The importance of keeping our word

The process of authoring this article is more or less a public exercise in introspection. I wish I could pretend otherwise, but I am not perfect. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And in the process of researching this article, I am discovering and remembering things about myself, that are pretty unsavoury. It is however my sincere hope that, with this article, I will strive henceforth to be a better Ghanaian and by extension a better global citizen.

A Ghanaian simply cannot be trusted to keep his word. Slowly but surely, over a period of years and possibly decades, we have individually and collectively, failed to keep our promises to each other and the outside world. Consequently it has become accepted, amongst ourselves and to outsiders, that a little slack must be cut for the Ghanaian, when he makes a promise or undertakes to do something. It has become the accepted state of affairs in this country. 

Interestingly enough, the Ghanaian attitude towards time, is the surest manner in which we unfailingly demonstrate our inability to keep our  word. Ghanaians have the chronological equivalent of Dyslexia. We see the time, we know the time, we acknowledge the time, but we simply can’t keep to time. Ministers of State are late to functions. Brides are late to weddings. Employees are late to work. Our system has adjusted to this state of affairs by stating start times for events that are an hour before the actual start time. Even then, we manage somehow to be late. Anytime we fail to be punctual to an event, the latecomer is basically announcing to his host in particular, and to the entire world at large, that he simply cannot be relied on to keep his word. Irrespective of what we think, we are an intrinsic part of the global village. In this age of real time communication and just in time production, strict adherence to time is as much a currency as the US Dollar or Euro. You miss a deadline and your word henceforth is worthless. Time, and by extension, life, simply marches forward and waits for no one. 

The Ghanaian business environment is a potentially lucrative and flourishing one. But it simply cannot realize its true potential because of the fundamental lack of trust that underpins every single transaction in this country. Every day, thousands, if not millions of business transactions, are conducted by Ghanaian businesses small and large, between themselves and the Government of Ghana. It has become accepted that there will always be a delay in paying for goods and services rendered. It is variously referred to as credit or delays in payment but it is fundamentally the buyer refusing to keep his word by not paying the seller on time. Without a fundamental change in the way we conduct business in this country, Ghanaian businesses will never be fully compatible with the global economy.

In a typically Ghanaian business transaction, the seller implicitly or explicitly undertakes to provide a service or a product of a particular quality, to the buyer. The buyer accepts that upon provision of the service or delivery of the goods, the buyer will promptly pay the seller for the goods. What tends to happen in Ghana is that, the seller out of sheer tardiness or in an effort to maximize his profit, provides services or goods of a quality inferior to that implicitly or explicitly agreed. The buyer in return also applies the Ghanaian attitude to time when processing payment for the goods and services provided. What the buyer fails to realize is that time is money, so every day, week, month or year that the payment is delayed, a cost accrues to the seller. I dare say, if Ghanaian businesses largely kept their word to themselves, Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product could increase by 20 – 30%.

This state of affairs has prevailed for decades in Ghanaian business, from the most prestigious blue chip multinationals to our tradesmen like masons, carpenters and plumbers. The end result is that the mental configuration and business processes of all participants, have evolved to cope with and even profit from, this state of affairs. Sellers  in addition to providing goods and services of inferior quality, tend to overprice their invoices to compensate for the predicted delay in payment. Buyers because they are not compelled to do so, tend to purchase goods and services that they can’t afford at that point in time, hoping for some future predicted revenue with which to use to effect payment. When it is time to effect payment, buyers resort to all sorts of evasive and defensive tactics to postpone and sometimes renege on payment. End result is a business world where a promise by a Ghanaian is absolutely worthless. Yet these same businesses complain bitterly when banks refuse to lend to them but direct their lending instead to our Indian and Lebanese brethren. Who necessarily are not better or cleaner businessmen but simply happen to be better at keeping their word. Over time. And by far.

In business transactions conducted with the outside world, just like with most global citizens and businessmen, quite a few Ghanaian businessmen have credit cards issued by reputable banks in Ghana. But Ghanaians are excluded in trying to use it to pay for certain goods and services online. We feel discriminated against especially when we consider the fact that the same websites will accept credit card payments from our brothers in Togo, Benin and Senegal.  But it is simply the case that a Ghanaians word cannot be trusted. When anyone pays for goods and services with a credit card, what is fundamentally occurring is that the buyer is promising to pay the merchant for the purchased goods or services. But with the level of Credit card fraud emanating from Ghana, the message we are consistently putting out there is that a Ghanaian cannot be relied on to keep his word. So when a Ghanaian implicitly promises to pay for goods and services with a credit card, his word is basically worthless to the merchant out there.  

A man without his word is nothing. So how do we individually and gradually train ourselves to keep our word. It is all about self discipline. First thing is take control of our minds and situations. Never promise what you know you can’t deliver. No matter how awkward the situation, no matter how convenient or tempting it is to make a promise that we aren’t sure that we can keep, we shouldn’t. We must do it every single time not some of the time and build up the habit of promising to deliver on something when we have doubts about our ability to do so. This applies to the business world and personal world

Secondly we must think long term. Our ability and willingness to honour our word will reap dividends for us in the future. Often we allow short term considerations to take precedence over promises that we have made to others. Once we make a promise to someone or some organization to do something we must strive to fulfill that pledge. 

A man who can’t keep his word is basically nothing. Its simply a matter of respect and trust. And like respect and trust, it takes a lifetime to acquire and one broken promise to lose it all. Individually and nationally.

Let those who have ears hear.