Citizen drags govt to court over Kotoka Int’l Airport renaming

A Ghanaian citizen has asked the Supreme Court to block the government’s plan to rename Kotoka International Airport, calling the decision unconstitutional and “of no legal effect.”

Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers filed the suit on March 13, 2026, invoking the apex court’s original jurisdiction.

n his writ, Brako-Powers argues that the Executive cannot unilaterally rename the airport without first amending or repealing the law that established its current name.

“Any Executive order purportedly issued to effect the renaming of Kotoka International Airport to Accra International Airport…is null, void, and of no legal effect,” Brako-Powers stated in his lawsuit.

Michael Akosah of Adu-Gyamfi & Associates, representing Brako-Powers, submitted the writ in Kumasi. He said the government’s renaming decision, announced as part of a wider transport sector rebranding, breaches Articles 11(1)(d) and 11(4) of the 1992 Constitution, which recognise existing laws and set out procedures for amending them. The suit also cites Paragraph 8(1)(a) of NLCD 339, which outlines how any alteration to the airport’s designation should occur.

The plaintiff is seeking declarations and interim and perpetual injunctions to restrain the Ministry of Transport, its agents, or any authorised persons from implementing the new name. He argues that until NLCD 339 is “lawfully amended, repealed, or nullified,” no executive directive can override it.

Kotoka International Airport was named after Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, a key figure in the 1966 coup that ousted Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Kotoka was killed a year later during a counter-coup attempt, and the airport was subsequently named in his honour.

The proposed renaming has sparked public debate, with some questioning the necessity of the move and others highlighting the historical significance of the existing name.

Brako-Powers said he filed the matter in both personal and public interest, stressing the need to protect the 1992 Constitution as Ghana’s supreme law. The suit was filed under Rule 45(1) of the Supreme Court Rules, 1996 (C.I. 16), and the Attorney-General has fourteen days from service to respond.

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