Steven Odarteifio
A concerned citizen, Steven Odarteifio, has appealed to the government to rename Ghana’s gateway airport, Kotoka International Airport (KIA), as Kwame Nkrumah International Airport.
Named after the late Lt Gen Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, Mr. Odarteifio found it ironic that a man who deposed Ghana’s first President has been bestowed with such an honour, he disclosed during a press conference yesterday in Accra.
The late Lt Gen E.K. Kotoka, according to him, doesn’t deserve to be named as such because as a person who should have showed loyalty, he rather led the coup which ousted Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who had to live in exile.
The late Gen Kotoka was chairman of the National Liberation Council (NLC), the post-coup junta, until his assassination in a 1967 counter-coup.
Mr. Odarteifio is of the view that honouring a coup maker encourages instability and unjustifiably rewards the destruction of democratic governance.
He announced plans to send a petition to the Presidency and Parliament to have his request addressed.
“We’re remembering a coup-era figure, and we’ve decided the best way to commemorate him is by placing his name at our nation’s front door – literally. Our gateway’s become a name, a doorpost, commemorating a coup-era figure rather than representing Ghana’s founding story. So, we’re here today, humbly but firmly asking: how did we end up honouring a coup-era figure at the very doorpost of our republic?”
Mr. Odarteifio added that an airport is more than just a name – it’s a country’s first handshake, saying, “millions pass through this gateway yearly; 3.4 million in 2024 alone.”
“During Christmas, diaspora Ghanaians come home to trace roots and experience Ghana, inspired by our independence story that made Ghana famous worldwide.
“But what’s the name at our republic’s doorpost?” he asked rhetorically. “Kotoka International Airport – on the display screen, tickets, boarding passes… As the plane descends, we hear it again: Kotoka International Airport. The name is repeated millions of times, year after year. And so we can arguably decide and say that the name Kotoka is the most marketed Ghanaian name across the globe.”
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke