Leader of the Ajagurajah, Prophet Kwabena Asiamah aka Ajagurajah has shared his thoughts on why he thinks the name of the Kotoka Internationa Airpor should be changed.
During an interview with Andy Dosty on Hitz FM, Ajagurajah emphasized that if Ghana’s premier airport retains its current name, no president would have a successful tenure.
He further explained that Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, placed a curse on every leader who assumed power through a coup. Ajagurajah shared these thoughts during his appearance on Hitz FM, which is based in Accra.
“Any President in Ghana who wants peace should change the name of the airport. Kotoka was a Soldier under Dr Kwame Nkrumah and when the president travelled he went ahead and organized a coup to take him off the leadership of the country.
“Kwame Nkrumah cursed any individual who came to power through coups. You can attest to the fact that people who came to power through coups were killed. It was only Rawlings who wasn’t killed because he gave Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah a befitting burial,” he said.
Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka was a Ghanaian military officer who was a member of the ruling National Liberation Council which came to power in Ghana in a military coup d’état on 24 February 1966. This overthrew the government of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of the republic.
In 1965, Lieutenant-Colonel Kotoka was transferred to Kumasi, where he formed a friendship with Major Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, an officer in the Second Brigade of the Ghana Army.
These two individuals are widely recognized as key conspirators behind the first violent coup d’état in Ghana on February 24, 1966, which marked the end of the first republic.
Their covert operation was codenamed “Operation Cold Chop”. It was Lieutenant-Colonel Kotoka who announced the coup to the nation early that morning from the Broadcasting House of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, the official radio station in Ghana. Interestingly, the Central Intelligence Agency had prior knowledge of the coup plot at least a year in advance.
On the day of the coup in 1966, Kotoka was promoted to the rank of Major General and became a member of the ruling National Liberation Council.
He also took on the role of Commissioner for the Ministry of Health and served as the General Officer Commanding the Ghana Armed Forces. Exactly one year after the coup, on February 24, 1967, he was further promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general.
