‘This isn't politics, it is about our history’ – Transport Minister defends KIA renaming

The Minister of Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, has defended government plans to rename Kotoka International Airport to Accra International Airport, insisting the move is rooted in history and national identity rather than partisan politics.

Speaking during a working visit to the State Transport Company (STC) terminal in Accra amid mixed public reactions, Mr Nikpe said the proposed renaming forms part of a broader legislative agenda from the Ministry of Transport that will soon be presented to Parliament.

The minister traced the origins of the airport to the colonial era, explaining that the facility was initially developed as a military base before being transformed into a civilian airport under Ghana’s first republic.

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“We will remember that in the period of the Second World War around 1946, the British Royal Air Force used that place as an Air Force base to carry people to war and other activities. After that period somewhere in 1956 that facility was handed over to the civilian rule that was at the helm of affairs,” he said.

According to Mr Nikpe, it was Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who redeveloped the site into a civilian international airport, giving it a name that reflected the country’s capital and its historical significance.

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“He revamped and redeveloped the air force base into a civilian passenger airport, the name International, and that name is of significance to us. People have accepted that Accra is our capital city, marketed rich culture and also locational identity that everybody in this world, especially in the West Africa subregion, knows,” he explained.

Addressing criticism that the renaming is politically motivated, the transport minister rejected the claim.

“We are not doing this with any political thinking. We are doing this to come from a very neutral point of view. Accra is our capital city, it is not anybody's name,” he said.

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Mr Nikpe added that the current name, which honours a key figure in the 1966 coup, does not reflect the values many Ghanaians wish to uphold.

“The fact that we had a name, it was changed to honour somebody in his role in the 1966 coup. We feel that that history is not what the Ghanaian would want,” he noted.

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He concluded by emphasising the symbolic importance of restoring the airport’s original name.

“The fact that it had an original name and that name was when the first president gave that name to the airport, we should do that,” he said, adding that “Kwame Nkrumah himself in his grave will remember even if the spirit is anywhere and it is coming home, it will get to his original Accra International Airport.”

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The defence by the Transport Minister comes at a time when the proposed renaming of Kotoka International Airport has sparked intense public and political debate. While critics argue the move could impose unnecessary costs, government maintains that restoring the airport’s original name is a symbolic step aimed at reaffirming Ghana’s historical identity and founding values.