WHILE GHANA STRUGGLES, THE NDC SQUANDERS PARLIAMENT WITH NAME CHANGES – STOP PLAYING POLITICS, DO REAL WORK!
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) majority in Parliament has shown yet again that its priorities are all wrong. Instead of drafting and passing bills that will create jobs, stabilise the economy, and improve living conditions for Ghanaians, the NDC is fixated on changing the name of Ghana’s flagship international gateway from Kotoka International Airport to Accra International Airport, a pointless exercise that contributes nothing tangible to national development.
This is not governance, it’s spectacle.
Hon. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the NPP Minority Leader in Parliament, has publicly condemned this renaming obsession, questioning why the airport’s historic name should be erased when Ghanaians are struggling with unemployment and rising cost of living. He has labelled the move as an indictment of the NDC, pointing out that even Volta Region leaders within the NDC are silent, as one of the few nationally recognised symbols of their region is stripped away.
And what are the defenders of this name change using as justification? Assertions about “honouring the original name” or promoting Accra’s identity, lines peddled by the Transport Minister and Majority Leader. But this smacks of political grandstanding rather than nation-building.
Meanwhile, voices from civil society have also condemned the proposal as a misplacement of national priorities at a time when Ghana faces severe economic challenges, unemployment, infrastructure deficits, and rising inflation. Changing airport signage and rebranding documents will cost taxpayers money yet yield no new jobs, no improved services, no economic growth.
Even cultural figures like Stonebwoy have weighed in, insisting that if a name change is to happen, it must actually represent positive, meaningful contributions, not be used as political symbolism while real national problems go unaddressed.
The sheer fixation on renaming a perfectly functioning and internationally recognised airport, one that serves millions of passengers annually and has won recognition as one of Africa’s best, highlights how the NDC majority is lost in trivia instead of tackling urgent national challenges.
Ghana doesn’t need renaming exercises and headline-chasing bills. What the country urgently needs are concrete policies that create jobs, stabilise the economy, and uplift the lives of everyday citizens. Until the NDC shifts its focus from branding to real deliverables, all their legislation will be remembered as empty gestures, not governance.
By: Blessing Mantey
