Gov’t to Rename Kotoka International Airport as Accra International Airport
By:Maame Efua Kwaduah
Government has announced plans to rename Ghana’s premier airport, Kotoka International Airport (KIA), as Accra International Airport. The decision, officials say, aims to recognise the residents of Accra whose lands were acquired for the airport’s construction.
The announcement was made during a parliamentary leadership media briefing ahead of the resumption of the Ninth Parliament on Tuesday.
The Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, revealed that a bill seeking to restore the airport’s original name will be laid before Parliament this session.
According to Mr Ayariga, the move is intended to correct what he described as a historical oversight. “It is not fair to the people of Accra. They gave their land for the airport; it was originally named after their city, and yet it was changed to another name, even though the land did not come from there,” he said.
The airport opened in 1958 as Accra International Airport but was renamed Kotoka International Airport in 1969 in honour of Lieutenant General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, a member of the National Liberation Council who was killed during an abortive coup attempt in 1967.
Mr Ayariga emphasised that the proposed change does not seek to diminish the legacy of Lieutenant General Kotoka. “This has nothing to do with his personality. The point is that when you remove a name reflecting where the land came from and replace it with another, it creates a cycle where names can be changed again in the future,” he explained.
The Minister of Transport is expected to formally present the bill during the current eight-week parliamentary session. Kotoka International Airport, which handled a record 3.1 million passengers in 2023, remains the country’s only international airport.
The airport’s name has long sparked public debate, with critics arguing that a facility developed during Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s era should not bear the name of a figure associated with the 1966 coup.
