Ghana’s main aviation gateway has officially reverted to Accra International Airport after more than five decades under the name Kotoka International Airport, with the Ministry of Transport confirming the change on Monday in a press release that brings to an end one of the country’s longest-running public debates over national symbolism and democratic values.
The Ministry said the decision restores the facility to its “former and internationally recognised name,” noting that the airport was originally known as Accra International Airport before it was redesignated. Officials stressed that the renaming is administrative and that within the records of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the airport code has always remained “ACC,” meaning airline scheduling, ticketing, and aviation logistics will not be affected.
The renaming process will include updating official documents, statutory instruments where necessary, airport signage, digital platforms, aviation publications, and other communication materials. The government appealed to the public, stakeholders, and international partners to support the relevant authorities to ensure a smooth transition.
The airport has a history stretching back to World War II, when the British Royal Air Force constructed it as a military airfield in 1946. It was subsequently handed to civilian authorities and, under former President Kwame Nkrumah, underwent a development project begun in 1956 that transformed it into a civilian terminal capable of handling around 500,000 passengers annually. It was originally named Accra International Airport. In 1969, three years after the coup that toppled Nkrumah’s government, the airport was renamed after Lieutenant General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, one of the key figures in the February 24, 1966 military takeover, following his death in an attempted counter-coup. The renaming was formalised through the General Kotoka Trust Decree, 1969.
The debate over the airport’s name stretches back to the 1960s. More recently, the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and youth advocacy group Democracy Hub jointly challenged the constitutionality of the name before the Supreme Court, arguing that retaining Kotoka’s name sends a contradictory message for a country that officially condemns unconstitutional changes of government.
Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, who first announced the renaming plan in early February 2026, said the change was partly about restoring the rights of Accra landowners. “The people of Accra gave their land for the airport, it was named after their city, and then it was changed to another name,” he said, adding that the decision was unrelated to the personal record of Kotoka but was a matter of geographical and historical accuracy.
The restoration of the Accra International Airport name comes exactly 60 years after the coup in which Kotoka played a central role, a timing that is unlikely to be lost on observers following the country’s often heated discussions about how Ghana commemorates its past.
