On 17 April 1967, there was an abortive coup attempt involving junior officers of the reconnaissance regiment located at Ho in the Volta Region. It was code named "Guitar-boy" and was led by a young Lieutenant, S.B. Arthur, who announced over Radio Ghana that he had taken over the administration of the country. As part of the operations to capture members of the ruling National Liberation Council (NLC), Lt.-Gen Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka was killed by co-coup conspirator, Lt. Moses Yeboah and his men after heavy fighting. Lt. Moses Yeboah and Lt. S. B. Arthur were later tried and executed by a military tribunal. The Ghana International Airport was renamed Kotoka International Airport in his memory. He was killed at a spot which is now part of the forecourt of the airport, where his statue stands.
There is controversy about the current name of the airport as Ghanaians struggle with coming to terms with the Nkrumah era and whether the NLC truly represented liberation or our first step backward from true independence.