The disclosure came from the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, Mahama Ayariga, during a leaders’ engagement at the commencement of the first meeting of the second session of the Eighth Parliament. He confirmed that a formal bill, to be presented by the Minister for Transport, will be considered to enact the change.

“We are changing the name of our airport from Kotoka to Accra International Airport,” Ayariga stated. “A bill will be worked on by the Minister for Transport for the name of the airport to be changed.”

This legislative push follows years of intermittent public debate and advocacy for the renaming, which had previously yielded no official action. The move, according to Ayariga, is driven by a dual rationale: historical accuracy and communal recognition.

Honouring the Original Custodians

When pressed on the motivations behind the change, the Majority Leader offered a poignant explanation. The primary aim, he said, is to honour the memory and sacrifice of the indigenous communities whose lands were acquired for the airport's construction.

“The decision is to reflect the name of the people who sacrificed their lands for the establishment of the airport,” Ayariga explained. This reframes the airport’s identity from an individual to the collective – the people of Accra, whose capital city the facility serves.

A Reversion to Originality

Secondly, the change is framed not as a new naming, but as a reversion. The airport was originally known as Accra International Airport upon its establishment. It was renamed in 1969 in memory of Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, a member of the National Liberation Council that overthrew Ghana's first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Kotoka was killed in a counter-coup attempt near the airport precincts in 1967.

“The original name was Accra International Airport before it was changed,” Ayariga noted, “hence it being reversed.”

A Lingering Controversy

The proposed change also tacitly addresses a long-standing controversy. For decades, historians, civil society groups, and sections of the public have argued that General Kotoka’s legacy is incompatible with the stature of the nation’s most important aerial portal. Critics contend that as a key figure in the 1966 coup that overthrew Ghana's first democratic government, he symbolizes a rupture in constitutional rule. Furthermore, they point out that he played no direct role in the airport's conception or construction, making the dedication historically tenuous.

Ghana’s main international airport, located in the heart of the capital, is a pivotal hub for West Africa. It handles the largest volume of passenger and cargo traffic in the region and serves as a critical engine for tourism, business, and diplomacy. The debate over its name, therefore, carries weight beyond semantics, touching on how Ghana chooses to narrate its modern history and project its identity to the world.

The upcoming bill will formalize the discourse, moving it from the realm of public debate to the floor of Parliament. If passed, the signage, databases, and global aviation maps will undergo a transformation, marking a return to a name that proponents believe is more inclusive, geographically descriptive, and historically consistent with the facility's origins. The move signifies a poignant shift from commemorating a divisive figure in a coup-ridden era to recognising the collective contribution of the people of Accra and reclaiming the airport's original identity.