Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah, the Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, has endorsed the Punctuality Ghana Campaign with a call on Ghanaians to show commitment to time management in order to facilitate national progress.
He said time consciousness was one of the cardinal attitudinal changes needed in Ghana to drive national progress and growth.
Apostle Prof. Onyinah made the call at a ceremony at the Church of Pentecost General Headquarters in Accra, when he endorsed the Punctuality Ghana Campaign.
The endorsement is the fourth for the campaign, having previously been endorsed by Mr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the Minister of Information, Mr Prince Kofi Amoabeng, President of UT Holdings, and Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations.
The Campaign, championed by Punctuality Ghana Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, is focused on educating the public to be punctual to drive productivity, economic growth, reduce corruption and attract foreign investment.
Apostle Prof. Onyinah said most people wasted time at social gatherings, which was a hindrance to national development.
“Sometimes you attend a wedding and the couple will be late. You have a funeral on Saturday, some people will ask permission on Wednesday and leave on Thursday and then go for the funeral and sit there doing nothing, which is a waste of time, bringing extra expenses to the bereaved.
“I think, as a nation, we need to review some of our practices including funerals and weddings,” he said.
Apostle Prof. Onyinah signed the Punctuality Pledge committing to be punctual at all times.
Mr Emmanuel Amarquaye, the Punctuality Crusader of Punctuality Ghana Foundation, said there remained some roadblocks to punctuality that should be addressed.
These include road obstructions such as cattle competing on the roads with motorists, blocking of roads for funeral purposes and excessive use of mobile phones.
Mr Amarquaye complained about the hustle people went through to acquire official documents such as passports, driver’s licenses, company registration certificates and building permits.
“When public institutions cannot be trusted to administer public service on time (punctuality), an avenue for corruption is created where monies that should go to the Government purse ends up in private pockets, meaning that doing things on time has a bearing on increasing government’s revenue and minimizing corruption,” he said.
He, therefore, called on Ghanaians in private and public institutions to be time conscious to accelerate Ghana’s development.
GNA
