Tsatsu: 'Ghana’s argument in boundary dispute stronger'

Ghana has a stronger case going into the actual hearing of the substantive matter in the maritime dispute with La Cote d’Ivoire, legal luminary Tsatsu Tsikata has said.

According to him, Ivory Coast will struggle to convince the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on the reliefs they are seeking against Ghana in the case.

“I don’t have any doubt at all from the provisional measures argument that Ghana’s position on the merit is even on stronger grounds.

“The reason being that: Ghana drew attention to the whole history of the practice of Cote d’Ivoire itself with regards to the maritime boundary.

“Since 1970, the first President of Cote d’Ivoire Houphouët-Boigny used the same maritime boundary that Ghana is using now in granting an award to Exon Mobil and they (Ivory Coast) have since used exactly the same map in transacting business over the years,” Tsikata told Joy FM Monday.

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on Saturday directed Ghana to continue with ongoing oil projects in the disputed area.

However, the Tribunal ordered that: “Ghana shall take all necessary steps to ensure that no new drilling either by Ghana or under its control takes place in the disputed area".

Cote d’Ivoire called for the cessation of all activities, including oil exploration on the disputed maritime boundary, until the hearing of the substantive case, which is set to be settled in 2018.

Legal and technical representatives from both countries battled it out at ITLOS’s Special Chamber in Hamburg, Germany, on March 29 and 30, 2015.