All Roads Lead to Tema !

This is what wikipedia says about Tema:

Tema, population 209,000 (2005), is a city on the Atlantic Ocean coast, east of the capital city of Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, in Ghana, West Africa. Originally a small fishing village, it grew after the construction of a large harbour in 1961 and is now is the nation's largest sea port. It is also home to an oil refinery and is an important centre of manufacturing. It is linked to the capital by railway and a highway. Tema is one of Ghana's two deep seaports; Sekondi Takoradi is the other. Tema is the nearest city to the geographical position of 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude (which lies several hundred miles south in the Bight of Benin).

This is my view: one of the best-designed communities in Accra. In fact, it is the only residential community that remains the best well-planned. It has more than 10 "communities", some of which link up to the famed Spintex Road. It has an indigenous "Tema Development Corporation", clearly making quite a bit from developing Tema to the beautiful, verdant and organised city it has obtained the reputation of being.

This is what fellow ghanablogging member Kajsa Hallberg Adu wrote of her adopted hometown:

Let's start my exposé on Tema with Nkrumah's own words. We go back to February 10th, 1962 and the Official Opening of the Tema Harbor. Kwame Nkrumah walks up to a podium and gives his speech.

"By taking advantage of the river systems of West Africa, it should be possible - again, by concerted action - to connect the hinterland, far outside the boarders of Ghana, with this great port of Tema. Thus, in this harbour of Tema, we see a unifying force and an essential requirement in the progress towards African Unity"

Hence, Tema was just one part of the grandiose plan of Africa rising. Tema should be a harbor not just for Ghana, but for Africa. Still today, Burkina Faso, Mali and other landlocked countries are highly dependent on the Tema harbor. What whould they be today without this sea port?

Nkrumah continued his speech with comparing the existing Takoradi harbor "designed by the colonialists to facilitate the exportation of the wealth of the country" to this new sea port. He said:

"Tema is the sign post of the future. It represents the purposeful beginning of the industrialisation of Ghana. It is the signal for industrial expansion, a challenge to our industry and intelligence and a hope for the future."

 Finally, from one US academic Dr.Renford Reese's page:

"One of our visits was to the bustling cargo port of Tema. Nkrumah built this city in 1960 as a manmade harbor. Today, it is Ghana's industrial center and the most important trading port in the country. As a populated city, Tema is the closest to the crossing of the Prime Meridian and the equator, a special treat for our three geography majors"
from: http://www.csupomona.edu/~rrreese/nonfla/GlobalCPP.html

Have you got the message how important Tema is to Ghana now?

Labels: tema, nkrumah