The government of Ghana has formally notified the government of Togo of its decision to refer their maritime boundary dispute to international arbitration.
In a statement released on Friday, February 20, Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, confirmed that Ghana will seek the delimitation of the offshore boundary under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the global legal framework governing the use of the world’s oceans.
The development follows eight years of bilateral negotiations between the two West African neighbours, which have failed to yield a mutually agreed settlement. Officials said repeated efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution had not resulted in a definitive outcome.
“This follows attempts at negotiating a boundary which have gone on for the past eight years but have not resulted in an agreed outcome,” the statement read.
According to the statement, Ghana has opted for arbitration in a bid to prevent further escalation of incidents that have generated tensions between certain state institutions in both countries.
The government stressed that the move is intended to promote an amicable and rules-based resolution to the dispute.
By pursuing arbitration under UNCLOS, Ghana aims to secure a binding legal determination while preserving the longstanding cordial relations between Accra and Lomé.
Second Recourse to Arbitration in a Decade
This marks the second time in recent years that Ghana has turned to international adjudication to settle a maritime boundary dispute.
In 2014, Ghana initiated arbitration proceedings against neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire following disagreements over their offshore boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, particularly after significant oil discoveries in the area.
The case was heard by a Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), operating under UNCLOS.
In September 2017, the tribunal delivered a binding judgment largely upholding Ghana’s position and formally delimiting the maritime boundary along an equidistance line.
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