Ghana Removes Coup Leader's Name from Major Airport

Ghana has officially removed the name of a former coup leader from its main international airport, marking a symbolic shift away from the country's authoritarian past.

The Kotoka International Airport, named after the leader of a 1966 military coup, will now simply be known as the Accra Airport. Supporters of the name change say the Kotoka name contradicted Ghana's democratic values and represented a dark chapter in the country's history.

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The decision to remove Kotoka's name comes on the anniversary of the 1966 coup that overthrew Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah. Nkrumah, a celebrated pan-Africanist, had led Ghana to independence from British colonial rule in 1957.

Critics argued that honoring the coup leader Joseph Ankrah with the airport's name was an inappropriate glorification of military rule. Ankrah had led the National Liberation Council that took power after the coup and ruled Ghana until 1969.

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The name change is part of a broader effort by the current Ghanaian government to distance the country from its authoritarian past and cement its democratic credentials. Ghana has been hailed as a democratic success story in a region with a history of military coups and one-party states.

However, some have cautioned that Ghana's democracy remains fragile, with regular allegations of corruption and abuse of power. The renaming of the airport is seen as an important symbolic gesture, but deeper reforms may be needed to fully address the country's democratic challenges.

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Nonetheless, the decision to remove Kotoka's name from the airport has been widely celebrated by Ghanaians who see it as a positive step towards acknowledging and learning from the country's turbulent past.