Hello, sorry I have my friend on the line and am writing, excuse me please let me take this call but in case I happen to coincidentally write our conversation down pardon me. Yea, bro what’s good with you … I’m good … yea I will be there around 3, 4, 5. Yea ok then see you. Bye. Sorry for that I have to meet with my brother, I promise to get there around 3, 4, 5. Why, are you wondering what I am trying to say? I said I will be there around 3, 4, 5 yea Ghana time remember. I guess you always hear about Ghana time and all the noise about it, and yes you right; the time I gave my brother is one good type of Ghana time. 3, 4, 5 means during these hours I might meet him or later than that but definitely not earlier than that, it goes against the Ghana time rules.
I seriously don’t know how it came about but it is there. So here is how it rolls, Ghana time is when look this isn’t the definite dictionary explanation for Ghana time but am possibly doing my best to explain to you what is meant by Ghana time. So Ghana time is when you ask some one to be at a place at a particular time but will rather prefer to be there later than that time. It’s a vice versa affair, it can also be that you will like a person to be at a particular place at a time but if the person observes the Ghana time he/she will be there later than the agreed time. Or when you ask someone to give you a specific time to do something or to meet and they go like giving you two or more different time sets, like when I say I will be with you by 12:30, 1. This form is normally indecisiveness.
One common place to witness Ghana time is during weddings and social events and even business meetings. You ask an observer of Ghana time to meet you at 2 pm and don’t be surprised he/she will be there at 3 pm or later, some do it so bad. This is like an almost accepted norm in Ghana that everyone knows it therefore whenever a Ghanaian is invited to a function with a specific time to get there they will delay for an hour with the excuse that as everyone will be observing the Ghana time they don’t like to get there earlier, therefore getting there an hour late won’t make you get there too early before the others. With this excuse in mind event organizers, I mean social event like naming ceremonies, weddings and many more always ask invited guests to come an hour earlier than the original time without them knowing. Because if you don’t device such plan your event will have to start at an hour or so later of the original time you have agreed upon. But it’s funny because organizers of events one day also become attendants of an event and instead of learning from the experience gained while organizing an event so thereby not observing the Ghana time you see them doing the same thing.
This goes a long way in making Ghanaian’s living abroad whom we term as returnee’s get very furious whenever there are in Ghana. Because having lived abroad they get to learn that you must be right on time, and time is money and they return to the Motherland and hope everything is like that. So they easily make appointments not considering the Ghana time and they end up waiting for whoever they are supposed to wait for, for an hour or two and they start getting furious and going mad. And their ego also raise in such situations, the American returnee’s go like ‘what the fuck is wrong with y’all people here, I thought we agreed to meet here at 9 am, why you fucking late and you keep me waiting not even calling to apologize?’ and the Ghanaian will go like ‘oh sorry it was the traffic you see, but am just an hour and a half late don’t worry ok am here now right’. Then the returnee is getting more furious ‘what the hell you talking about, you say you just an hour and a half late? What the fuck is wrong with y’all in this country look you can’t do this in America, if you guys gonna take this attitude to the states you gonna get ya dumb asses broke you know, fuck’. The returnee’s then give you a whole tale about time and how you must religiously abide with it from their experience in America. I advise returnee’s coming to Ghana after a long time of being away to have anger control therapy before getting here if not their just going to make huge fights with family and friends. But one very funny thing is after a returnee lives in Ghana for some time he/she also starts observing Ghana time. But seriously I think they should rather be impacting the culture of adhering to time in us here but very unfortunate they end up behaving like us again feeling at home I guess.
But am proud the awareness of erasing Ghana time away has kicked off and we’re gradually campaigning against it strongly because you now hear people being warned when given time for appointments that it’s not Ghana time. Some leaders in Ghana now make sure that when the time is fixed for a meeting or state events they get there even before time to impact that on the citizenry, am not mentioning any name because I don’t want any politicization of this piece. But proudly I see the Ghana time being eradicated, wish it has already been done with but everything takes time. But I think and can proudly say that soon and very soon we will be done with it as a people.
Wait before I wrap up, I forgot to talk about foreigners and how they feel when Ghanaian delay them with Ghana time, you know one funny thing is when a Ghanaian is meeting with a foreigner he/she doesn’t observe Ghana time, you surprised? Yes, our hospitality to foreigner’s is very high as it’s known around the world and we just don’t normally observe Ghana time when dealing with foreigners. Am referring to foreigners who will be in the country for a short while, those living here are not termed that much as foreigners, no! They are more like Ghanaians.
So just like as I was saying this norm is gradually being wiped away, and I entreat whoever outside of Ghana who has suffered badly ever due to the Ghana time syndrome to come back and witness a new Ghana with real-time you know. Although am sorry for your first experience of Ghana time I entreat you to be here again because we wiping it out of our system. So see you around, I do hope so. I better hurry up now, I have now made up my mind to meet my brother at 4 pm prompt, I just texted him, no Ghana time for me anymore. So see you around okay and God bless Ghana.
Palm's Reflections 