Vice President of think-tank IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil has argued that Kotoka International Airport (KIA) is too significant a national asset to be named solely after General Emmanuel Kotoka, suggesting that the scale and status of the airport call for a broader reflection on Ghana’s historical heroes.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, Mr. Bentil weighed in on the ongoing debate over the airport’s renaming, which was reignited following a proposal by the Majority Leader to change KIA’s name to Accra International Airport.

The proposal cites Kotoka’s controversial legacy due to his role in the 1966 coup that overthrew Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

“It is not necessarily bad to want to change the name back to Accra,” Bentil said. “The politics of it is informed by a lack of knowledge of our history. Those who are debating it are not giving fidelity to the facts. It’s either Kotoka or Nkrumah. Each has his place. Kotoka was a hero of a time — time has resolved the matter. Nkrumah was a greater hero of all time.”

According to Bentil, naming the airport after Kotoka risks limiting the symbolic stature of Ghana’s principal international gateway.

“The airport as our main gateway is too large for the time of person Kotoka,” he explained. “There are other people like that — why not Ho, why not Peduase?”

The debate over renaming has provoked strong political disagreement, with some advocating for alternative names that honour prominent Ga traditional leaders or personalities, recognising the indigenous custodianship of the land on which the airport is situated.

Critics of renaming warn that such an exercise could be divisive and costly, particularly given KIA’s global profile and branding significance.

He suggested that while Kotoka played a role in Ghana’s past, the airport’s symbolic value as a gateway to the country warrants careful consideration of whom it commemorates.