Is 159-year-old world's oldest man?

A great grand-father in Berekum in the Brong Ahafo region, Opanin Kwaku Dei, may very well be Ghana’s and quite possibly the world's oldest man at 159 years.

In an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Kwaku Dei, a cocoa farmer told host Kofi Adoma he has seven wives two of who are deceased but has lost count of his children.

Opanin Dei, who has a slight hearing impairment but could speak clearly, said he was born somewhere around 1852.
Asked how he knew his age since he does not have a birth certificate, he said he used the farming seasons to calculate his age.

“As a cocoa farmer I used the gestation period of cocoa, which is one year to calculate my age – and I can tell that I will be 160 years old at Christmas this year,” he said.
Kwaku Dei has memories of events that took place 111 years ago, during colonial rule - from Yaa Asantewaa’s era through to the independence era.

He attributed his long life to a life of honesty, generosity, forgiveness, and being very prayerful. He advised the youth to desist from immorality and live a life of uprightness and enjoy long life.

His 72-year old daughter, Ama Yeboah, who is the third child of her mother, said her dad had all his 32 teeth intact and is still able to walk on his own. “As we speak he is sitting out here with us enjoying some fresh air,” she said.

Ama Yeboah said she had also lost count of her siblings but she alone has eight children. She said growing up as a child she saw her dad cultivate large farms and share his produce with other families in the community. “He has been a very generous man,” she said.

The story of Opanin Kwaku Dei comes on the heels of a revelation from the Guinness Book of Records that that oldest man in the world today, Walter Breuning, who was aged 114, was reported dead this morning.

Is it possible for Kwaku Dei to be the world’s oldest man?

Story by: Samuel Mantey/Adom News/Ghana