Former Deputy Attorney General now Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga East in the Upper East Region, Lawyer Dr. Dominic Ayine says Cote d'Ivoire forced Ghana to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
Côte d’Ivoire had accused Ghana of overstepping its maritime boundary in the exploration of oil at the Jubilee Fields in the Western Region.
The Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), in relation to the Ghana – Côte d'Ivoire dispute, last Saturday unanimously ruled that Ghana did not violate the sovereign rights of its neighbours with regards to the maritime boundary dispute.
The tribunal was presided over by Judge Boualem Bouguetaia, with Judge Rudiger Wolfrum, Judge Jin-Hyun Paik, Judge Thomas Mensah and Judge Ronny Abraham as members.
Judges Mensah and Abraham were appointed by Ghana and Ivory Coast respectively, in accordance with the rules of the tribunal.
Judge Boualem Bouguetaia, President of the Special Chamber on Saturday September 23, 2017 read that the court “... Unanimously, decides that the single maritime boundary for the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nm starts at BP 55 with the coordinates 05° 05’ 23.2”N, 03° 06’ 21.2’’ W in WGS 84 as a geodetic datum and is defined by turning points A, B, C, D, E, F with the following coordinates and connected by geodetic lines:
A: 05° 01’ 03.7” N 03° 07’ 18.3” W B: 04° 57’ 58.9” N 03° 08’ 01.4” W C: 04° 26’ 41.6” N 03° 14’ 56.9” W D: 03° 12’ 13.4” N 03° 29’ 54.3” W E: 02° 59’ 04.8” N 03° 32’ 40.2” W F: 02° 40’ 36.4” N 03° 36’ 36.4” W
“From turning point F, the single maritime boundary continues as a geodetic line starting at an azimuth of 191° 38’ 6.7’ until it reaches the outer limits of the continental shelf.
Speaking on OKAY FM’s Ade Akye Abia Programme, the Former Deputy Attorney General explained that they opted for a round table discussion to settle the matter amicably.
"However, Cote D'Ivoire was constantly changing its position during the round table discussion with the Ghanaian delegation led by Hon. Baba Jamal, “so we needed an independent adjudicator to determine the matter; so that is how the matter ended at ITLOS and that was the best option. The ruling however is a good one ", he added.
In 2007, Ghana discovered oil and gas in commercial quantities, and this was followed by Cote d’Ivoire staking its claim to portions of the West Cape Three Points.
These claims were renewed in 2010 after Vanco, an oil exploration and Production Company announced the discovery of oil in the Dzata-1 deep water-well.
Cote d’Ivoire petitioned the United Nations asking for a completion of the demarcation of its maritime boundary with Ghana, and Ghana responded by setting up of the Ghana Boundary Commission.
This commission was tasked with the responsibility of negotiating with Côte d’Ivoire towards finding a lasting solution to the problem.
But this commission bore no fruit, and in September 2014, Ghana dragged Cote d’Ivoire to ITLOS after 10 failed negotiations.
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