I quit Law School to become a commentator – Joe Lartey

Legendary Ghanaian commentator, Joe Lartey has revealed that he dropped out of Law school to fulfil his aim of becoming a commentator.

“I went into sports commentary by accident, my parents did not allow me to do sports...my father wanted me to be either a lawyer or a priest,” Mr. Lartey told Bola Ray on Starr Chat Wednesday evening.

He added: “I was doing a course at the Law School and you know why I stopped because of commentary...my frequent outings on commentary assignments made me stop”.

Erudite and eloquent Lartey also admonished Ghanaian commentators to be patient and master the skill of commentary before they go on the air.

According to him, the current crop of commentators in the country fail to polish their raw talents before they are rushed on air.

Over a considerably extensive period, Mr. Lartey, along with regular commentary partner Harry Thompson, ruled the airwaves when covering national events for state broadcaster GBC (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation).

While Lartey excelled at commentating on most political and social functions, football was arguably his forte.

In the days before private media houses sprang throughout Ghana, Lartey and his colleagues enjoyed a monopoly they dignified with some fine work.

The phrase 'Over to you, Joe Lartey', coined by Thompson and mentioned on air whenever Lartey was scheduled to take over microphone duties from his partner in the course of a game, has since entered daily Ghanaian lingua.

Lartey became the first president of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG), an institution of which he is currently a patron.

Even in his pension, Lartey continues to inspire an entire generation of commentators raised listening and looking up to him, possibly including the next on this list.