A passionate call has been made for the renaming of Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to Kwame Nkrumah International Airport, describing the current name as a symbol of national contradiction and unease that undermines Ghana’s founding story.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, January 19, 2026, to launch the advocacy at the Airport View Hotel, concerned citizen Steven Odarteifio urged President John Dramani Mahama, Parliament, the Judiciary, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and all Ghanaians to support the change.
Odarteifio emphasised that the issue transcends politics and policy, touching the very spirit of the nation.
He noted that 2026 marks 60 years since the 1966 overthrow of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s founder and the African of the Millennium, and recalled how the airport was renamed in 1967 after Lt. Gen. E.K. Kotoka, who was killed during the failed Operation Guitar Boy counter-coup.
“An airport is not just an airport. It is the nation’s handshake… the first greeting… the first sentence Ghana speaks to the world,” Odarteifio said.
He highlighted that millions of passengers — including 3.4 million in 2024 — encounter the name “Kotoka International Airport” repeatedly on tickets, boarding passes, airline announcements, and global airport screens before experiencing Ghana’s hospitality or learning its independence story.
The advocate argued that Kotoka’s name, associated primarily with the coup that introduced political instability, is repeated more globally than those of unifying figures like Kofi Annan, J.B. Danquah, or former presidents Rawlings, Kufuor, Mills, and Akufo-Addo.
Odarteifio pointed out that Kotoka is not widely linked to major national development projects beyond his military career. He referenced the removal of Kotoka’s statue from the airport forecourt in October 2000 under President Rawlings, which has not been reinstated across subsequent administrations, as evidence that the name can be reconsidered.
Comparing Ghana to neighbours like Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire, he stressed that major airports are typically named after unifying leaders or cities, not figures tied to unconstitutional power seizures.
The advocate invoked the historical return of Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s body on July 7, 1972, when his casket arrived at the airport bearing the name of one of his overthrowers, emphasising that such an event cannot be a befitting honour to the founder of the nation.
“How does a country claim to honour its father, yet welcome him at a front door bearing the name of betrayal?” he asked, suggesting Nkrumah’s spirit has never fully returned home.
He commended groups like Democracy Hub, Madam Samia Nkrumah, Kweku Sintim-Misa (KSM), and Kwesi Pratt Jnr. for keeping the issue alive and announced plans to submit formal requests to Parliament, relevant ministers, and the Judiciary for constitutional clarity.
Addressing President Mahama directly, Odarteifio described this as a “moment of legacy” to resolve a 60-year national question.
“RESET this name of our national gateway to ease the troubled conscience of our motherland,” he urged.
“For whose spirit would we rather have resting in peace, Gen. Kotoka or Kwame Nkrumah?” he asked.