Eagle Eye International has condemned the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government’s plan to rename Kotoka International Airport to Accra International Airport, describing the decision as unnecessary, divisive, and a misplacement of national priorities that will waste taxpayers’ money while erasing Voltarian identity from national symbols.
The organization issued a statement signed by its President Isaac Kojo Antwi, known as Chairman Ike, on Wednesday following Tuesday’s announcement by Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga that Parliament will receive a bill from the Transport Minister seeking approval to change the airport’s name, a move Ayariga framed as part of the government’s broader resetting agenda to restore historical and cultural identities.
Eagle Eye International stated the renaming will impose huge avoidable costs including rebranding, signage replacement, documentation updates, international aviation records modifications, airline systems changes, maps alterations, and marketing materials revisions. The organization questioned the justification for such expenditure when Ghanaians grapple with economic hardship, unemployment, and pressure on public services.
The group characterized the move as a deliberate attempt to erase the identity of an indigenous Voltarian hero whose name remains one of the very few nationally recognized symbols associated with the Volta Region. Removing Kotoka’s name from the airport effectively denies Voltarians a prominent national identity tied to their historical contribution to Ghana, according to the statement.
Lieutenant General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka was born at Alakple in the Keta district of the Volta Region on October 26, 1926, and became a key figure in the February 24, 1966 coup that overthrew Ghana’s first President Kwame Nkrumah. Kotoka was killed on April 17, 1967, during an abortive counter coup at a location now part of the airport forecourt, and the facility was renamed in his honor in 1969.
Eagle Eye International argued that nations progress by learning from and preserving their history rather than selectively erasing it, noting that Kotoka International Airport has over decades become part of Ghana’s historical and national identity regardless of differing views about that history. The organization warned that the renaming risks confusion in international travel, aviation systems, logistics, and tourism with no tangible benefit to Ghana’s global standing.
The statement emphasized that the proposed name change adds no measurable economic, infrastructural, or social value to the country, creates no jobs, improves no airport services, and enhances no aviation safety. Eagle Eye International warned that frequent renaming of national assets based on political cycles undermines national cohesion and risks politicizing national symbols that should unite Ghanaians rather than serve as tools for political symbolism or score settling.
The organization identified more pressing national issues requiring government attention and resources, including youth unemployment, rising cost of living, healthcare financing, education quality, and infrastructure deficits. The statement called on the NDC government to reconsider the decision, listen to the broader national interest, and channel public resources toward policies and programs that directly improve Ghanaians’ lives.
Spokesperson Seth Adu Adjei represented Eagle Eye International in the statement, which concluded by asserting that national unity, fiscal responsibility, and respect for history must always supersede partisan considerations.
The renaming proposal has sparked divided reactions since Ayariga’s Tuesday announcement. Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo Markin described the plan as an indictment on the NDC, arguing that the current name already reflects Accra while preserving historical identity since the full designation is Kotoka International Airport, Accra.
Ayariga told journalists the airport was originally Accra International Airport before its 1969 renaming, and the government believes reverting to the original name would appropriately acknowledge the Ga people as rightful owners of the land. The proposal forms part of broader efforts to align public institution naming with Ghana’s democratic values and national identity, according to the Majority Leader.
Civil society groups including Democracy Hub and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) have previously sued at the Supreme Court to remove Kotoka from the airport name, arguing that honoring the coup leader contradicts Ghana’s democratic values. Parliament will play a central role in reviewing and deliberating the matter once the Transport Minister formally presents the bill.
