Last Saturday, Ghana’s legal team, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Madam Gloria Akufo, and former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Marrietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, secured a victory by the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

The chamber ruled unanimously that Ghana did not violate the rights of Cote d’Ivoire in exploring oil at the maritime boundary.

The chamber in a unanimous decision ruled that there had not been any violation on the part of Ghana on Côte d'Ivoire's maritime boundary.

It rejected Côte d'Ivoire's argument that Ghana's coastal lines were unstable.

Ruling

The President of the Special Chamber, Justice Boualem Bouguetaia from Algeria, in reading the judgement, accepted Ghana's argument of adoption of the equidistant method of delineation of the maritime boundary.

In 2007, Ghana discovered oil and gas in commercial quantities, and this was followed by Côte d'Ivoire staking its claim to portions of the West Cape Three Points.

John Boadu

NPP commends legal team

In a statement issued on Saturday, in Accra and signed by its acting General Secretary, Mr John Boadu, the NPP applauded the legal team of the government and good people of Ghana for winning a historic maritime boundary dispute for Ghana.

The NPP also suggested to the government to take proactive measures to safeguard Ghana's maritime boundary with neighbouring Togo in order to forestall any boundary dispute between the two countries in the future.

According to the statement, the NPP received with great joy and excitement the landmark ruling of the ITLOS on the dispute.

“The ruling vindicates Ghana’s long-held position on the matter in contention,” the NPP stated.

Accordingly, it commended the legal team of the government and people of Ghana for securing this favourable judgement for the country which brings finality to the four-year maritime boundary dispute between the two countries.

"We also applaud the efforts of the immediate past Attorney General of Ghana, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, who was part of Ghana’s team that won this historic case for the country,” the statement said.

The party expressed gratitude to the Ivorian team for their cooperation throughout the trial and also thanked the Special Chamber for the courteous and expeditious manner with which it dispensed justice on the matter in issue.”

“We have also noted with delight, the fact that the implication of this landmark ruling, according to lawyers and petroleum experts, would not affect Ghana’s oilfield, which means the nation’s oil reserve remains intact. What it also means is that, Ghana can now proceed with exploration activities in the hitherto ‘disputed area,” it stated.

NDC lauds maritime border ruling

The NDC, for its part, congratulated the players in the arbitration of the Ghana Cote D’Ivoire Maritime Border Dispute. The NDC applauded the judges of the Special Chamber for their comprehensive and clear analysis of the issues and their fair ruling.

It praised the governments of Ghana and La Cote d’Ivoire for seeing the dispute through peacefully and in a brotherly spirit.

The NDC further congratulated Ghana’s Legal and Technical Team and its support staff on their hard and very impressive work.

The commendation was in a statement signed by the NDC National Chairman, Mr Kofi Poturphy, and copied to the media.

It said the ruling by the ITLOS also represented a victory for pan-African collaboration, diplomacy and international rule of law.

“Our two countries have managed a potentially divisive and even explosive dispute with great calm, maturity and wisdom. We can now put this dispute behind us and look forward to many years of continued collaboration in shipping, fishing, oil and gas and other subsea resource development between our countries,” it said.