tema for the resounding support he received to serve them in the capacity as the Metropolitan Chief Executive for TMA.

 

The new MCE also acknowledged the purposive support of the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Hon. Ishmael Ashitey as his father and mentor. He believes his fatherly advice, care and support have made him to attain this height. Special acknowledgement and thanks were equally extended to all the Members of Parliament and Tema Mantse particularly for the greatest of support provided him.

 

From his speech, the new MCE spelt out his modest but ambitious vision, plans and ideas in transforming the once enviable city of Tema into what he describes as the “Tema Restoration Agenda”. According to the new MCE, the agenda will encompass various aspects and address challenges affecting the Assembly which will include; vigorously working with the NPP government’s priority of creating jobs and opportunities for all, strong revenue mobilization, tackling sanitation challenges, dealing with development planning and monitoring, and also implement government’s high impact development projects and initiatives.

 

Sanitation Agenda

As part of the drive for the restoration agenda, the MCE believes sanitation is a critical aspect of human existence and strongly feels the Assembly will have to champion the course of providing residents with a clean and hygienic environment in the Metropolis. He assured that, Tema Metropolis will work hard in the spirit of joining the proud cities being touted as the cleanest cities in Africa as was profoundly made by the President of the Republic of Ghana.

 

Physical Development Agenda

In line with the uncontrolled physical development in the Metropolis which poses extreme risk to the security of residents, the MCE believes the Assembly needs to adopt proactive measures to curb the menace and congestion of uncontrolled development defacing the once beautiful city of Tema. He indicated that, the springing up of uncontrolled and illegal structures will be adequately dealt with.

New Public Management

The MCE was emphatic that under his tenure, he will adopt best management practices to move the agenda of the Government forward and also provide better livelihood empowerment initiatives for the good people of Tema. By adopting and leveraging on the principles of “New Public Management” programme in the execution of his mandate in office, the MCE was certain, the Assembly will demonstrate innovative approach to customer service, efficiency and professionalism in order to actualize the Tema Metropolitan Assembly’s aspiration of achieving “a modern and world-class metropolis where individuals and businesses enjoy the benefits of reliable and professional service delivery standards”..

 

To a large extent, the confirmation event ended peacefully with the new MCE admonishing all including; Assembly members, staff, business owners, corporate institutions, individuals living and working in the Tema Metropolis to rally behind him – by putting their shoulders to the wheel of development and progress towards the attainment of his vision: “Tema Restoration Agenda”.