Citizen challenges Kotoka Airport renaming at Supreme Court

A legal challenge filed at Ghana’s Supreme Court is seeking to halt the government’s reported plan to rename Kotoka International Airport, with the plaintiff arguing that the move cannot stand unless the law is first changed.

The action was brought by Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers, who says the airport’s current name is protected by existing legislation and cannot be replaced through executive action alone. In his view, any directive attempting to rename the facility as Accra International Airport would be unconstitutional and legally ineffective.

His case turns on the General Kotoka Trust Decree, 1969, also known as NLCD 339, which formally gives the airport its present name. He is asking the court to affirm that the law remains in force and can only be altered through the proper legislative route.

The suit, filed on 13 March 2026 under the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction, also challenges what he describes as a breach of constitutional safeguards governing existing laws. Through his lawyer, Michael Akosah of Adu-Gyamfi & Associates in Kumasi, Brako-Powers argues that Articles 11(1)(d) and 11(4) of the 1992 Constitution make clear that such laws remain binding until they are lawfully amended or repealed.

He is therefore seeking declarations from the court, along with interim and perpetual injunctions, to stop the Ministry of Transport and any persons acting under its authority from putting the proposed new name into effect.

The plaintiff says the issue is bigger than the name of an airport. He presents it as a constitutional test of whether the Executive can sidestep a law still recognised by the 1992 Constitution. He also points to Paragraph 8(1)(a) of NLCD 339, which he says sets out the legal path for any change to the airport’s designation.

The dispute has emerged against the backdrop of a broader government rebranding agenda in the transport sector, under which the name change was reportedly announced. That proposal has already stirred public debate, with some questioning why the issue has arisen at all and others stressing the historical significance attached to the current name.

Kotoka International Airport is named after Lt Gen Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, a central figure in the 1966 coup that removed President Kwame Nkrumah from office. He was killed the following year during a failed counter-coup, and the airport was later named in his honour.

Brako-Powers says he has taken the matter to court not only as a private citizen but also in the public interest, arguing that the case is ultimately about preserving constitutional order. Under the rules, the Attorney-General has 14 days from the date of service to respond.