Ghana: Uproar over office TV ban

  1. Posted on Thursday 14 January 2010 - 08:46
    accreporter
    Image of accreporter
    Story and Photo: Kent Mensah, AfricaNews editor in Accra, Ghana
    Ghanaian civil servants have received a directive from President John Atta-Mills to switch off all television sets during working hours to ensure productivity. However, this has not gone down well with the government workers some of whom enjoy watching local movies even at the expense of work.
    Ghana worker Photo: Kent Mensah
    The TV ban is in force in ministries, departments and agencies, but it does not affect hospital wards, waiting rooms and receptions.

    A cross section of civil servants is silently agitating because the orders are coinciding with the ongoing African Cup of Nations in Angola with Ghana taking part. However, the information ministry said that is "unfortunate" but it is necessary to achieve government target.

    “We get home late as a result of the traffic and are unable to watch the live football coverage in Angola. The TV stations rebroadcast the important matches during the day and how do we benefit.

    “I’m not kicking against the ban. It’s good but the timing is bad I must be honest,” a civil servant who pleaded anonymity told AfricaNews.

    "We're not so sure that this directive will so much affect Ghanaians' love for football or ability to follow football matches. Within working hours, we're supposed to be working," Ghana's Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa told the BBC.

    He said failure to comply with the fiat comes with punishments before a disciplinary committee.

    The directive covered working hours - 0800 until 1230 and 1330 until 1730 - so civil servants could watch football outside of those hours.

    Despite being information minister, Ablakwa said he never watched television at work.

    Ghana's Black Stars play their first match on Friday against Ivory Coast.

    Government workers are addicted to Nigerian soap operas and Latin American telenovelas that are shown on major television stations – TV3 and Crystal TV – during working hours.

    Nigeria civil servants are going through similar ban.

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Zimbabwe: Resettled farmers fail to utilize…10/05Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe are failing to utilize land due to inadequate farming inputs and lack of resources.
News archive