Renowned journalist, Paul Adom Otchere, is accusing the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) of using the move for historical retribution rather than national interest in the proposal to rename Kotoka International Airport.
Speaking on Joy FM’s flagship Newsfile program today, Otchere argued that the plan to change the airport’s name to “Accra International Airport” is a post-election act of political score-settling aimed at sanctifying the legacy of Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
“What all this is about is settling political scores,” Otchere stated. “It has nothing to do with renaming an airport, it has everything to do with settling a major political part of our history.”
Mr Otchere’s central accusation is that the renaming, spearheaded by the NDC-led government, is a deliberate attempt to revise the historical narrative. He noted that the policy was never part of the NDC’s campaign manifesto, suggesting it is a reactive, politically motivated decision.
“This was never mentioned in the campaign,” he told the national audience. “So this has not been a matter that they thought about during the campaign… it’s becoming very obvious that what all this is about is about settling political scores.”
Defending the legacy of Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, the coup leader in whose honor the airport was renamed in 1969, Otchere challenged the notion of purely “good” or “bad” historical figures.
He insisted that Kotoka “did good things and deserves and must not be removed,” just as Nkrumah was not all-good and had blemishes.
He described Kotoka as a rescuer of Nkrumah’s ‘despotism’.
The government, however, has framed the “Accra International Airport Bill” as a necessary correction.
Proponents, including Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, argue that naming the nation’s primary international gateway after a key figure in the 1966 coup that overthrew Nkrumah is inconsistent with Ghana’s democratic constitution.
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