GHANA has initiated international arbitration proceedings to settle its maritime boundary dispute with neighbouring Togo.
Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, said in a statement on Friday that Ghana had notified Togo of the decision to pursue delimitation of the contested boundary under international law.
“The Government of Ghana has served the Government of Togo with notice of its decision that the maritime boundary between Ghana and Togo be delimited by recourse to international arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” the statement reads. “This follows attempts at negotiating a boundary which have gone on for the past eight years but have not resulted in an agreed outcome.”
According to Mr Ofosu, the unresolved offshore boundary dispute was straining relations between the two countries. The arbitration, he clarified, is intended to avoid escalation of incidents while preserving diplomatic ties.
“Ghana has taken this step in order to avoid an escalation of incidents that have created tensions between some of our institutions and to promote an amicable resolution, thereby contributing to the continued good relations between our two countries,” the statement added.
Togo, on two occasions in 2017 and 2018, stopped Ghanaian seismic vessels from undertaking seismic activities to acquire data in the deep sea in the territory near it. By initiating arbitration, Ghana seeks a binding legal determination of the matter, similar to the settlement with Côte d’Ivoire in 2017.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities.
BY TIMES REPORTER
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