Popular broadcaster Mugabe Saifu Maase has waded into the controversy over cultural greetings at Kotoka International Airport, urging Ghanaians to shift the debate to renaming the airport in honour of Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
His comments follow days of heated exchanges about whether the use of “Akwaaba” (Akan) at the airport sidelines Ga culture, with calls for the greeting “Obaake” to reflect the custodians of Accra’s land.
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) last week dismissed reports that it had altered cultural inscriptions at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park.
GTA CEO Maame Efua Houadjeto said on August 27 that no approvals for such changes had been given.
On August 29, Greater Accra Regional Minister Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo stressed the need to safeguard Ga culture and language, saying the Ga people have a legitimate voice in shaping Accra’s cultural heritage.
But speaking on his Inside Politics show on XYZ TV, Mugabe argued the greetings debate risks stirring tribal tensions rather than promoting unity.
“What I am hearing people say is that… the Akwaaba on the Kotoka International Airport should be removed. Let’s make it ‘Welcome to Kotoka International, because where we are taking tribal discussions, it won’t help us as a nation,” he said.
He insisted the real national conversation should be about renaming the airport altogether.
“The name Kotoka I don’t even want to hear it. What did he do for Ghana? Change that name, put Kwame Nkrumah there. Welcome to Kwame Nkrumah International Airport. He was the one who gained independence for Ghana on 6th March 1957.”
Kotoka International Airport is currently named after Lieutenant General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, a key military figure in the 1966 coup that overthrew Nkrumah.
Source: Myxyzonline.com
