Tema people return to ancestral home

The chiefs and people of Tema Manhean have finally made a historical return to their ancestral home at the frontage of the dilapidated Meridian Hotel building for the first time in 55 years, after they were relocated to their present home at Tema Manhean.

Fifty-five years ago, the government of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, in an attempt to develop the Tema into a modern port city, and also to create an industrial city, forcefully relocated the Tema people from their original place of abode to the present Tema Manhean.

And since then, the people and their chiefs had not returned to their ancestral home to have a fellowship with their departed forbearers, hence, the decision to stage a historical pilgrimage back home.

Led by the Paramount Chief of the area, Nii Adjei Kraku II, his divisional sub-chiefs and the Tema Wulomo, the descendants of Tema travelled back to their original place of abode clad in red attire, in a procession by foot from their chief’s palace in Manhean to their ancestral home amidst drumming and dancing.

The ceremony brought together dignitaries from the Tema enclave, including the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Isaac Ashai Odamtten, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tema East, Titus Glover, who graced the occasion in no small way.

Before the start of the ceremony, the Tema Wulomo poured libation in front of a 400 year old tree, which they affectionately refer to as “Teeshi”, which, according to the people, is the umbilical cord of the people of Tema.

According to Nii Shipii Armah, Tema’s Nii Shipii, told members of the press that the “Teeshi” possesses supernatural powers that are unequalled, saying that the when contractors first cut it down to pave the way for the construction of the hotel, the following day when they returned to continue their work, the mysterious tree was still standing.

“Further attempts to cut the tree down again this time round, cost them the loss of five lives. That was how they decided to stop bothering the tree,” he alleged. The people of Tema further believe that no development can thrive within the precincts of the “Teeshi”, because of the fact that the place is a sacred one and, therefore, is supposed to be reserved for the performance of rituals exclusively for the gods of Tema.

The Tema people also believe that the reason why the renowned Tema Meridian Hotel could not succeed to serve as the bedrock of tourism in the Harbour city, as intended by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was that they refused to listen to the priests of the 400-year-old tree.

Nii Adjei Kraku II thanked the people for rallying behind him and his elders and making this pilgrimage, which is now going to be a permanent feature on the calendar of the Tema Traditional Council (TTC), a success.

Mr. Agoe-Adjetey, Spokesman for the TTC, who gave the historical background to the departure of the people from their ancestral home to their present place of abode, urged the descendants of Tema to put behind them the ordeal their forbearers went through at the hands of the authorities in the process of migrating to their present home, and work very hard succeed as a people, because nobody is willing to help them.

The TMA Chief Executive said the day was a very special one in the history of Tema, in view of the fact that the chief and people of Tema have returned to their ancestral home to relive their rich historical past, and to reunite with their ancestors. Titus Glover, MP for Tema East, thanked the TTC for conceiving and bringing into reality the idea to pay a pilgrimage to their ancestral home.