Kotoka International Airport remains Ghana’s legal name until Parliament passes renaming Bill, Attorney-General tells Supreme Court

The Attorney-General has formally told the Supreme Court that Ghana’s main international airport continues to bear the legal name Kotoka International Airport, insisting that a government announcement earlier this year did not, by itself, alter the designation under the law.

In an affidavit filed in response to a constitutional challenge, the government maintained that the legislative process required to rename the facility Accra International Airport remains incomplete. The Accra International Airport Bill, 2026, has received Cabinet approval and been signed by the Minister for Transport but has not yet been laid before Parliament.

The case was brought by private legal practitioner Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers, who is seeking declarations that the government’s decision to rename the airport without first amending or repealing the General Kotoka Trust Decree, 1969 (NLCD 339) is unconstitutional and of no legal effect. Brako-Powers argues that NLCD 339, which formally renamed the airport in honour of the late Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, remains an existing law under Articles 11(1)(d) and 11(4) of the 1992 Constitution and can only be altered through proper legislative action.

Background to the dispute

The airport opened in 1958 as Accra International Airport. In 1969, the National Liberation Council issued NLCD 339, creating a trust in memory of Kotoka and other soldiers killed during the 1966 overthrow of founding President Kwame Nkrumah and a failed 1967 counter-coup. One of the decree’s explicit objects was the renaming of the airport “Kotoka International Airport” after the late general, who was killed at the site now forming part of the airport forecourt.

On 23 February 2026—exactly 60 years after the 1966 coup—the Ministry of Transport announced that the government had decided to restore the original name, Accra International Airport. The ministry said the change would involve updating official documents, statutory instruments where necessary, airport signage, digital platforms and aviation publications. It stressed that operations, safety standards and the ICAO code “ACC” would remain unaffected. Physical signage was subsequently altered in places, with some displays showing the Accra name.

Brako-Powers filed suit in March 2026, arguing that any executive action purporting to effect the change without amending NLCD 339 is null and void. He is seeking interim and perpetual injunctions restraining the government from implementing the renaming pending the determination of the case.

Government’s position

In the affidavit deposed to by Assistant State Attorney Mamavi Owusu-Aboagye, the Attorney-General’s office stated that NLCD 339 “remains fully intact and operative as part of the laws of Ghana.” It insisted that the airport’s legal name under Ghanaian law continues to be Kotoka International Airport and that the public announcement of a proposed change did not confer legal effect.

The affidavit outlined the steps already taken: a draft Accra International Airport Bill was submitted to the Ministry of Transport on 21 August 2025; the ministry sought Cabinet policy approval on 10 November 2025; Cabinet approved the proposal on 9 December 2025; the decision was communicated to the Attorney-General on 23 January 2026; and the Minister for Transport signed the Bill on 10 February 2026. The Bill is now ready to be laid before Parliament.

The government denied any interference with the General Kotoka Trust, stating that no beneficiary has been deprived of benefits and that no obligation under the trust has been rendered unenforceable.

In its statement of case, the Attorney-General also challenged the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, arguing that the plaintiff’s true grievance concerns an alleged violation of a statutory instrument rather than a genuine question of constitutional interpretation or enforcement. The Attorney-General further contended that the action is premature because Parliament has not yet had the opportunity to consider the Bill, and that granting the injunctions sought would amount to the judiciary arresting a legislative process at its threshold.

The case remains pending before the Supreme Court. Until Parliament completes the legislative process—or the court rules otherwise—the Attorney-General maintains that the airport’s official legal designation under Ghanaian law continues to be Kotoka International Airport.