Ghana will win, Kofi Mbiah says

Europa

September 22, 2017 11:19 AM

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is expected to deliver its ruling on the Ghana Ivory Coast border dispute on the 23rd of September 2017.

The former Chief Executive Officer of

“I’m very positive on the basis of the law, not only on the basis of nationalism. I have reviewed the very recent decision and I have seen the approach that has been taken by the court in recent times and I’m very convinced that it will go in Ghana’s favour”, he told Accra-based Starr FM.

Ghana and Ivory Coast are seeking a resolution over the dispute at the International Tribunal following Ivory Coast’s accusation that Ghana is using the development of its oil industry to annex a part of its territory which does not belong to it.

Cote D’Ivoire is claiming ownership of the disputed TEN oil field, forcing Ghana to file a suit at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to ward off Ivory Coast from disputed oil fields.

It filed its suit based on Article 287 Annex VII of the 1982 UNCLOS.

Cote d’Ivoire in February 2015 filed for preliminary measures and urged the tribunal to suspend all activities in the disputed area until the definitive determination of the case, dubbed: “Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean.”

But the Special Chamber of the ITLOS on April 25, 2015 declined to suspend production activities in the disputed area with the explanation that “in the view of the Special Chamber, the suspension of ongoing activities conducted by Ghana in respect of which drilling has already taken place would entail the risk of considerable financial loss to Ghana, and its concessioners and could also pose a serious danger to the marine environment resulting, in particular, from the deterioration of equipment.”

The moratorium prevented Tullow from drilling additional 13 wells, Tullow drilled 11 wells in Ghana’s first oil field.

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