RENAMING OF KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND HARMONISING MARRIAGE ORDINANCES AS A RELIGIOUS AND SOCIO-CULTURAL RESPONSE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
4TH FEBRUARY, 2026
OPEN LETTER TO:
1. The President of the Republic of Ghana
His Excellency John Dramani Mahama
Jubilee House Accra.
2. The Speaker of Parliament of Ghana
Rt. Honourable Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin
Parliament House Accra
Dear Mr. President and Mr. Speaker,
I write to respectfully draw your (the two arms of government that hold the key to manifest the reset agenda) attention to two interconnected national conversations that bear directly on Ghana’s identity, historical foundations, and the moral compass we bequeath to future generations after the reset agenda. These are:
(1) the proposed renaming of Kotoka International Airport, and
(2) the harmonisation of Ghana’s marriage ordinances, especially with regard to the longstanding cultural and religious acceptance of polygamy, within the context of ongoing debates surrounding the relay of LGBTQI Bill.
This letter presents these issues within the constitutional, historical, cultural, and spirituality that has guided Ghana since precolonial times.
1. Renaming Kotoka International Airport
The proposal to rename Kotoka International Airport offers Ghana a chance to correct a long-standing historical imbalance. While reverting to “Accra International Airport”, the key gateway to Ghana and by extension to Africa, may appear to restore the facility’s earlier designation, such a generic name lacks historical depth and does not reflect the origins of the national ethos.
1.1 Historical and legal context
The current name emerged from the General Kotoka Trust Decree, 1969 (N.L.C.D. 339), paragraph 8(1a), which institutionalised the renaming following political events surrounding the National Liberation Council era.
Earlier historical narration shows that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah intended to name the airport after Yaa Asantewaa, embedding the symbolism of honouring and respecting traditional matriarchal courage and Ghanaian cultural resilience in the identity of the nation’s primary aviation gateway.
However, Ghana’s post-independence naming culture gradually shifted toward celebrating political actors to the detriment of traditional leaders, despite the fact that our pre -independence liberation struggle was shaped decisively by chiefs, queen mothers, and traditional authorities.
1.2 Restoring recognition of traditional leadership
The earliest seeds of Ghana’s independence were sown within the domain of traditional leadership.
The Bond of 6 March 1844, signed by coastal chiefs, established the earliest political framework from which modern Ghana evolved.
Chiefs continued to assert their authority when they recognised British overreach as early as 1873, protesting colonial arrogation of powers contrary to the spirit of the Bond.
The sociopolitical-economic agitations (Ghana’s independence birth-pangs) that erupted on 12 January 1948, led by Nii Kwabena Boni, the Osu Mantse, were the direct catalysts of the economic boycotts and civic mobilisation that empowered the political class and precipitated the events of 28 February 1948 crossroad shooting.
These events became the widely acknowledged genesis of Ghana’s independence , attained on 6 March 1957, but rooted 114 years earlier in traditional resistance.
Furthermore, Ghana’s first National Assembly or first parliamentary institution in 1848 was composed primarily of chiefs, affirming their centrality in state formation.
1.3 Why Nii Kwabena Boni Should Be Honoured
Renaming the airport Nii Kwabena Boni International Airport (KBA) will:
Restore historical continuity by honouring a traditional leader whose agitation directly shaped modern Ghana.
Acknowledge and write with golden pen in the sands of history on a platinum plate that the brave ancestral sociopolitical-economic agitations through culture and tradition created the soul of Ghana.
Uphold the legacy of chiefs whose contributions predate political parties such as the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), founded in August 1947 that became a still born before Nii Kwabena Boni’s sociopolitical-economic agitation.
Demonstrate national unity by recognising a figure whose leadership transcended ethnic boundaries.
Realise, in part, Dr. Nkrumah’s original intention of honouring traditional authority (Yaa Asantewaa) through a major national GATEWAY.
Prevent future politicisation of the airport’s name by grounding it in traditional, not partisan, history.
This renaming would declare to future generations and the international community that Ghana’s gateway and definition of her ethos stand on the foundation of ancestral bravely leadership, cultural identity, and historical truth.
2. Harmonising Marriage Ordinances within Ghana’s Religious, Cultural, and Sociological Framework
The relaying of the LGBTQI Bill (2024) to Parliament reopens important questions regarding Ghana’s definition of marriage, family values, religious plurality, and cultural continuity.
This moment invites a comprehensive review of the marriage ordinances derived heavily from colonial religious frameworks, many of which do not reflect Ghana’s indigenous values or the societal structures that sustained our communities long before modern statutory law.
2.1 Ghana’s Spiritual And Cultural Basis For Marriage
Although Ghana is constitutionally secular, our nation’s social identity is deeply shaped by spirituality rather than strict denominational dogma.
Across the major religious traditions in Ghana i.e. Christianity, Islam, and Traditional African Religion, the acceptance of monogamy, celibacy, and polygamy demonstrates a longstanding and pluralistic understanding of marriage.
Historically and Theologically:
Polygamy is recognised in Islamic jurisprudence. Indigenous Ghanaian culture has always recognised polygamous marriage as legitimate and morally grounded.
The Bible does not speak against or prohibit polygamy. A piercing uncomfortable truth that melts the illusions of christians on colonial exegetical pronunciations on polygamy.
Monogamy was recommeded for religious leaders and not ordinary members. Divorce is what God hates.
Jesus Christ reinforced Godly hate of divorce by stating that not even the catastrophic fall of mankind engineered through Eve from creation did God allow divorce of Eve by Adam.
Jesus Christ has been misquoted out of context by colonial exegetical pronunciation to have reinforced monogamy (Matt 19:3-10).
2.2 Aligning Marriage Policy With National Ethos
A harmonised marriage ordinance would:
Repeal outdated frameworks that privilege imported religious interpretations over indigenous timeless cultural truth systems.
Affirm marriage as a union between a man (male) and a woman (female), while recognising that a man, under established cultural norms, may marry more than one wife.
Institute strong protections for women and children, ensuring that polygamy is practiced responsibly and without economic or emotional harm.
Establish clear legal accountability for fatherhood, including mandatory support obligations and safeguards against irresponsible marital dissolution.
Provide space for individual choice: monogamy, polygamy, and celibacy all remain valid and protected social and spiritual pathways.
This legal framework offers a stabilised approach to marriage that is culturally grounded, religiously legitimate, and socially protective.
Each religion can adhere to its marriage ordinance by its members but Ghana’s constitution and legal framework will seek marriage justice outside the purview of any religious ordinances.
2.3 Marriage Reform As a Coherent Response To Societal Tensions
A reformed, culturally aligned marriage ordinance provides a more stable national foundation for navigating contemporary debates around sexuality, morality, and sociocultural identity. The alignment of law with Ghana’s own traditions helps prevent:
Over-reliance on imported moral interpretations that prevent polygamy.
Fragmentation of national identity.
Social confusion among younger generations regarding Ghana’s authentic marital values.
This approach honours Ghana’s collective moral consciousness without succumbing to dogmatic extremes.
We declare our faith in God with the clarity of our Africa personality identity that Ghana was created by ancestral unrest rooted in tradition and culture and the same belief and spirituality continue to sustain and fashion numerous religions and ethnic coexistence in wisdom for the sustenance of Ghana as oasis of peace.
We hope we will collectively uphold the reset agenda for the future generation to wrought substance about it as not mere political rhetoric.
Respectfully submitted.
Jacob Osei Yeboah
(Independent Presidential Candidate 2012 & 2016)
