“It Doesn’t Make Any Difference”: Sekou Nkrumah Wades Into Renaming of Kotoka International Airport

• Sekou Nkrumah, one of the sons of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, has shared his thoughts on the renaming of Kotoka International Airport
• Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, disclosed that the change would be effected through legislation to be laid by the Minister for Transport
• The airport was named after one of the soldiers who overthrew Kwame Nkrumah, Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka

Sekou Nkrumah, one of the sons of Ghana's first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, shared his thoughts on the proposed name change of Kotoka International Airport to Accra International Airport.

Sekou Nkrumah questioned the rationale behind the name change and said it would not make any difference whether it is maintained or not.

In an interview with the Ghanaian Times, Sekou Nkrumah said most people know why the airport was named after Kotoka, and the reason for the proposed change must be made public as well.

"Being the son of Nkrumah has nothing to do with this. It concerns all Ghanaians. The history of the name, we all know the airport was named after him because he died in the airport area. All these years, the name has not changed; I'm not too sure why now. It's not a bread-and-butter issue. For most Ghanaians, whether the name is Kotoka or Accra International Airpot it doesn't make any difference."

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"Now we need to know why the change. Is the government saying that because Kotoka was a coup maker, we don't want anything named after any coup maker in Ghana? If that is the case, the Rawlings, Acheampong and all the past heads of state who staged a coup and came to power should have nothing named after them. If that is the logic."

Sekou Nkrumah argued that if the reason for the name change is that General Kotoka was part of the coup that overthrew Dr Nkrumah, then the Central Intelligence Agents (CIA) must rather be blamed.

"If the idea is that it's because Nkrumah was overthrown and you can't name anything after those who did that, then the issue is that the CIA orchestrated the coup. So are we saying we should break relations with the USA because, through the CIA, they orchestrated the coup? These things become complicated, sensitive and take us to the past. When you start changing names, then it opens issues in the past, and do we as a country want to revisit those things or keep them as part of our history?"

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"We all know how great Nkrumah was and what he achieved for Ghana. But not everybody was comfortable with his rule, especially the one-party state and all. So some people feel Kotoka was a hero in their own way. So by doing that, then you are also creating political tension, which I think is unnecessary," he added.

Watch the TikTok video below:

Reactions to Sekou's take on renaming KIA

YEN.com.gh collated some reactions to the video shared by @ghanaian_times on TikTok. Read them below:

SantaElikem said:

"This guy a true son of Nkrumah. He speaks the truth; no spin, no family-induced emotions."

Gyedu Gyamfuah wrote:

"This man has really spoken. Well done, you are your father's son."

Papa Clem said:

"No need for that change at all!!!! That will call for all other coup makers to be totally condemned!!"

Divine SpeeD wrote:

"Sekou, you are very mature."

Ryland said:

"Intelligent submission."

Steve Nani wrote:

"This man has always analysed issues beyond sentiments and personal interests. That's why he keeps saying it's not about being Nkrumah's son or not."

Source: YEN.com.gh