Kennedy Osei Nyarko, a ranking member of Parliament’s Roads and Transportation Committee, has questioned the John Mahama government over its plans to rename the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
According to Kennedy Osei Nyarko, the move to rename the Kotoka International Airport is unnecessary and risks politicising a national asset.
The NPP further called on President John Mahama to halt any plans of renaming the Kotoka International Airport.
The Member of Parliament for Akyem Swedru argued that the airport has retained its name through different political eras without any attempts to alter it.
In a Facebook post, Kennedy Osei Nyarko stated, “What will be the relevance and the economic impact of this exercise in changing the name of KIA? A name that has been with us even under a Military Rule. Not even Chairman Rawlings made any attempts in renaming the Airport.
The government should not overly politicise everything in this country to the extent of trying to rename an Airport that has served the purpose of generations. This i see it as a travesty of the contributions of our forefathers who laid their lives and wholeheartedly served this nation.
I will urge the president and his Government to immediately abort this planned agenda and let peace reign”.
The NPP MP comment follows, the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, has announced plans to rename Ghana’s international airport from Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to Accra International Airport.
According to the majority leader, the change would be effected through legislation to be laid before Parliament by the Minister for Transport.
Speaking during a leadership media briefing ahead of the resumption of the Ninth Parliament on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, Mahama Ayariga detailed, “We are changing the name of our airport from Kotoka International Airport to Accra International Airport. A bill will be brought by the Minister for Transport for the name to be changed”.
“The Minister for Transport will bring the Maritime Offences Bill and the Road Traffic Bill to deal with the legalisation of okada riding and their operations. He will also bring the Ghana Shippers Council Regulation Bill,” the Majority Leader said.
The Mahama government announcement through the Majority leader follows years of calls by sections of the public and civil society groups.
Some Ghanaians and civil groups argue that the current name does not reflect Ghana’s democratic values, arguing that it honours General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, one of the key figures involved in the 1966 coup that overthrew the country’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Also, Veteran Ghanaian journalist Kwesi Pratt has quizzed how Ghana’s airport can be named after a national traitor.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana Show, Kwesi Pratt explained, “How do you name an airport after Kotoka? How do you justify naming an airport after a national traitor?… What did he do? He participated in a plot by Western intelligence agencies headed by the CIA to overthrow a popular democratically elected government of Ghana, which was spearheading the African revolution.”
“Today, if you look at agriculture, most of our crops suffer 30 per cent post-harvest losses. This could easily have been cured using radiation. The equipment that were brought in to enable our scientists to use radiation to minimise post-harvest losses was packaged and sold to the United States of America by these reckless persons who staged the 1966 coup, and you want us to honour them?” He emphasised.
Background
Kotoka was a member of the National Liberation Council, which overthrew Ghana’s first president of the republicDr Kwame Nkrumah, in a military coup d’état on 24th February 1966.
The name Kotoka International Airport was originally a military airport used by the British Royal Air Force during World War II in 1946.
History tells us that the facility was handed over to civilian authority after a successful pull-out by the military.
In response to globalisation and the growing demand for air travel at the time, a development project was launched, and the completion of the project set the stage for Ghana Airways to use the airport as its base in 1958.
However, in 1969, the Accra International Airport was renamed Kotoka International Airport in memory of the late Lt. General E.K. Kotoka.
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