METRO MASS BOSS REPLIES CRITICS

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, September 29, 2017

Managing Director of Metro Mass Transit (MMT), Bennett Aboagye, has parried criticisms of workers of the state-owned transport company, insisting that he has not abused his office.

The workers staged a demonstration on Wednesday claiming that Mr Aboagye, appointed four months ago, is not helping to improve their conditions of service nor revamping the ailing transport entity.

However, the MD, who is currently in far away China where he is assisting in the negotiation of more buses for the company, told DAILY GUIDE via telephone that the agitation of the workers is unfortunate.

The China visit was organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport with deputy Minister, Nii Kwatei Titus-Gloverm, leading the delegation.

“I am not saying they can’t raise issues but I think they are not being fair to me and my consultant. I have just been appointed and I have started putting sound policies in place to make Metro Mass a better place in line with the president’s vision and so for them to turn around and make me look bad in the eyes of the public is unfortunate,” he bemoaned.

Mr Bennett Aboagye said he suspects that the practical measures he is leading his management to put in place appear to be ruffling feathers in the company.  He added that he would not relent in his quest to get the best for the country, whilst making sure that the staff work in a conducive environment with improved conditions of service.

“So far, we have been able to control cost by limiting spending to operationally driven activities, reducing depot monthly imprest from GH¢640,000 to GH¢384,000,” he pointed out, adding, “Creditors’ money has been decreased from GH¢27 million in June to GH¢26 million as at 19^th September, unlike the first half of the year when creditors’ amount increased by more than GH¢14 million which is an average of GH¢2.3 million a  month.”

Mr Aboagye said that since he assumed office, the request to purchase and allocate spare parts is made on bus-specific basis, claiming that that had helped in reducing the stocking of idle parts of the buses.

He asserted, “In the case of tyres for instance, there was the need to track every bus that receives a new trye so that if a request is made again in less than three to four months for that same bus, answers will be provided as to why new tyres are needed since tyres are expected to run for at least six months.”

According to the MD, monthly net loss of GH¢2.36 million in June for the main service decreased to GH¢1.66 million in July and GH¢766,584 in August.

According to him, salaries for the past two months had been paid within the same month and the current weekly plan has been to make payment to suppliers in week one, pay statutory deductions in week two, making accumulation for net salaries in week three and paying salaries in week four.

He said it could not be true that workers’ salaries are being delayed because in the past two months the management had paid them on time.

“Buses are given fuel quota for specific distance thereby reducing the excess use of fuel for unauthorized purposes. There are information that some sleeper drivers run private business with the buses with some churches and schools before they operate the normal service, and we are working hard to stop this practice,” he revealed.

Mr Bennett Aboagye also said management of MMT was establishing depot desks to ascertain daily bus activities and raise queries on areas with abnormal results. “Management met depot managers one by one to review routes data and set route and bus targets,” he posited.

He maintained that there is continuation of parcel and luggage service to cover the rest of the depots, and that there had been a marginal fare adjustment on routes with high fare gap, saying for instance that the Accra-Kumasi fare had increased from GH¢18 to GH¢20.

Mr. Aboagye claimed that his outfit had been able to create reserve for “critical moments under the name infrastructure account with our existing bankers for monthly inflow of approximately GH¢100,000.”

He indicated, “Part of the fund has been used to honour a payment to VDL on an invoice which could not be deferred, and it is also being used to complete the extension of a head office building due to its critical need.”

According to the MD, there is no official vehicle allocated to him yet and has been using his personal car and staying in his personal residence. “In spite of all these, I have not given the managing board any pressure to purchase a vehicle for me. I have given them ample time to sort themselves out,” he pointed out.

WORKERS CALL OFF PLANNED STRIKE

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, September 29, 2017

Public sector workers who were planning to go on indefinite strike over issues related to the Tier Two Pension Scheme have backed down on their intended action.

The strike was expected to commence today, but the forum has announced that it has set up a joint technical committee with the government to examine the issues once again and submit its report on the way forward within three weeks.

There is currently a tussle between the Forum for Public Sector Registered Pension Schemes (public workers) and the government over the control of the Temporary Pension Fund (TPF) under the Tier Two Pension Scheme.

The workers gave the government up to the September 29, 2017 to transfer all their funds in the Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA) lodged at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to their respective fund managers or risk an indefinite strike.

A statement issued yesterday by Isaac Bampoe-Addo, the Executive Secretary of the Ghana and the Civil and Local Government Staff Association (CLOGSAG), who is the Chairman of the forum said “subsequent to the setting up of a nine-member joint Technical Committee of the government and the union/associations representing the four public sector tier 2 pension schemes to submit a report within three weeks as the final step at resolving the current problem.”

