Joe Lartey, still going strong @ 90 (II)

Joe Lartey told me his decision to resign from GBC in 1973 did not go down well with his colleagues, friends and listeners on Radio Ghana, the only radio station in Ghana at the time.

“I was, however, ready to take the risk and face the consequences. Running commentary on Radio Ghana had made me popular and I was aware my name had become a household word but I could not bear the cheating that was going on at GBC at the time”, he pointed out.

He said the frustration started as far back as 1966 when GBC was to send a commentator to cover the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.

“Everybody knew I was the obvious choice but somehow we woke up one morning to learn that Charles Assinor, who was the head of Sports Department after Festus Addae had left to join the Army, had elected himself to go to Kingston. I vehemently kicked against that since Charles did not merit to go to the Games,” he narrated.

According to Joe, he respected Charles Assinor but he thought he did not deserve to go to Kingston.

He said Charles was living at Aburi and most of the time was not around, especially at week-ends, when there was a lot of work to do.

“It was myself and William Opare who were doing all the work and I thought if I did not go to Kingston, then Opare must go,” he pointed out.

Much to the amazement of the authorities at GBC, when Joe was asked about the one who should go to Jamaica, he mentioned William Opare.

Things were never the same again for Joe at the Sports Department when he stopped his boss from going to cover the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston.

From that time onwards, the relationship between Charles Assinor and Joe became strained, and it appeared it was beyond redemption. 

“For about eight years, I was never promoted to the next level. I was just marking time and it became obvious that I was no longer wanted at GBC,” Joe recollected

Joe finally threw in the towel in 1973, when he tendered in his resignation at GBC. It was a difficult decision but he thought looking at the circumstances, it was the only option left for him.

 From GBC to Food Distribution

“I left GBC in the morning and started working at the Food Distribution Corporation in the afternoon” was the way Joe put it.

Joe’s only regret was that his decision to resign from GBC was later to affect his pension. Today, I receive a mere GH¢500 because I left too early.

For five years, Joe worked at the Food Distribution Corporation  as a public relations officer. This was at the time the National Redemption Council (NRC), led by Col. I. K. Acheampong, was in power. He enjoyed his work as a public relations practitioner.

However, when the NRC metamorphosed into the Supreme Military Council (SMC) in 1975 and General Acheampong started mooting the idea of a Union Government, Joe became interested in politics. 

By 1978 Joe had realised that public service was no longer the place for him. He had become embroiled in the politics of the day. He, therefore, left Food Distribution that year to go into private practice as a public relations practitioner and to have more time for politics.

Joe became involved in the activities of the People’s Movement For Freedom and Justice (PFMJ), a political grouping that was opposed to UNIGOV. He found himself working in the same trenches with people like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, K. A. Gbedemah and others, who campaigned against UNIGOV.

When those opposed to UNIGOV lost out in the referendum of March 1978 life became unbearable for people like Joe Lartey and his friends in the PFMJ. The operatives of the SMC chased them all over the place.

To save his life, Joe decided to go into exile, fleeing to a safe haven in Lagos, Nigeria. He was forced to make the move into the unknown following a tip off by a lady colleague at GBC that the SMC security operatives were closing in on him.

Joe had to disguise himself to be able to escape through the Aflao border and as he put it “I was lucky not to have been caught, since one of the soldiers suspected me to be a fugitive. But he could not nail me down.”

That was how he found himself in Nigeria. As soon as he got to Lagos, he looked for old friends from Radio Nigeria who used to come to Accra to run commentaries during football matches between Ghana and Nigeria.

“I was lucky to find Ishola Folorunsho, the ace Nigerian commentator, who was very known in Ghana and who was a good friend,” he told me.

According to Joe, Ishola was surprised to see him and when he heard the story of his escape from Ghana, he received him nicely and ensured he was comfortable.

“Ishola quickly arranged for me to appear on a programme on Radio Nigeria and it was such a big hit. I think I endeared myself to listeners and that was all that it took for me to be employed permanently by FRCN,” Joe recalled

Apart from handling some programmes on Radio Nigeria, he also taught at the FRCN Training School at Ikoyi, where he had the opportunity to train young Nigerian broadcasters in public speaking and public relations, which were key in broadcasting. 

After the collapse of the UNIGOV dream of Gen. Kutu Acheampong, followed by the emergence of J.J. Rawlings and his AFRC in 1979, Joe did not rush back to Ghana. Life was confortable in Nigeria and he made the best out of the situation.

Not even the return to civilian rule in September 1979 would push Joe to return to Ghana. He was satisfied with following events back at home in the media while he visited Ghana every six months.

“In all I spent a total of 12 memorable years in Nigeria, from 1978 to 1990”, Joe told me.

When he finally decided to return home nothing would change his mind. His hosts tried to prevail on him to stay for a while longer but his mind was made up. 

“However, it was with a heavy heart that I left Lagos, with all the numerous friends I had made, both Nigerians and Ghanaians living in exile” he recalled.

Joe quickly settled down. Even though he was then 63, he still had enough energy to move around to engage in public relation activities. He linked up with his former place at GBC and was allowed to host some programmes on GTV, including Hall of Fame and Sports Digest.

In addition to hosting programmes on GTV, Joe also arranged to teach the art of public speaking at the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) sessions, which were heavily attended

Joe also found time to move from department to department, teaching those interested in how to master the art of public speaking. It was no wonder that he founded a branch of TOASTMASTERS, originally established in California, USA in 1923 in Accra to aid people in public speaking.

Today, at 90, Joe does not appear to be tired. He doesn’t stay at home waiting for manna to fall from heaven. He teaches presentation at the Accra Film School. He also finds time to attend family meetings and other social events, relying mainly on taxis to move about.

“What I intend doing before I finally retire is to go round schools and colleges, including universities, to talk to young students and mentor them because I have realised that most of them know next to nothing”, he promised me. 

One thing Joe would not like to talk about is his family. When I asked him how many children he had, he hesitated and only told me he has a number of them. However, at least I know one of his children, George, at GBC who appears to be following in the footsteps of his father and already carving a niche for himself in sports.  

On a final note, Joe’s advice to the youth is always to aim at doing the right thing all the time, but not to be too much in a hurry.