The government will rename the Kotoka International Airport as the Accra International Airport, the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, has disclosed.

He said the renaming was aimed at honouring and showing appreciation to the people of Accra, who sacrificed their land for the construction of the airport and the development of Ghana’s capital city.

To achieve that, Mr Ayariga said the Ministry of Transport would soon lay the Accra International Airport Bill for the House to consider and approve.

Land for construction

Addressing the Leaders' media briefing ahead of the commencement of the First Meeting of the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament yesterday, the Majority Leader said: “It was the people of Accra who gave their land for the construction of the airport.

“So, to honour the people of Accra who gave their land, we are going back to change the name of the airport,” he said.

The Leader of Government Business recollected that the KIA used to be called the Accra International Airport until it was changed to its current name, adding that there was no basis for changing the original name of the airport.

Mr Ayariga stressed that the previous name change was not fair to the people of Accra.

“That they have given you land to build an airport, and the airport is named after them, and you have gone to change and put your name when you did not give land for the construction of the airport.

We are resetting Ghana,” he said.

The Majority Leader stated that the decision to revert the airport’s name had nothing to do with the “personality of Kotoka”.

“I do not know him, and so I do not think there is a reason why an airport should not be named after him.

“But if you go and change somebody's name and put your name, tomorrow somebody can also remove your name and put somebody else's name.

So, I think that Accra International Airport honours the people of Accra who have sacrificed their land for the building of the capital city,” Mr Ayariga said.

Both sides

Other leaders in the briefing were the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin; the Clerk-to-Parliament, Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror; the Deputy Clerk in charge of Corporate and Financial Management, Dr Gloria Sarku Kumawu; the Coordinating Director of Public Affairs, Kate Addo, and the Media Relations Director, David Damoah.

Performance of public institutions

Speaking on the oversight role of Parliament, the Leader of Government said Ghanaians expected that public institutions would deliver based on the money allocated to them.

He said if those institutions failed to deliver, it meant that “Parliament is not holding them accountable in terms of what they are to deliver,” stressing that “we intend to be very stern on Committee Chairpersons and Ranking Members and insist that all the reports that come from agencies regarding deliverables that we expect from those agencies are scrutinised and debated on the floor of the House.”

Mr Ayariga added that heads of institutions who would be hauled before committees and fail to explain the failure to deliver and what they would do to improve situations in the ensuing year would be made to face sanctions.

He named some of the bills that would be put before the House for consideration as the University of Engineering and Cultural Science, the Ghana Cocoa Board Amendment Bill, which was already before the House and would be an amendment to the Cocoa Board Act, and the Security and Intelligence Agencies Bill, which seeks to restructure and reorganise security and intelligence agencies and their mechanisms of oversight.

Others were the Interstate Succession Bill, the Legal Education Reform Bill and the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority Bill, which were already before the House.

Mr Ayariga said some ministers of state had given an indication to present a number of bills in the House, such as the Minister of Energy’s planned bill to amend the National Petroleum Authority Act, 2005 (Act 691).

Defence university

He also hinted at moves to establish a defence university that would bring together the various defence colleges.

That would be achieved via a bill to bring together the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College.

“They are already awarding degrees and diplomas, even doing doctoratel degrees and are affiliated to other universities.

“So, they feel that given the number of institutions that they have, it will be strategic to bring all of them under one umbrella and have it established as a university with different departments,” Mr Ayariga said.

For the Ministry of the Interior, the Majority Leader said the ministry would bring the Security and Intelligence Agency's Bill to be considered by Parliament.

Besides, he said a new Community Service Bill that would provide for alternative sentencing would be considered and dealt with during the meeting.

“The whole idea is to provide for alternative sentencing so that for every trivial offence one does not have to go and be lying in Nsawam Prisons to be congesting our prisons and be fed for doing nothing.

“So, you can provide community service instead of being sent to Nsawam,” he said.

Mr Ayariga added that the Office of the Attorney-General and the Ministry of Justice would also table the Conduct of Public Officers Bill, which had already been approved by Cabinet.