The statement said “the workers, owing to the setting up of the committee, have suspended temporarily the intended September 29, 2017 indefinite nationwide strike action communicated earlier through our press release dated 14^th  September, 2017, whiles the joint Technical Committee completes its work.”

At a news conference in Accra recently, Mr Bampoe Addo said that “our strike is going to be indefinite not until all out grievances are met and we will make sure this time around our action becomes very effective.”

He said the continuous delay in the transfer of the funds from the TPFA at the Central Bank to their respective custodian fund managers will always create bad blood between the two parties, saying “we wish to reiterate our frustrations and disappointments at the manner the government and its agencies have reneged on its adherence to the out of court settlement in February 2016.”

“The transfer of the accumulated 5% monthly deductions towards Tier II Pension lodged at the Bank of Ghana is pending,” adding that “under the defined contribution scheme the risk on the contributor and his final benefits depend on earnings from investments and the delay in the release of funds will not auger well for retirees.”

The forum is made up of unions and associations including the Health Service Workers’ Union, Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, Ghana Medical Association, Ghana Physicians Assistants Association, Ghana Hospital Pharmacists Association and the Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anesthetists.

The rest include the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Teachers and Educational Workers Union of Ghana Trades Union Congress, the National Association of Graduate Teachers, the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana and the Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana and the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana.

During the tenure of the previous Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, whose action led to the current standoff, the workers fought very hard to get the issues resolved but to no avail.

NDC CAMPAIGN CASH STOLEN...SAYS BOTCHWEY REPORT

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, September 28, 2017

The report of the Professor Kwesi Botchwey Committee – which was set up to investigate why the National Democratic Congress (NDC) embarrassingly lost the December 7, 2016 general election - has indicated that the electorate considered the campaign of then ruling NDC offensive.

“The NDC campaign language was generally considered unduly combative and offensive,” page 21 of the 65-page Executive Summary of the 455-page report - which the NDC has kept like a state secret - revealed.

According to the report, the campaign to get then sitting President John Mahama re-elected was also ‘uncoordinated,’ stating that campaign cash found its way into people’s pockets.

The report suggests that party organs were of the strong belief that campaign money was diverted.

Campaign Structure Blamed

The report of the 13-member committee revealed that in the course of their work, they were inundated with complaints that the national campaign team, which was coordinated by the party’s National Organizer, did not work with a strategy document the Strategy Campaign Team had prepared.

“The new campaign structure was blamed for closing off institutional spaces that would have allowed integration of knowledgeable and experienced party executives into the campaign at all levels,” it recorded on Page 21.

44.4 Percent

In effect, the committee’s report is saying that some of the elected national officers of the NDC were ignored in the whole campaign that resulted in the sitting president garnering only 44.4% of the total valid votes cast nationwide -  the worst showing of the NDC since its formation.

According to the report, there was “endless launch of regional and constituency campaigns” which reportedly “ignored the more capillary approach recommended which involved town hall meetings, meeting of small groups, midnight and dawn visitations by the president and all candidates, participation in social events at the grassroots level.”

Stolen Money

“Much of the campaign that unfolded, we were told, did not follow these recommendations as the party ended up being accused of conducting an extravagant campaign,” the report recounted, adding, “The mounting of huge billboards, it was alleged, offended many voters and reinforced NPP accusations that these were funded from stolen public monies.”

The report indicates that the establishment of the National Campaign Committee (NCC) in May 2016 and inauguration of the members were problematic, saying, “In the view of many party members, its establishment occurred much too late for effective campaigning, given that information in the public domain already suggested a possible voting date of November 7.”

Campaign Coordinators

It claims, “There were challenges relating to the timing, structure, composition and resourcing. The NCC also formed Regional Campaign Task Forces (RCTFs) which were headed by regional campaign coordinators. Some of these coordinators did not enjoy total support from their respective regional executives, especially deputies, at both the national and regional levels.”

According to the committee, the attempt to find out why the NCC was ‘marginalized’ proved futile because nobody in the party could explain it to them.

“The committee heard a number of complaints from some members of the NCC about their marginalization in matters of resource mobilization, channeling and distribution. We accordingly sought but were unable to obtain clarification on the mandate of the NCC as formed in order to know whether it included these functions in the first place, and therefore, whether these complaints were warranted. We received none.”

No Blueprint

The committee heard that the NCC “hardly met as a collective entity and operated with no formal developed campaign blueprint. With such an uncoordinated campaign approach, the NCC virtually lost its central role in the direction of the party’s campaign agenda.”

It however, said, “As a committee we were unable to pass judgement on the superior merit of all aspects of these recommendations, save to say that there was obviously some tension between how the party thought that the campaign should be conducted and how it ended up being actually conducted.”

