PSI on Ministerial Punctuality a Must!

ONE of the most unquantifiable, beneficial legacies Kufuor Administration would do well to bequeath to this country is to strategize and to launch a “President's Special Initiative” (PSI) that educates and instills ministerial commitment to punctuality for realistic national development.

When honourable ministers discipline themselves and make it a rule, a principle, to go to work early to tackle administrative duties before visitors begin to call-in, as well as attend functions on time, their subordinates, from the chief director to the messenger, would be compelled to emulate them. Crucially, this is a very important aspect of good governance for socio-economic and industrial emancipation of a people. In all the successful and great countries of the world, TIME is highly valued as invaluable.

They go to work on time: no lateness; scheduled meetings, conferences and appointments are strictly honoured on time: no lateness. Very unfortunately, we are practising the passive contrast at the moment. Directly and indirectly, the adverse ramifications are countless. Let's take administrative duties and appointments for analogy. Administration In the ministries, departments and some other agencies, mails are received in large quantities daily. Besides, many are the meetings to attend.

Decisions taken at such internal or external meetings demand prompt executive action. Delays are counter productive and expensive. On a given day when mails received are not dealt with, more mails are added to it the following day: and it goes on-and-on, thus making the workload plenty, energy- sapping and frustrating.

The heap of files, then, constitutes desk-top skyscrapers, and the officer is hardly visible behind them. The core issue for concern is that some of these files urgently relate to the fate of individuals, workers, communities, commercial and industrial establishments, etc. Immediate action, then, is a binding obligation.

Any delayed action amounts to a denial of the right of someone because a concerned person or persons may lose their lives in the procrastination process, hence the saying: “Justice delayed is justice denied”.

Another disturbing and worrisome area of the intentional, wilful lateness-to-work of most ministers and chief directors, even at the Castle itself, the seat of Government, is their closing late into the night after official working hours: 8:30am- 5 pm. Apart from the fact that they deny the tax payer, the public the right to contact or do business with them officially during the normal working period, they further deny their secretaries, particularly the married female ones, the right to live a responsible family life; by the time they reach home, the children are fast asleep: whether or not they eat, let alone their state of health, she cannot tell.

The husband's deep worry and discomfort is anyone's guess. He asks himself: “Is it because of money my wife is being subjected to this callous, insensitive treatment? The children cannot enjoy motherly love and care in the evenings: why? What kind of family are we building?” It is true the world over that some times secretaries necessarily close late in the course of executing extra work with their bosses.

But the point here is that if these ministers and top government officials are consistently punctual and sincerely duty-conscious, the issue of secretaries closing so late would be drastically reduced. In the circumstances, considering domestic frictions between husbands and wives, one may ask: How fair and acceptable it is for an honourable minister of state, his deputy, a chief director or a head of public institution to keep in the office, with impunity, his co-worker secretary, someone's wife, for extra hours into the night when every employee is gone home?

Would these senior public officials governing the country, and who know better, be pleased if their wives are treated in a similar manner?

“Do unto others what you would like others to do unto you”, says the Eternal Book of Life (EBL). All this unacceptable, anti- society and anti- marriage office practice is going on because these ministers and their chief directors intentionally and wilfully REFUSE to work within the stipulated statutory working hours; they REFUSE to serve the public at the time the law of the Republic requires; they REFUSE to abide by the law of the land. Is His Excellency the President not aware of this lawlessness of his ministers? Or does the President take this matter of lateness, untimely performance of official duties and “justice delayed” lightly?

May be it has escaped the attention of the President. Now he is reminded. Appointments We are writing volumes and talking so loudly about accelerated, consistent development that would usher us into the middle income group by the year 2015, i.e. 7 years hence. Fine! But how? Is it a wishful thinking? Do we incorporate the value of time, its prudent management into our daily policy initiatives in order to realize the achievable targets we set?

Let's concede that the functions of the various ministries are interrelated and interdependent –just like the human body.

This involves food, health, finance, labour, education, law, trade, industry, communication, transportation, roads, governance, lands, mines, forestry, tourism, water, construction, housing, security, external relations, and so on. How many man-hours are wasted daily, weekly monthly by both citizens and foreigners who go to these ministries and departments to honour confirmed appointments?

Out of disappointments, we are called names such as” These people are not serious”, Lazy, lawless people clothed in the garments of inertia”, “It is so strange and unbelievable time means nothing to them”. “A minister goes to work any time he likes: he does not care”; “And they pride themselves as highly educated elite. Alas!” “Sustainable development and job creation when you go to work at 11 a.m., that's a nation wrecker who must be charged”.

From what is happening, it is now a norm that if a person is appointed a minister, deputy minister or chief director, he becomes a law unto himself, especially with regard to abuse and misappropriation of official working hours, resulting in very poor work out-put; it has devastating negative effects on national development at all levels, public and private. President Kufour would do very well to leave an invaluable legacy by delivering government administrative machinery from the stupor of lackadaisical attitude to work with its attendant lacklustre performance.

To be proactive in this wise, a ministerial re-orientation task force (MRTF) is urgently required to deal with LATENESS and POOR CORRESPONDENCE CULTURE of ministers and chief directors. With respect to resource persons to execute MRTF, I sincerely suggest that the retired, indefatigable former Supreme Court Judge and now a consultant to the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General's Department Mr. Justice V.C.R.A.C Crabbe be called upon to impart and instill the spirit of punctuality into these ministers and their subordinates. The second resource person for the MRTF is Hon. Kwamena Bartels, Minister of the Interior, who would assist to inculcate the responsible policy of PROMPT REPLY TO LETTERS. He is so good at it.

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