\n
The lead convenor of the Democracy Hub, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has defended the group\u2019s decision to file a lawsuit seeking the removal of \u201cKotoka\u201d from the name of Ghana\u2019s Kotoka International Airport.<\/p>\n
The move comes amid a heated national debate over the appropriateness of honoring Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, a key figure in the 1966 coup d\u2019\u00e9tat, with such a prominent national monument.<\/p>\n
On Monday, February 24, 2025, the Democracy Hub, in collaboration with the Convention People\u2019s Party (CPP), filed a suit at the Supreme Court, arguing that retaining Kotoka\u2019s name on the airport contradicts Ghana\u2019s democratic values.<\/p>\n
The plaintiffs contend that the name signifies state endorsement of unconstitutional actions, particularly Kotoka\u2019s role in the overthrow of Ghana\u2019s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, in 1966.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/em> with Bernard Avle on Tuesday, February 25, Barker-Vormawor explained the rationale behind the lawsuit.<\/p>\nHe emphasized that the issue is not about revising history but about ensuring that national symbols reflect the best elements of Ghana\u2019s democratic principles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question of revisionism, history is made up of both naming and renaming. So, the process of determining a name is the same way that India\u2019s Mumbai became Bombay. Even the project of removing the name is also part of history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t also mean the names of all coup makers should be removed. If we keep the name of the Kotoka Airport is to remain the same, any other nothing but his role in the overthrow in 1966, we don\u2019t think there will be a case to be made under the 1992 constitution.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, for us, it doesn\u2019t make any difference whether Kotoka is named after a street in Mallata or the airport. The bigger question is, will this be valorising a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat? If this is the case, the Supreme Court said you cannot do that. If it was named after him because his name was the nicest name back then, then there is no legal remedy there,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
However, the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), has dissociated itself from the writ filed by the Democracy Hub, stating that it has no knowledge of the writ filed by the pressure group, Democracy Hub.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The lead convenor of the Democracy Hub, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has defended the group\u2019s decision to file a lawsuit seeking the removal of \u201cKotoka\u201d from the name of Ghana\u2019s Kotoka International Airport. The move comes amid a heated national debate over the appropriateness of honoring Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, a key figure in the 1966 coup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":299518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-299517","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n
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