The government has confirmed that the renaming of Accra International Airport to Kotoka International Airport was not backed by legislation, clearing the way for its reversion through executive action.
Addressing journalists, the Minister for Transport, Joseph Nikwe Bukari, said the original change of name was effected by decree rather than by an Act of Parliament. He explained that the decree was primarily intended to establish a trust for families of soldiers who were killed during the events surrounding the 1966 coup.
He said: “It was a decree that was brought to set a trust to cater for the families of Kotoka and other soldiers who were killed at that time. And it happened that he was killed at the forecourt of the airport. And so if you look at the decree, it was its intention was to set a trust to take care of the families of the soldiers who were killed. And so if you look within it, they decided to honour him by introducing or renaming the airport after him. But the purpose of the decree was to establish a trust. Now there was no any legislation in Parliament to operationalise it. And so there is nothing in it for Parliament to amend or to legislate. It was an executive order that was given to recognise somebody who was killed at the forecourt of the airport. And the rightful thing is for us to come to an executive announcement again that the name is reverted to its original name”.
His comments follow a formal announcement by the Ministry of Transport that the facility has been restored to its original designation, Accra International Airport. In a statement, the ministry said the decision was taken after considering that the former name better reflected the airport’s historical identity and international recognition.
“The facility was originally known as Accra International Airport before its redesignation. The government has considered it appropriate to restore the airport to its former and internationally recognised name,” the statement said.
Mr Bukari also rejected suggestions that the reversion would impose a heavy financial burden on the state, insisting that most international aviation identifiers would remain unchanged.
“The good news for us is that all these organisations that control aviation, since the name change of Accra to Kotoka have not changed the country code. ICAO still maintains the country code GGAA, and IATA still maintains the country code ACC. So, there’s nothing to change at the international level; the only thing to change is the signage and the billboards that we have. But Kotoka as a company, they already have the vendors who produce their letterheads on daily basis for them. So it’s not a new contract. It’s just a matter of Kotoka is now out. The same vendors who were doing their letterheads, their stamps are the same companies to continue to now change, just a removal of Kotoka and it will be Accra. So what will be the cost there? We are already renovating the airport. We are already doing construction of the airport to make it function properly. And some of those things would have been destroyed and rebranded. It’s just a matter of the Kotoka out and the Accra in. So what will be the cost, even though there will be some cost to it, but it is not that cost that somebody will care about. It is going to be a minimum (cost) because of the renovation, the cost involved will be very, very, very, very small, as compared to other airports that you have to deal with international, regional and national issues”.
The ministry assured the public and international partners that operations would not be disrupted. It noted that within the records of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the airport code has remained “ACC”, meaning existing aviation identifiers used globally would not be affected.
The implementation process, according to the ministry, will involve updating official documentation, statutory instruments where necessary, signage, digital platforms and aviation publications to reflect the restored name.
The debate over the airport’s name has long divided opinion. The facility was originally opened in 1958 as Accra International Airport before being renamed in 1969 in honour of Lt General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, a leading figure in the 1966 coup that overthrew Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah.
The reversion coincides with the 60th anniversary of the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah on February 24, 1966.
Critics of the Kotoka designation have argued that naming the country’s main gateway after a coup figure conflicted with Ghana’s democratic ideals. Supporters of the latest move maintain that restoring Accra International Airport corrects a historical anomaly while allowing the legacy of Lt Gen Kotoka to be preserved in other forms.
