The Presidency has intervened in the long-running dispute between the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and TDC Ghana Limited, directing the two institutions to clarify their respective mandates and establish a framework for working together.
In a letter dated August 28, 2026, the Office of the President said the framework was necessary to prevent further clashes between the two institutions and ensure that development activities in the Tema Metropolis are properly coordinated.
The Presidency reaffirmed the TMA’s position as the highest political and administrative authority within the Tema Metropolis, with responsibility for municipal development, human settlements, local planning, revenue mobilisation and the provision of municipal services.
It also maintained that the Assembly is the local planning authority responsible for regulating physical development and issuing development and building permits within its jurisdiction.
TDC Ghana Limited, on the other hand, was described as a commercially oriented real estate developer with its own statutory mandate, but not a municipal authority.
The intervention follows a dispute over construction activities at Community One, Sites 3 and 8, where the TMA issued a stop-work order and subsequently demolished portions of structures being developed at the site.
The Assembly said the project had commenced without the necessary development permits.
TDC subsequently petitioned the Ministers for Works, Housing and Water Resources, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, and Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, seeking their intervention in the matter.
The disagreement was reportedly triggered partly by complaints from residents over alleged tree felling, the demolition of existing structures, encroachment on playgrounds and green areas, and obstruction of access to homes and businesses.
The TMA maintained that TDC’s ownership or management of land does not place the company outside municipal planning and development regulations.
TDC, however, argued that its statutory mandate to plan, lay out and develop Tema must also be recognised in the exercise of the Assembly’s regulatory powers.
The company traced its mandate to the establishment of the Tema Development Corporation in 1952 to oversee the development of the new Tema township and port.
Although some municipal functions were transferred to the then Tema District Assembly in 1989, TDC maintains that it retained responsibility for planning and developing portions of the Tema area, including residential, industrial and commercial developments.
TDC has also pointed to the Joint Technical Evaluation Committee involving the company and assemblies within the Tema Acquisition Area as an existing platform that could help coordinate their respective responsibilities.
