Barker-Vormawor justifies suit against Kotoka Airport name
The lead convenor of the Democracy Hub, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has defended the group’s decision to file a lawsuit seeking the removal of “Kotoka” from the name of Ghana’s Kotoka International Airport.
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The move comes amid a heated national debate over the appropriateness of honoring Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, a key figure in the 1966 coup d’état, with such a prominent national monument.
On Monday, February 24, 2025, the Democracy Hub, in collaboration with the Convention People’s Party (CPP), filed a suit at the Supreme Court, arguing that retaining Kotoka’s name on the airport contradicts Ghana’s democratic values.
The plaintiffs contend that the name signifies state endorsement of unconstitutional actions, particularly Kotoka’s role in the overthrow of Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, in 1966.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show with Bernard Avle on Tuesday, February 25, Barker-Vormawor explained the rationale behind the lawsuit.
He emphasized that the issue is not about revising history but about ensuring that national symbols reflect the best elements of Ghana’s democratic principles.
“The question of revisionism, history is made up of both naming and renaming. So, the process of determining a name is the same way that India’s Mumbai became Bombay. Even the project of removing the name is also part of history.
“It doesn’t also mean the names of all coup makers should be removed. If we keep the name of the Kotoka Airport is to remain the same, any other nothing but his role in the overthrow in 1966, we don’t think there will be a case to be made under the 1992 constitution.
“So, for us, it doesn’t make any difference whether Kotoka is named after a street in Mallata or the airport. The bigger question is, will this be valorising a coup d’état? If this is the case, the Supreme Court said you cannot do that. If it was named after him because his name was the nicest name back then, then there is no legal remedy there,” he stated.
However, the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), has dissociated itself from the writ filed by the Democracy Hub, stating that it has no knowledge of the writ filed by the pressure group, Democracy Hub.
