The Writer
I am sure you are familiar with the demeaning joke phrase, Ghana Mean Time (instead of Greenwich Mean Time). I describe it as demeaning because it shows a lack of respect for time, for ourselves, and for others, when almost every event is started with an apology for not starting on time!
Every worker, every government official, every traditional leader, everybody who thinks of themselves as somebody, always has a reason to be late for work, a meeting or an event.
Even brides and bridegrooms (but especially brides) tend to have reasons to be late for their own wedding, more often than not. How can two people be in courtship for over two years, spend several months planning their wedding and inviting guests, and yet find a reason to be late to the main event, keeping their guests waiting?
Pastors can’t start church services on time and finish same on time, choosing instead to spiritually blackmail church members by claiming members have time for ‘worldly’ events and so should not complain when church services don’t end on time.
The radio pastor would spend hours on air but irritatingly can’t finish on time for the news bulletin to begin as scheduled. Sometimes you would hear the headlines on the BBC World Service and when you tune in to your local station, it’s now that someone is wrapping up their show to allow the news presenter to begin.
You look across almost every sphere of society in Ghana and wonder if most Ghanaians from have something against time. The question is, why can’t Ghanaians be on time in Ghana?
For me, the issue is not attitudinal or behavioural. It is systemic. It is about a system that accepts excuses. It is about a system that rewards rather than punish lateness and deviant behaviour. It is about a system that is too forgiving for its own good.
It is about a system that pays workers for being on payroll rather than for showing up and putting in a shift. It is about a system that shows inordinate reverence to undeserving people who do not even care to show leadership and whose only command of respect stems from the authority of their office and nothing more.
Ghanaians outside Ghana would drive through rain, hail, snow and thick fog in order to get to work on time. No supervisor will accept excuses. You won’t get paid at the end of the week for the hours you did not clock in. Repeated lateness to work will get you the sack.
No pastor or imam will be able to call your employer or supervisor to plead for you to get back your job. Yes, I have driven under snowy, foggy conditions to get to work in different places in England, where one could not see beyond 10 metres and so had to drive very slowly. When you know the road conditions, you set off early enough and make allowance for those road conditions. And that is because your employer or supervisor who has deadlines to meet and supplies to deliver, will have no sympathy for you because road conditions were harsh.
And, as someone who has worked in the aviation industry, I know that Ghanaians who fly – whether on domestic or international flights – don’t regularly miss their flights! Our ultra important and super busy Ministers of State who can’t report on time for any official event or meeting, manage to skip their busy schedules and manage to beat the usual rush-hour traffic in order to check in on time at the airport and board the aircraft on time for their trips.
Outside the country, these important people don’t miss their trains or buses and get to IMF and World Bank spring meetings on time. There is absolutely no excuse for any Ghanaian being late for any meeting or event in Ghana, except when there is a genuine act of God, like the flooding in June 2026.
The main reason many Ghanaians can’t seem to be able to be on time in Ghana is a system that does not exact accountability, a system that does not respect time and a system that does not show respect for others. As long as we accept excuses for lateness, nothing will change. We have to start treating ‘apology for being late’ and ‘apology for starting late’ with disgust, not reverence. We have to begin to rebuke people who show up late for meetings and events, rather than allow them to give fake apologies.
We need to stop payment of monthly salaries based on being on payroll, and start a productivity-based, clock-in system with strong supervision that ensures that people will show up to work on time without excuses. Until we get grips with being on time in Ghana, this unacceptable waste of time and productivity will continue to retard the country’s development.
From Kwaku Antwi-Boasiako
