E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Ghanadot
The recognition was long in coming. Under Kufuor, we saw a
copious appreciation of Nkrumah’s ideas, the capture of some of
these ideas, and the implementation and completion of some major
projects initiated by Nkrumah, left undone by his untimely
departure from office. And, finally, under Mills, we have a
proposal for a Founder’s Day to honor this great son of Ghana.
We are late with the honor. The whole world has done so earlier,
recognizing his worth even when they were opposed to the ideas
he stood for. Now we can safely cash in as country men.
But establishing the Founder’s Day will not abjure the folly of
February 24, 1966, a day of infamy for all Ghanaians. We share
collectively, regardless of ideology, tribe or religion, in this
grand folly.
However, and true to some unreasonable side of our nature, we
have also enshrined this folly in the name of our only
international airport after the man who was responsible for the
February 24 coup – Colonel E. K. Kotoka.
Kotoka’s standing memory – Accra International Airport,
absolutely does not juxtapose well to the Founder’s Day idea.
Who was Kotoka and how did he come to deserve this honor of
having our only international airport named after him? He came
by this honor because he deposed Nkrumah in a coup in 1966 with
the help of the CIA. For this infamy, Accra, our capital, the
natural and original name of the airport, was stripped off the
airport and the name Kotoka was put in its place.
So, now that we have belatedly realized how important Nkrumah
was, by establishing a founder’s day for him, do we keep the
name Kotoka on our airport or revert to the old name Accra
International Airport? And if we were to keep the name Kotoka,
what would be the reason for it? It will take a sure twist of
logic to come up with that reason.
Up to 1966, very little was known of Kotoka as a soldier. There
was nothing that distinguished him from the average officer in
the Ghana Armed Forces until he was approached by some minions
of the CIA to create a coup. Unlike Sergeant Adjetey of the
Christiansborg Cross Road fame, a true hero who was killed in a
protest march against the colonials, Kotoka had nothing in his
service profile that showed courage in the line of patriotism.
Adjetey, unfortunately, had nothing significant named after him.
He was a Ghanaian, from the same tribe whose land the Accra
International Airport sits.
There was another soldier of stellar character, Major General
Charles Barwah, a Northerner, then Deputy Commander of the Armed
Forces, who displayed his loyalty to Nkrumah by standing firm
against Kotoka and his band of mutineers. He was shot dead on
the spot. The airport was not named after him.
Certainly, there was no lack of military and civilian heroes,
going back to ancient times, to name the airport after. But when
it was decided to rename the airport, Kotoka was chosen instead
– because he toppled Nkrumah.
If Nkrumah was that thoroughly bad a ruler, to the point of
needing a drastic measure such as a violent coup by Kotoka to
oust him, then why must we honor Nkrumah today?
Kotoka was the leader of a military revolt that condemned
Ghana’s support of the United Nations in the Congo; a revolt
that justified its action on the assumption that Nkrumah might
use the army again and again on the continent to support freedom
fighters outside Ghana.
Kotoka, the man whose acts had suggested that he was
against disturbing the colonial order, had an international
airport named after him by the sovereign state of Ghana.
Unbelievable!
Kotoka International Airport and the Founder’s Day idea cannot
coexist. No nation honors its heroes and vilains with the same
breath. There is a momorial for George Washington in the United
States. There is none for Benedict Arnold.
Benedict Arnold was the quintenssential traitor of the American
Revolution. Unlike Kotoka, he had an illustrious military
career. He was a general of the Continetal Army during the
American Revolutionary War. Still as a general in the
Continental Army, he tried to surrender a very important
strategic point to the British and failed. After this he
defected to the British side to fight as a loyalist. His name
has become the epitome for treason to this day.
In Kotoka, we see a Bernedict Arnold. The 1966 coup connection
with the CIA has long been established. He was a tool that was
used effectively by foreign interests to thwart Ghana’s
progresss. He asserted by his example the right of the army to
intefere with our political affairs. And after him, coups became
the order of the day, to end in a tailspin of unbriddled
violence that would last for two decades in Ghana.
Kotoka was a mediocre colonel at the time of the coup and was
made a general after. Shortly after becoming the general, there
was a counter coup which resulted in his death. His death should
be regreted because it was brought on by the very act which he
had initiated; namely, the coup of February 24, 1966.
Kotoka should not be the man to name an important edifice such
as an international airport after. The name is a negative
narrative of our political systems and growth that need not to
be advertised. Anytime a flight flashes on the departure or
arrival board anywhere in the world, the curious may know it as
the airport named after the man who toppled “the dictator”
Nkrumah.
The name Accra International Airport needs to be brought back.
Some say that the people of the Volta Region, Kotoka’s home
region, would be offended by the removal of his name. But, if
tribal or regional considerations are to be taken into account,
then there would be the need to understand that the airport sits
on a Ga land. For for the sake of the national interest, you
don’t take land from the Gas in order to confer the honor that
comes with on a bogus hero; unless, you intend it as a double
insult for the Gas.
That said, we are about to recognize the greatest Ghanain and
the Founder of the nation – Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. We are also about
to make a statement about our collective selves as Ghanaians.
There should be no room left on this platform of honor for the
likes of Benedict Arnold.
