Earlier today, I called up Tommy Annan-Forson the hugely decorated Ghanaian broadcaster with over four decade’s worth of experience under his belt.

3 August is his birthday and in his typical lighthearted style he corrected the misinformation that he’s celebrating 70 years today, “It’s sixty-seven actually. People have added to it. They want to kill me but they lie bad.”

Reflecting on his life, he shared the moments he treasures most, “I think when I started broadcasting and ran through it for forty years. Having to start Joy FM afresh. To be the first voice on Joy FM on 1 May 1995. And then when I got married to Nana Yaa Agyare, it was one of the beautiful moments. There’ve been so many but it’s difficult to recollect but I think above all I’ve had a pretty good straightforward life. Making sure that I stay out of trouble, being humble and respectful to everybody irrespective of age.”

During the 2008 National Awards and Honours ceremony, TAF, as he’s affectionately called, received the Grand Medal award for his role in the promotion and sustenance of democracy and good governance and was decorated by then President of Ghana, H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor.

On how he spends his birthdays, the renowned baritone said, “Usually quiet. And most of the time, take the family out for dinner and celebrate, have a couple of drinks and you know, that’s it.”

Speaking on how he stays strong and healthy so that people mistake him for a man younger than his age, he explained, “You see everybody’s immune system is different. Everybody has a different blood group. Mine is a very rare blood group. The AB group. I’m AB positive. You know it’s only 3% of the world population who have that so possibly that could be the main factor of me not ever getting sick – feeling very healthy. And of course I eat a lot of vegetables. I make sure my diet is good. I eat at the right time.

“Of course wifey will make sure I eat at the right time before going to bed. Latest by 6.30 or 6.45 pm I make sure I’ve had dinner. We relax, watch TV. You know three hours to digest before I go to bed. I won’t say every single day I get enough sleep but I sleep as much as I can and for somebody my age, maximum you go perhaps is six or seven hours. But if I get four or five hours’ sleep, I wake up feeling pretty good. So I just thank God for giving me the blood group, this age, and the skin and the voice and what have you. Like I said, everyone’s immune system is different. What I would do, someone would do and rather fall sick. So I think it’s a natural phenomenon God has given me.”

Considering social media reactions to his birthday, he noted, “I thought at a certain point in time, people forget you. As you age and you’re not [very active] on radio – of course I am still on radio – but despite that, you get to a certain age and you sort of phase out but I thank God that each and every year when my birthday comes, I get a ton of messages. It pretty much tells me that there are people who still love me and I love people. Messages on WhatsApp, people on my timeline. It’s fantastic.” 

As one of the trailblazers for stand-up comedy in Ghana, in 2021, during the 2nd edition of the Comedy and Poetry Awards, the honoree of the night was Tommy Annan Forson, who was presented with the Comedy Icon Award by the veteran actor, Fred Amugi.