There are many things uniquely Ghanaian which serve as a source of pride globally, Kente cloth and Adinkra symbols easily come to mind. Conversely, several uniquely Ghanaian concepts detract from the process of nation building, one of the biggest ones being the concept of Ghana Man Time (GMT).
GMT refers to the propensity of Ghanaians to attend any function as late as they can. This has become routine and so expected, that someone has taken the pain to coin a phrase to describe it, to wit, Ghana Man Time. Thus when you advertise a function supposed to start at 10:00am, in Ghana Man Time that’s closer to 12:00 noon.
It’s almost official, and you would be hard pressed to find a function in Ghana that takes off on time. The so-called big men in our society are the worst offenders, attending functions routinely two and three hours late, whether it is to prove their superiority over those ‘peasants’ waiting for them to come give their speech, no one knows. Thus the cycle goes on, people attending functions as late as they can knowing they are probably early enough to catch the keynote speech.
The solution to this conundrum is a very interesting one and one only a Ghanaian could envision. Programs are advertised for two, three hours before they are supposed to start, meaning everyone should be seated by the real start time. It’s almost a social contract, the elephant in the room no one speaks of but everyone adheres to.
When time is taken for granted in such a cavalier fashion, is it any wonder nothing ever gets done in Ghana? Civil servants view their reporting to work time in GMT, meaning the official times are routinely flouted. People in authority in Ghana are not big on consequences either, meaning people are rarely punished for the wrongs they do, so since there is no punishment why not keep flouting this directive?