Tempers flared at the maiden press conference of the FIFA Normalization Committee to brief the media on the progress of their work so far after veteran journalist Ekow Asmah confronted a member of the Committee, Kofi Duah Adonteng after the latter showed up an hour late.
Ekow Asmah, who was upset that the journalists had been made to wait for an hour, stated that Mr. Adonteng’s lateness “set a bad example.”
Mr. Adonteng, a lawyer and former Managing Director of Ghana Post did not take kindly to Ekow Asmah’s words and called for the journalist to “keep quiet.”
“Have you asked me why and how [I was late]? I’m not interested in this stupidity,” Mr. Adonteng remarked.
Not willing to allow his concerns to be brushed aside. Ekow Asmah a freelance journalist who is usually a panelist on Asempa FM’s Sports show, stated that Mr. Adonteng’s conduct was not worthy of a member of the Normalization Committee.
The Committee member only arrived at the press conference when all his colleagues had already spoken and it was time for questions from journalists.
The journalist appeared to have been angered by the fact that the audience were asked to clap for Mr. Adonteng who had arrived late to the event.
“Punctuality is very important. As a member of the Normalization Committee, I expect that you set a very good example and this is a very bad example. The conduct is not befitting of a member that’s leading the transition to the new FA. I deem that he’s not fit to be on this Commission.”
Amid shouts of “you don’t respect”, Ekow Asmah responded “he disrespected me and I had to point it out.”
The conference eventually commenced after a few more exchanges.
Watch a video of the incident below.
Normalization Committee named
FIFA named ex-Kotoko Board Member, Kofi Duah Adonteng as one of the members of the Normalization Committee in September.
The Committee is chaired by Dr. Kofi Amoah, and Former Airtel CEO Lucy Quist and Naa Odofoley Nortey, a board member of the Attorney General department completing the list of members.
The Committee replaced the Ghana Football Association’s Executive Committee and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the GFA.
The Normalization Committee, according to FIFA should not exceed end of March 2019.
The Ghanaian’s disrespect for time
Lateness or disrespect for time among Ghanaians, is largely considered a national canker, and there have been several calls on Ghanaians to respect time.
This situation has led to the coinage ‘Ghanaman Time’, in reference to GMT or Greenwich Mean Time, which is the clock time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.
President Akufo-Addo, during the 2017 May Day celebration, complained about the effects of disrespect for time on national productivity, and urged Ghanaian workers to change their ways.
“We arrive at work late and then spend the first hour in prayer, we become clock watchers and leave in the middle of critical work because it is the official closing time. Everything comes to a stop when it rains and we seem to expect the rest of the world also to stop.”
“We have no respect for the hours set aside for work. We pray, we eat, we visit during working hours. We spend hours chatting on the telephone… we take a week off for every funeral and then we wonder why we are not competitive,” President Akufo-Addo stated.
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By: Daniel Koranteng & Edwin Kwakofi/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
