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The ruling National Democratic Congress [NDC] and the opposition New Patriotic Party [NPP] are both debating as to which government first named the Kumasi Airport as an "International" one.

The NDC insists that former President John Agyekum Kufour gave the airport its international status as a political gimmick to win votes from the region some years back.

Late last year, President John Dramani Mahama and the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll jointly inaugurated the aeronautical ground lighting [AGL] system at the Kumasi airport.

The $4.9 million project forms part of the major refurbishment that has transformed Kumasi airport into an international airport, the president announced.

Ever since the transformation and the renaming of the domestic airport to Kumasi International Airport [KIA], some individuals have argued and disagreed that the facilities at the airport does not meet the standard to gain international status.

According to records, the airport attained its international status as far back as 2003 by then President Kufour but never gain much publicity due to its poor standard.

In 2013, the NDC government embarked on a development of the Kumasi Airport to, provide the requisite infrastructure for safe domestic and international operations.

With the new lease of life, the 71-year-old airport now accommodate bigger aircraft and begin the process to turn Ghana into an aviation hub in the sub-region.

Speaking on the issue on OKAY FM’s "Ade Akye Abia" morning show, the Suame NPP MP, Hon Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu dismissed assertions that Kufour first gave the Kumasi airport the international status.

“Ex-President Kufour rather wanted Kumasi and Tamale airport to develop into an international airport. He never named Kumasi airport as an international airport one. Attaining an international airport goes with so many things. The Kumasi airport don’t have those things yet, but they [NDC] have named it as an international airport. Let’s be serious with ourselves as a country,” he said.