Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a social activist and private legal practitioner, has slammed the Minority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, after he dragged ethnicity in to brouhaha surrounding the renaming of the Kotoka Airport.
According to Oliver Barker-Vormawor, he is disappointed in Afenyo-Markin for bringing needless ethnicity into the renaming of the Kotoka Airport.
He stressed why Ghanaians can have an intelligent conversation about without suggesting Ewe’s are being victimised.
In a post on X, Oliver Barker-Vormawor wrote, “What has being an Ewe got to do with Kotoka’s name on an Airport. We need to be careful the things we bring needless ethnicity into oo.
I’m very disappointed in Afenyo-Markin. This is a red herring.
We can have an intelligent conversation about without suggesting Ewe’s are being victimised. Mtcheew”.
His comments come on the back of the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who has opposed the government’s plan to rename the Kotoka International Airport to the Accra International Airport.
Afenyo-Markin described the move to rename Kotoka International Airport as an indictment of the NDC.
Speaking in an interview with journalists, Mr Afenyo-Markin defended the current name of the airport and criticised the decision to rename it, adding that the name Kotoka International Airport already has Accra in it.
Afenyo-Markin explained, “All these years, we’ve had General Kotoka’s name on the airport, and suddenly it’s being changed. The name Kotoka International Airport, Accra, is already there, so you don’t need to remove Kotoka’s name”.
The Minority leader asserted that successive governments had retained the name and fired NDC leaders and MP’s from the Volta Region for remaining silent on the issue.
He added, “How many prominent Voltarians have their names on national assets or monuments? This is the only thing the people of Volta can also see as something that recognises heroism from the Volta Region, and they’re being denied”.
“Majority Chief Whip Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, NDC General Secretary Fifi Kwetey, Foreign Affairs Minister Okudzeto Ablakwa, First Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor — they’re from Volta, they’re in government and are watching Volta lose its pride. It’s up to them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, the Minister of Transport, has defended the government’s decision to rename the Kotoka International Airport.
The Transport Minister highlighted that the Mahama government’s decision is not politically motivated, arguing that renaming the airport is of significant importance to the Ghanaian people.
He explained that the government decision to just restore the airport’s original name, Accra International Airport, given by Ghana’s first presiednt Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Speaking during a working visit to the State Transport Company (STC) terminal in Accra, Joseph Bukari Nikpe stated, “Parliament will be expected to pass a lot of bills, and as part of the government’s agenda, we have a lot of bills from the Ministry of Transport, and one of them is the renaming of the Kotoka International Airport to its original name.
Renaming the airport to Accra International Airport is of significant importance to the Ghanaian people and, for that matter, the African personality. We are not doing this with any political thinking. We are doing this to come from a very neutral point of view.”
The Transport minister further cited historical context, saying, “We will remember that around 1946, the British Royal Air Force used that place as an air force base to carry people to war and other activities”.
He explained, “That was the time Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah was at the helm of affairs. He retooled, revamped, and redeveloped the air force base into a civilian passenger airport, and at that time, the name was Accra International Airport”.
The Minister added, “We have all accepted that Accra is our capital city. It is rich in culture and also has a locational identity. Everybody, especially in the West Africa sub-region, knows that the struggle for independence had a lot to do with Accra.”
“Renaming the airport to Accra International Airport is of significant importance to the Ghanaian people and, for that matter, the African personality,” he stated.
“For the fact that the name was changed to honour somebody in his role in the 1966 coup, we feel that that history is not what Ghanaians would want to hear,” he said.
“The airport had an original name given by the first President. We should go back to that. Kwame Nkrumah himself, wherever his spirit may be, will remember that when he comes home, it will be to his original Accra International Airport,” he said.
See the post below:
What has being an Ewe got to do with Kotoka’s name on an Airport. We need to be careful the things we bring needless ethnicity into oo.
— Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vormawor (@barkervogues) February 4, 2026
I’m very disappointed in Afenyo-Markin. This is a red herring.
We can have an intelligent conversation about without suggesting Ewe’s are…