[ 2017-05-02 ]

Former GIMPA Rector, Professor Adei

80% of Ghanaians hardworking – Professor Adei
A former Rector of the Ghana Institute of
Management Public Administration (GIMPA),
Professor Stephen Adei, has said eight out of
every 10 Ghanaians are hard-working and, if
properly motivated, can work for the progress of
the nation.

His comment comes on the back of President Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s advice to Ghanaian
public sector workers to turn from their negative
attitudes towards work during his maiden May Day
celebrations address.

“I have said it at another forum, but I think it
bears repeating: we arrive at work late and then
spend the first hour in prayer; we are clock
watchers and leave in the middle of critical work,
because it is the official closing time.
Everything comes to a stop when it rains and we
seem to expect the rest of the world also to
stop,” the President said.

He continued: “We have no respect for the hours
set aside for work… we pray, we eat, we visit
during working hours. We spend hours chatting on
the telephone when customers are waiting to be
served, thereby increasing our labour costs. We
take a week off for every funeral. And then we
wonder why we are not competitive.”

But reacting to this on Accra News on Tuesday 2
May, Prof Adei said: “Truthfully, eight out of
10 Ghanaians are hard-working and contribute to
their personal economies and that of their
employers, but when you compare how hard Ghanaians
work abroad and how hard they work here, you can
say we are working against our own interest.”

He explained that when public sector work was
introduced by the British, some Ghanaians had the
notion that working for the state meant working
for the colonial master. So people wanted to do
little but expected huge salaries at the end of
the month.

“Secondly, when we got independence, the
political leaders, beside Nkrumah, didn’t set
good examples for us. When people saw politicians
with no job experience becoming rich overnight, it
dispirited them,” he noted.

According to Prof Adei, many factors, including
“the quality of management”, affect attitude
to work. He, therefore, suggested managers and
supervisors especially in the public sector
enforce conditions of service for every employee
to curb such negative attitudes towards work. He
further recommended that government desist from
shielding persons who are affiliated to it
politically but punish anybody with a negative
attitude towards work to serve as deterrent to
others.

Source - AccraFM.com

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