On the President’s reprimand of our working culture

So I have been thinking through some of the things the President said in his May Day speech.  And guess what, it is hard to disagree with some of the points he made. 

He talked about the huge workforce in the public sector and how most of them are “underemployed, inappropriately employed or unemployed”. The President talked of how “we arrive at work late and then spend the first hour in prayer”. 

He talked of how “we are clock-watchers and leave in the middle of critical work, because it is the official closing time”. And also of how “everything comes to a stop when it rains and we seem to expect the rest of the world also to stop.”

The major take away from the speech is that Ghanaian workers must strive to change their attitude towards work. We’ve all had an experience or two with some public sector worker. And whiles in some instances, the experience may have been positive; in some other instances they have been negative. 

 I remember one of such enduring memories. I went to some public revenue office to get some documents processed. It was around 10 am. The lady at the counter did not seem too keen on helping. And when I insisted, her response was that she intends to close very early on that day.

 Remember this conversation was talking place around 10 am; and she was already thinking of going home and not helping.  

A lot can also be said about the entitlement that some workers especially in the public sector have. Most people will tell you that they either tacitly or expressly ask for bribe in order to do what they are being paid to do. It would seem that there is little exception to the rule. 

The most devastating of these instances has to do with the police. Of course it is common knowledge that survey after survey had ranked them as the most corrupt, if not one of the most corrupt state institutions. 

But such public shaming has done little in discouraging their negative work ethic. There are many anecdotal evidences in support of the negative work ethic of the police. 

A friend told me of how he was stopped by a policeman who sought to inspect his documents in order to ascertain whether they were all in place. After he had gone through the process; and without having found anything, he finally asked, “today be weekend o”; a subtle way of asking for money. 

There are so many variants of these subtle forms of requests. Some ask for money to buy cola. Others ask for “something small for transportation.” 

In truth, some public officers do not act in the interest of the state. Rather, they have pitched their tents in public institutions and profiting at the expense of the state. 

It would also seem that there is something in the public sector that seems to encourage and generate negative attitudes towards work. And whiles it is difficult to place a finger on what; there is clearly a leadership deficit at these institutions.

 The most evident of these has to do with the revelations made at the public account committees. If lower officers see their “bosses” fleecing the state and mismanaging state property, they are definitely likely to take a cue from that. 

There is the devastating notion that working in the public sector is an excuse not to give off your best. Some would say, there is no point in “sweating in the public sector.” After all, some would add, “Is it your father’s job?”

 A lot may account for this. The thinking that public sector work is not work to be taken serious may have been an offshoot of our colonial legacy; which has taken hold in the modern state and become a monster haunting everyone. 

Public sector reforms after reforms have not done much to resolve this issue. There have done downsizing after downsizing. There have been orientations and so on. None of these have done much to turn the civil service around.

The private sector has its role in ensuring the smooth administration of the state. But let us remember that government is the largest employer. The public sector is the largest employee grouping. 

If ever there were going to be a change in the outlook and reputation of the nation, it would be through the public sector. 

Imagine an investor walks into the country with the intent of starting a business. His first point of reference will be the Registrar-General’s Department. And it is certain that his first impressions of the government as a whole would be informed by his experience at this stage.

This country is not beyond redemption. We can make some bigger and greater out of it. 

(politics_today@yahoo.com)