Ghana’s international airport name: A normalized abnormality

We (Paa-Kwesi Heto and Ngūgī wa Thiong’o) decided to write this article after Ngūgī’s presentation on normalised abnormality to the CIHA blog and Professor Cecelia Lynch’s Winter 2023 Critical Humanitarianism in Africa class, in which the topic of the airport’s name came up.

Paa-Kwesi Heto is an Ewe from Ghana’s Volta Region. He is a Tobis Fellow at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Ethics Center and a Visiting Professor at the Soka University of America Graduate School. Paa-Kwesi is a transdisciplinary scholar with a doctorate and five master’s degrees in behavioural mathematics, political science, demography and social analysis, education, and international affairs.

Ngūgī wa Thiang’o is an award-winning Kenyan author and academic. One little-known fun fact about Ngūgī is that he travelled on a Ghanaian passport while in exile in the 1990s. He is a Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine.

(image source: Ohh Yes Africa) 

Nothing is so reminiscent of normalised abnormality as arriving in Ghana and hearing a loud noise bellowing through the speakers: Welcome to Kotoka International Airport, Accra, Ghana. Normalised abnormality refers to narratives of falsehood so ingrained in a society that individuals hardly see anything wrong with them. The naming of Ghana’s international gateway after Emmanuel Kotoka normalises a falsehood about the role of Kwame Nkrumah and Emmanuel Kotoka in Ghana’s political history.

Kwame Nkrumah and Emmanuel Kotoka represent two opposing ideals and traditions. Kwame Nkrumah symbolises Africa’s enduring aspiration for liberation, unity, and industrial development. He symbolises the idea that Africans are capable of self-governance and have the capacity for healing and decolonising their minds. He represents Marcus Garvey’s hopes for unity between Africans and the African diaspora and W.E.B. du Bois’ call for healing the black soul. Due to Kwame Nkrumah’s work, many Africans looked up to Accra as the leader of the African liberation and Pan-African movement. Thus, most African countries honour him, naming some of their treasured assets after him because they know that Kwame Nkrumah’s wisdom and vision offer Africa a meaningful path forward.

On the contrary, Emmanuel Kotoka belongs to a tradition of colonial commissioned soldiers who interrupted Africa’s freedom and development. Kotoka started his military career in 1947 as a soldier in the British colonial military. The British trained him to defend their interests in Ghana, pitching him against Kwame Nkrumah – who fought for Ghana and Africa’s independence. Kotoka’s service in British colonial armed forces and role in overthrowing Kwame Nkrumah’s government makes him part of an unfortunate tradition of Africans who opposed the independence movement by virtue of their service as colonial soldiers and toppled post-independent African governments. Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Idi Amin are notable examples. Mobutu Sese Seko was a Colonel in the Belgian Colonial Armed Forces. Despite opposing Zaire’s independence, he overthrew the legitimate government under Patrice Lumumba’s leadership, falsely claiming that he represented the aspirations of the Congolese. Likewise, Idi Amin worked for the British against Kenya Land and Freedom Army (Mau Mau) as a lieutenant in the King’s African Rifles of the British Colonial Army. He also overthrew the legitimate government of Uganda under Milton Obote. These military traitors captured the fruit of independence they worked against. Therefore, it is ironic for independent African states to honour and celebrate such people as role models.

Ghana naming the airport after Emmanuel Kotoka as a reward for sabotaging the vision of Kwame Nkrumah is a badge of shame on the postcolonial leadership of Ghana. The General Kotoka Trust Act in 1969 (N.L.C.D. 339), which provided the financial and legal vehicle for the renaming of the airport, states, “And whereas the Government and people of Ghana wish to demonstrate their gratitude, for their liberation, and for the rebirth of freedom in Ghana, which was achieved by these gallant men bycreating a trust to commit to posterity the memory of the late Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, and the others who fell, and to provide for the widows and children of these gallant soldiers.” This quote shows that naming the airport after Emmanuel Kotoka has a deep meaning. It is not “JUST” an airport’s name. It was meant to bury the name of Kwame Nkrumah and his vision for Africa and Black people worldwide.

Removing Nkrumah from power blocked his Pan-African vision of a united Africa in total control of its resources.[1] It contributed to Africa’s failure to unite, which haunts the continent.[2] If his vision had been realised, he would have united people of African descent at home and abroad, creating a united Black power in the world with an industrialised Ghana as the leading light of the new vision for Africa. The time of the coup d’état makes it even more infamous and insidious. Kwame Nkrumah was on a peace mission to Hanoi, Vietnam, where he planned to mediate an end to the United States’ armed attempt to prevent the reunification of Vietnam. It is a history we should not be proud of. But, unfortunately, that is what we are doing by celebrating an individual who played a pivotal role in the single event that weakened Africa’s prospect for unity.

In simple terms, memorising and honouring a traitor that took part in the coup d’état that overthrew Ghana’s visionary, Pan-Africanist first president, Kwame Nkrumah, sends the wrong message to young Africans. A valuable legacy of Kwame Nkrumah lies in his selfless effort to improve the living condition of people of African descent worldwide. Only a few people live by what they preach or profess belief in. Kwame Nkrumah was one of them. We need to inspire ourselves to learn from his commitment and service to the people of Africa and African descent, humankind, and the downtrodden.

For Africa and Ghana to restore Kwame Nkrumah’s spirit of service and dedication to the cause of African unity and development, we must correct this historical wrong. Until this historical wrong is corrected, we shall continue to tell the rest of the world that Africans value traitors over visionaries. We will continue to teach young Africans that being dishonourable to one’s nation is more valuable than selfless dedication to humanity.

Ghanaians will do Africa and humanity a great service when they change the airport’s name. Changing symbols like the name of Ghana’s airport would strengthen Africa’s democratic tradition since it will tackle the problem of democratic backsliding at its root. It will recondition the subconscious minds of Africans to choose democracy over coup d’état peddlers and autocrats.

(Image source: lse.ac.uk)

Decolonising the conscious and subconscious mind is not only an act of personal redemption but also the beginning of collective revival. Bob Marley reminds us in his Redemption Song that emancipation is a choice. Similarly, correcting a normalised abnormality is a choice. However, reclaiming the legacy of Africa’s most illustrious son, Kwame Nkrumah, is an unavoidable collective choice we must make. We urge all well-meaning Pan-Africanist to write to the Ghanaian government to change the airport’s name to Kwame Nkrumah International Airport.

[1] Nyerere, Julius Kambarage. “Without Unity, There Is No Future for Africa.” New African, July 26, 2012. https://newafricanmagazine.com/3234/.

[2] Nyerere 2012.