Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has endorsed and reiterated her pledge to support the Punctuality Campaign even beyond her retirement from office as Chief Justice (CJ) at the end of this year.

While acknowledging the Punctuality Ghana Foundation for the initiative to whip up the spirit of punctuality among Ghanaians, the CJ said of the initiative: “It is a most worthy initiative that I believe is even long overdue, but as the old saying goes, ‘Better late than never’.”

She said, “I sincerely pray that the Punctuality Ghana Foundation and the Individual Endorsers will be able to summon the strength and fortitude to sustain this campaign over the long haul to bring real and tangible attitudinal change among the mass of our people in this matter that has gnawed at our collective souls and undermined our national development for as long as I can remember.”

According to the CJ, “We need to do it because this issue is too important for our growth and prosperity both at the micro and macro levels to be treated perfunctorily.”

“Punctuality and its interconnectedness with time management and productivity is a subject that is so dear to my heart. Having worked in the public life of our country since I joined the Supreme Court Bench in 1995, I have seen at firsthand how the dangerous cocktail of tardiness and shabby attitude towards work can undermine the efficiency and effectiveness of our justice system, ” CJ Akuffo said.

Punctuality Ghana salutes CJ

Miss Naa Meryeh Quaynor-Mettle, the Project Co-coordinator of the foundation, expressed gratitude to the CJ for the opportunity of meeting with officials of the foundation and endorsing the campaign.

“We are very pleased that Her Ladyship the Chief Justice of Ghana has taken time off her busy and tight schedules to join our endorsers on the ongoing public education or awareness campaign on punctuality and productivity.

”It is a clear indication that the subject matter at stake, which is the consciousness to time and the respect of other people’s time, is of major concern and importance to her. And that unless we tackle the issue of punctuality and productivity seriously, it will continue to be a drawback to our development aspirations as a nation.

According to her, “being conscious of time and [having] respect for other people’s time is very fundamental to everything we, as a people and as a nation, do. If we are conscious of time and respect other people’s time, it informs the decision we make both at the personal and national levels. The project coordinator added that “Time consciousness must therefore inspire, and thus be aspired [to] by all public service staff, particularly towards the respect for law and order.”

14 More endorsements

Before the CJ’s endorsement, 14 individuals, including the Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Mike Oquaye Snr, the Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, the Japanese, Korean and the Dutch Ambassadors to Ghana and some Ministers of State.