The social activist group Democracy Hub, in partnership with the Convention People’s Party (CPP), has filed a lawsuit at Ghana’s Supreme Court to remove the name Kotoka from the country’s international airport.
According to the group, honoring Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka on a national monument goes against Ghana’s democratic ideals, as he was instrumental in the country’s first coup d’état in 1966.
“For 59 years, Ghana has lived with the contradiction of denouncing coups while honouring one of the architects of the first military overthrow of an elected government,” parts of the statement read.
Democracy Hub and the CPP argue that naming Kotoka International Airport under the General Kotoka Trust Decree, 1969 (NLCD 339) amounts to a state-endorsed approval of unconstitutional rule. They assert that removing the name would reaffirm Ghana’s commitment to democracy.
“It is time for Ghana to make a clear statement that it stands against unconstitutional rule, not just in rhetoric but in practice” they added.
Backed by legal experts from Merton & Everett LLP, the lawsuit is the result of extensive legal and archival research. Democracy Hub is urging civil society groups, youth activists, and democracy advocates to support the legal challenge, calling it “more than a court case it is a national reckoning with our past”.
Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka (26 September 1926 – 17 April 1967) was a Ghanaian military officer and a member of the ruling National Liberation Council.
He played a key role in the 24 February 1966 military coup that overthrew Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president.
Full Statement below: