As Ghanaians and the entire African continent celebrate the centenary birthday of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, many people would be reminded of his vision to lay a solid foundation for the country's infrastructure.
Tema was built to represent the 'treasure island' of the country, and powered by a well-planned layout, modern housing project, vibrant port, manufacturing industries and a first-class motorway to link it to Accra, the seat of government.
This vision brought about the slogan 'Nkrumah Never Dies' as it was sang in the days of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) to herald his vision, which was thought to be the springboard for the country’s national development.
Though the entire country benefited from the hydro power projects, industrialisation, schools, ports, health and agricultural programmes, Tema formed the bedrock of most of the programmes.
The slogan 'Nkrumah never dies' might never cease while referring to Dr Kwame Nkrumah, this famous son of Africa and Ghana in particular, his vision and ideals, which carried civilisation and development across the length and breadth of Africa and the world as well.
The celebration and remembrance of Dr Nkrumah’s centenary will also rekindle the memory of those contemporaries to enlighten the youth and give them the opportunity to learn about the vision of this great son of Ghana and Africa.
As of now, many people (not only the youth) do not know how Tema came to be and how it blossomed during and after the industrial revolution launched by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Launching the centenary celebrations, the Vice-President, Mr John Mahama, praised Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah for laying a solid foundation for the country's infrastructure, adding that the many schools, roads, ports, health facilities, a hydro power project and his vigorous industrialisation formed the nucleus of a vision he had for Ghana.
Mr Mahama suggested that there was no tribute to pay Dr Nkrumah than to keep his name and works continuously aflame.
The success story of Tema, which was not achieved on a silver platter, needed to be kept ablaze because Dr Nkrumah incurred the displeasure of some landowners to fulfil his intention of building an industrial city to help transform Ghana from external dependency to a state of self dependence.
The realisation of these ideals started in the 1950s when he had the foresight and idea to develop Tema because of its location and the benefits that the country could accrue from the resources available at the time.
Dr Kwame Nkrumah's determination was to develop the Tema harbour as his major brain child to enable the country to take delivery of the heavy equipment and materials for the construction of the Akosombo dam to generate energy.
He also realised that the workforce would need accommodation on site, and therefore, set up the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) to develop the township.
The Ghana Cargo Handling Company and the Ghana Ports Authority, which handled cargo at the Tema port, were later merged to become the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, now the mother of all handling companies at the port.
Dr Nkrumah spread his vision further and was instrumental in initiating the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) project and the then Ghana -Italian Petroleum Company (GHAIP) now the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
The Cocoa Products Company, now the Cocoa Processing Company, was to become a giant cocoa company with several operational sectors but Dr Nkrumah could not accomplish his vision for the project before he was overthrown in the 1966 coup d'etat.
The giant silos, which were to form the basis for the vision for cocoa processing project, have been abandoned on the premises of the company in the industrial area of Tema.
To date, no one has been able to tell the uses of the silos, which were said to have been installed by some Russians. Whether they were for storage purposes or for any other use remains a mystery.
Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah boosted his industrial revolution by entering into partnership with other countries to tap their speciality to accelerate the country’s industrialisation programme to create job avenues for Ghanaians.
Some of these establishments were the Akasanoma Electronic Factory, Ghana Textile Manufacturing Company, Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC) a chain of companies which had the Paints Division, Meat Factory, Footwear, Beverages, Eveready Battery Factory, State Fishing Corporation, Food Complex Corporation, designed for food canning, flour and fishmeal, among others. All these companies had long buses which conveyed workers to and from work on shift basis.
Tema enjoyed a 24-hour life because the city was always busy with workers who had closed from or were going to work in the morning, afternoon or night duties.
Tema, which in the past hosted about 80 per cent of the country's industries, now has just a few to boast of, rendering the city quiet after a certain hour of the night.
The only company that has seen some growth is the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority which has proved its worth since its inception.
The Akosombo Hydro power project and the Tema Oil Refinery have had some setbacks because of the longitivity of some of the obsolete equipment which need to be changed.
The state of housing in the city has not been the best as most buildings have developed cracks, and the streets and roads have not seen any rehabilitation since they were built.
Dr Nkrumah compulsorily acquired 63 square miles land from the stools of Tema and Kpone, with portions from neighbouring communities under the Tema Town and Port acquisition of land Ordinance number 38 of 1952 which was leased to a registered development body referred to as the Tema Development Corporation.
The government incurred the displeasure of the indigenous people at the time but Dr Nkrumah had a positive vision to develop the country under a scheme supposed to start from Tema.
Tema was a small community where the people engaged in both fishing and farming on small scale but today it cannot boast farmlands as most of the lands have been acquired for housing projects while the majority of Ghana's industries have been closed down.
In the early days when Dr Nkrumah initiated his vision of a vibrant port, there were hosts of entertainment centres in Tema to serve tourists, sailors and visitors who were passing through, at affordable costs.
Some of these facilities, including the famous Meridian Hotel, operated by the State Hotels Corporation which oversaw the port, had a nightclub known as the Zero Room Night Club, where strip dancers entertained patrons to the club, mainly made up of sailors who were out to while away the nights.
Other private dance halls with great names at the time were the Talk of the Town Hotel dance hall and restaurant, Bonn Homme night club and El Passo, among others.
Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah had the vision of making Tema a uniquely planned city, and therefore ensured that it was planned to fit in an urban settlement but the planning was not complete as he envisaged before he was overthrown.
Some of the reasons assigned to his choice of Tema for the modern industrial city could be seen clearly now as the world continues to come closer into a global village and every country needs each other.
The purpose was linked to its location with the Atlantic Ocean, making it easy to import and export goods the world over to boost trade.
Now Tema has seen steady growth in population with the influx of many people from the hinterland.
Though some development has taken place, most of it has been done haphazardly to the extent that Tema is gradually becoming a slum.
Some good things have, however, been done to reflect the changing trends like the establishment of the Free Export Processing Zone to encourage manufacturing for export.
These manufacturing companies are granted some incentives to bring in raw materials and export manufactured goods.
Tema will have remained the small village that it was without the vision of Dr Nkrumah who created the planned community, the motorway, the port, industries, housing project etc.
The current state of Tema cannot be said to reflect the vision Dr Nkrumah had for Tema because most plans have remained on the drawing board all these years or have been abandoned altogether.
Some industries have closed down, those operating have obsolete equipment while the sanitation situation keeps deteriorating each passing day, and sewer pipes overflow freely into streets.
Some buildings have not seen paint for over so many years, as cattle and fowls stray, blurring the vision Dr Nkrumah had for Tema.
It is the hope and expectation of many that Tema would bounce back to life, the industries revamped while the people adopt good sanitation practices to make the harbour city the vibrant industrial hub Osagyefo Dr Kwame envisioned.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment