Ghana’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong has ruled out government’s desire to adopt a hostile posture in its attempt to resolve the ongoing maritime boundary dispute with Cote d’Ivoire after initiating an arbitration proceedings in Germany.
This follows breakdown in bilateral negotiations to settle the four year-old dispute over the ownership of a territory in the maritime border, which experts say holds about two billion barrels of oil reserves, as well as 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Mrs. Appiah-Opong explained at a press conference convened at the instance of the Ministry of Communications to brief the public on the situation on the ground, that her outfit has already initiated arbitration proceedings under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to re-echo the country’s position on the matter.
“This is not a hostile act; we are not at loggerheads with Cote d’Ivoire and we are using diplomatic means to address the situation hoping to preserve the cordial relationship between the two countries,†she said.
Mrs. Appiah-Opong is expected to lead Ghana’s legal team to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea after the necessary legal documents have been filed and served on parties in the dispute.
“We are working with a whole team of legal experts to address the issue,†she emphasised.
In 2010, Cote d’Ivoire petitioned the United Nations to complete the demarcation of the Ivorian maritime boundary with Ghana. This occurred just days after the American exploration firm Vanco discovered oil in the Dzata-1 deepwater-well
The issue has received international attention after reports claimed that the petition was an attempted oil grab by Ivory Coast. The government of Ghana responded by passing the Ghana Boundary Commission Bill, establishing a commission with the purpose of undertaking negotiations in order to determine the country’s land and maritime boundaries.
In April, Ivorian Minister of Petroleum and Energy of Cote d’Ivoire, Adama Tourgara, told news men in Accra that the maritime boundary dispute between the two countries will be resolved “peacefully†by June this year.
However, the Joint Negotiation Teams set up by the two countries have failed to reach a compromise promoting the Ghana government to initiate arbitration proceedings at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Germany as oil producing companies operating in the disputed area are worried over the continuous receipt of threatening letters from Cote d’Ivoire .
Ghana’s Energy Minster, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, commenting on the development, said government is poised to retain and preserve the opportunities in the oil and gas industry for both current and future generations.
He said the arbitration is in line with plans to retain and boost investor confidence in the country’s buoyant hydrocarbons sector.
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