Ghanaian workers have become ‘clock watchers’ – Nana Addo

President Nana Addo has raised concerns over what he refers to as the poor working attitude by most Ghanaian employees.

According to him, majority of the Ghanaian workforce after arriving at work , spend most of the time praying and engaging in other unproductive activities.

Speaking at the May Day Parade at the Black Star Square, the President said some of these employees even leave the office ahead of the official closing time.

“We arrive at work late and then spend the first hour in prayer, we become 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.”

“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… we take a week off for every funeral and then we wonder why we are not competitive,” President Akufo-Addo stated.

The President therefore charged workers to rise above the lackadaisical status quo for Ghana to realize its full potential.

We want 51% in ECG privatization compact- Nana Addo declares

President Nana Addo also touched on other issues, including government’s stance on the Private Sector Participation (PSP) compact of the Electricity Company of Ghana, with the Millenuim Challenge Corporation (MCC), saying government will stand by its decision to amend the deal.

Under the agreement, which is known as the Power Compact II, government is expected to allow about 80 percent private sector control in ECG for the country to benefit from a cash injection of about one billion US dollars over a period of 5 years.

But speaking to Ghanaian workers at the celebration of May Day in Accra, Nana Akufo-Addo maintained that government wants more than the 20 percent control agreed by the former government, to protect ECG workers from being sacked.

“Government has amended the terms of the concession agreement to require that one; Ghanaians own at least 51 percent of the concession. Two, there should be no involuntary layoffs as a result of the concession,” he stressed adding that, “the term of the concession will be reduced from 25 years to 20 years”

President Akufo-Addo observed that the new terms will benefit Ghanaians and protect ECG workers, who have been apprehensive over the compact.

“We believe that these amendments meet the aspiration of Ghanaians in protecting the jobs of workers and ensuring the control and viability of ECG. We are as concerned as the workers that, the reform should not lead to involuntary job losses and we should find a long term solution to the nation's electricity problem,” he said.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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