Akufo-Addo on point; attitudinal change 'non-negotiable' – Fritz Baffour

Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma South, Fritz Baffour, has supported the call by President Nana Akufo-Addo to Ghanaian workers to change their attitude to work.

Delivering his maiden May Day speech on Monday 1 May in Accra, President Akufo-Addo challenged workers in Ghana, especially those in the public and civil sector, to change their approach to work in order to ensure efficiency.

“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.”

Commenting on the issue, Mr Baffour said he was taken aback at criticism of the President's speech in the media, following suggestions that he had maligned Ghanaian workers.

“I want to state categorically that I remain a steadfast and determined member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), but what the president alluded to was absolutely to the point and that every well-meaning Ghanaian must accept that attitudinal change is non-negotiable if we are to transform our nation for the better,” he said.

“Indiscipline, selfishness, greed, irresponsibility, and disregard for our true mores and traditions are the order of the day,” he wrote, adding: “There is absolutely no social platform or gathering we do not complain, yet we remain stuck in the same groove of inaction and complacency and use political partisanship, name calling, heckling and self-denial as a sop to our perfidy.”

Mr Baffour said on Tuesday, May 2 that he had heard several complaints from expatriates and Ghanaians concerning the work ethics of some public sector workers, “so instead of taking issue with the President, let's put our differences aside and endeavour to work positively for our country and its great potential”.