Ghana’s Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations says lateness, idleness and neglect of duties by public servants is contributing to the country’s worsening economic crisis due to low productivity.

Sector Minister, Haruna Iddrisu has, therefore, through a statement, ordered all the country’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to design clock in systems at their offices that can be used to monitor workers to ensure “punctuality and diligence at work."

The statement said most workers at the MDAs are “poor” with punctuality while they “leave the work places for home earlier than the specified time."

“Some public servants spend greater part of their productive time on activities other than specified public service duties," a situation, which the Ministry says, “is a major contributor to the low productivity in the public service” and a major contributor to the “worsening economic challenges” in the world’s second-largest gold producing West African country.

All Chief Directors, Chief Executives, Heads of Departments, and Supervisors have, therefore, been tasked to enforce punctuality and hard work at the various MDAs.

“It is our anticipation that there will be full cooperation by all to improve punctuality and diligence at work places and hence lead to increased productivity in the public sector,” the Ministry said in the statement.