Historian Kwaku Darko Ankrah has expressed support for removing Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka’s name from Ghana’s international airport. His endorsement comes after a lawsuit filed by Democracy Hub and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) at the Supreme Court, which seeks to change the airport’s name from “Kotoka.”
The plaintiffs argue that honouring Kotoka—one of the key figures behind the 1966 coup d’état that overthrew Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah—contradicts the nation’s democratic values. In a statement issued on Monday, February 24, they asserted that maintaining Kotoka’s name on a major national monument implies state approval of unconstitutional actions. Instead, they advocate for renaming the airport to reaffirm Ghana’s commitment to democratic governance.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View with Bernard Avle, Mr. Ankrah emphasized the significance of naming national landmarks after figures who have made meaningful contributions. “I think it’s something that should be pursued. Naming of monuments is about things people have done. “We give honour and respect, we show that the nation is grateful. When people are writing history and somebody is honoured, the term used is that a grateful nation honoured him with the Order of Volta etc.
“Anything that is contrary to something good done for a nation, people will see it as wrong. The people who advocate for the naming of Kotoka International Airport, they are looking at the manner of death that Kotoka suffered around that vicinity.” Ankrah further criticized successive governments for failing to change the airport’s name, suggesting that Ghana’s leadership has overlooked the deeper historical implications of keeping Kotoka’s legacy tied to such a key national landmark.
By: Leticia Osei
