Who be Lt. General Kotoka and why Ghana drop im name from di main airport?

Ghana govment don remove di name of one coup leader – Lt. General Kotoka from di main airport for Accra. Dis dey hapun exactly 60 years afta Lt. General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka lead coup d'etat wey overthrow di kontri founding father Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

Di airport now return to di original name – Accra International Airport.

But di move no hapun without controversy.

Di transport ministry tok say di govment "dey find am as di right tin to restore di earlier name."

Pipo wey dey against di removal of Lt. General Kotoka en name and oda critics say di move don dey erase di legacy of di former military man and im service.

Im family also dey against di move.

Transport Minister Joseph Bukari Nikpe say dem decide to change di name to project di neutral national image wey reflect di name of di kontri capital city, Accra.

But some pipo dey raise questions about di cost of dis change and renaming at a time wen young pipo no get jobs wey di living condition of pipo still dey somehow.

Some civil society organizations (CSOs) say to dey honour pesin like Kotoka be wrong tin wey dey against di kontri democratic values.

Dem say to continue to have Kotoka for di airport mean say di kontri dey "glorify coups."

Who be Lt. General Kotoka and why e dey controversial?

Lt. General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka bifor im join di military be teacher and catechist wey also train as goldsmith for di Volta region of Ghana.

He later join di army – di gold coast regiment for 1947 wey im rise to become officer commanding.

He be among one group of officers wey remove Dr Nkrumah for 1966 – through dia National Liberation Council (NLC).

In fact, according to tori, na im announce di coup on top di Ghana broadcasting corporation radio station dat time.

One year afta dat coup, dem kill am for di airport afta anoda failed coup.

Di pipo wey kill Kotoka dat day – Lt. Moses Yeboah and anoda soldier later face trial wey dem execute dem by military tribunal.

Na so di military govment name di airport afta am for 1969 – dem describe am as "liberator" from wetin dem call Nkrumah authoritarian rule.

In di build-up to dat 1966 coup, Nkrumah bin face criticism say im dey become oppressive.

Experts don debate dis mata about di role wey di West play for dis coup – especially di US central intelligence agency (CIA) and dia role for di coup wey remove Ghana first president.

In di lead-up to di independence of Ghana for 1957, many pipo see Nkrumah as visionary wey play key role for di pan-African liberation movement.

Across di continent and ova di world, Nkrumah dey recognized as pesin wey change di game wey begin di struggle for independence from colonial rule for Africans afta im go aboard to study.

Afta dem overthrow am, Ghanaians don live through many oda coups until di return of multi-party democracy for 1992.

Since den, di kontri don dey hold democratic elections wey dem hand over power from one govment to anoda.