President Akufo-Addo has suggested that Ghana is ready to accept any ruling by the Tribunal for the International Law of the Sea over the dispute of the maritime boundary between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
The country went to the ITLOS in September 2014 seeking a declaration that it has not encroached on Cote d’Ivoire’s territorial waters.
The case was subsequently called in February this year where both countries presented their final arguments but a determination of the matter was moved to September this year.
President Akufo-Addo, in an address during a state dinner held in his honor by the President of Cote d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara over the weekend said although he hoped that the judgment goes in Ghana’s favour, he was ready to work cordially with the Ivorian government after the judgment.
“We are all aware of the litigation in Hamburg on the delimitation of our maritime boundaries. Whatever the result of that litigation, and, naturally, I hope it goes in favour of Ghana, I want to assure President Ouattara, his government and the Ivorian people of the determination of my government and I to work with you in a healthy manner of co-operation to deal with the consequences of the pending judgment,” he said.
“What is of paramount importance to our two populations is the peaceful exploitation of the maritime resources for their benefit. The close co-operation of stable, fully functioning democracies, such as ours, will give a great push to the growth of stable, constitutional governance not just in our region, but on the entire African continent, which can only inure to the benefit and welfare of the African peoples,” he added.
Ghana’s Attorney General Gloria Akufo at the hearing of the case earlier this year argued that the two countries already have an agreement on their maritime boundary, although informal.
Ivory Coast, on the other hand, rejected that claim, calling on the Chamber to declare that Ghana has indeed violated the sovereign rights of Ivory Coast when it unilaterally undertook drilling activities in that boundary.
But Ghana in its final submission called on the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), not to be swayed by Ivory Coast’s argument.
The Attorney General and leader of Ghana’s delegation to the ITLOS, Gloria Akuffo, told the Special Chamber that Ivory Coast was trying to move the boundary to the east to benefit from Ghana’s oil reserves.