The report says there were complaints of the party’s structures being sidelined in the distribution of campaign resources.

Some members of the NCC said they knew nothing about how campaign funds and logistics were sourced and distributed, nor about amounts of money and quantities of items distributed.

“This hampered the effectiveness of the NCC and undermined the integrity of the entire resources, also heightened tension among party executives at all levels and created mistrust and apathy amongst the rank and file of the party across board.”

According to the report, there were suggestions that “the bypassing of the party structures and of party executives was itself due to past experience of resource misuse and diversion by these structures. In the event, some resources probably ended up being diverted and not reaching the intended beneficiaries.”

ITLOS RULING SAVES GHANA $49BN

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Ghana was going to lose an estimated $49 billion if the tribunal that adjudicated on the maritime boundary dispute had ruled in favour of Cote d’Ivoire.

However, the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, (ITLOS), sitting in Hamburg, Germany, declined to order the payment of compensation to Cote d’Ivoire.

Experts say the international court would most likely have ordered Ghana to pay reparation to Cote d’Ivoire from the date it (Ghana) commenced the drilling of oil in commercial quantities in 2010.

The dispute concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean was concluded last Saturday with the judgement unanimously in favour of Ghana.

Ghana filed the claim in 2014 after about 10 negotiations with Cote d’Ivoire over the maritime boundary had failed.

The West African neighbour then filed a counter claim, including reparation, whilst at the same time laying claim to portions of huge oil and gas reserves located around the maritime boundary between the two countries in the Western Region.

Final Boundary

The Special Chamber ruled that to delimit the new maritime boundary, it would use a new Land Boundary Terminus (LBT) that it had set at BP55plus, thus rejecting the different LBTs (geographical coordinates of BP55 in the case of Ghana and 168 degrees azimuth line put forward by Cote d’Ivoire).

In effect, the court has generated a new base point with which to draw the final boundary, which it said is an Equidistance Line Boundary covering the Territorial Sea - the Exclusive Economic Zone in the area beyond 200 nautical miles - and experts have said it looks good for Ghana as far as exploration of oil and gas is concerned.

Per the judgement, Cote d’Ivoire has lost almost every claim against Ghana, except the order by the Special Tribunal for the two countries to re-demarcate the maritime boundary; but will be of no significance as far as the huge claims put forward by Ghana’s western neighbour are concerned.

“The new and final maritime boundary line protects Ghana’s existing concessions,” an unnamed source told DAILY GUIDE immediately after the judgement, adding, “It protects all areas belonging to Ghana which go up to the 200 nautical miles limit in the area beyond 200 nautical miles up to 350 nautical miles.”

Tacit Agreement

Ghana appeared to have lost the argument of Tacit Agreement moved against Cote d’Ivoire, which it said confirmed the full scope of over 50 years of joint activities between the two countries regarding the maritime boundary.

Although Ghana lost that argument, it turned out that it was the display of the maps brought by Ghana that largely aided the Special Tribunal to come to the conclusion that the maritime boundary line should be drawn using the BP55plus coordinate.

Cote d’Ivoire, in its quest to get the maritime boundary re-demarcated, tried to convince the court that Jomoro in the Jomoro District of the Western Region, is an island or a kind of a peninsula, but the court dismissed the claim saying the Ivoirians themselves had always recognized the fact that Jomoro has been Ghana’s bonafide territory.

Consequential Orders

The Special Tribunal summed up the whole judgement in seven key points and in all of them, it was unanimous in dismissing the case brought by Cote d’Ivoire.

It unanimously found out that it has jurisdiction to delimit the maritime boundary between the parties in the territorial sea, in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf - both within and beyond 200 nm.

The tribunal also unanimously found that there is no tacit agreement between the parties to delimit their territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf both within and beyond 200 nm, and rejected Ghana’s claim that Côte d’Ivoire was estopped from objecting to the customary equidistance boundary.

Case History

When Ghana discovered oil in commercial quantities in 2007, Cote d’Ivoire said Ghana was straying into its waters in the course of the exploration exercise at West Cape Three Points.

Cote d’Ivoire came again with a renewed set of claims in 2010, including compensation from Ghana for entering into its territory when the Dzata-1 Deepwater Well was discovered by Vanco.

Ghana then constituted the Ghana Boundary Commission in March 2010, after Cote d’Ivoire had petitioned the United Nations over the oil exploratory activities and requested for a demarcation of the maritime boundary.

After about 10 high-level negotiations between Ghana and Code d’Ivoire had yielded no dividends, Ghana filed a petition before ITLOS in 2014, asking the special tribunal to look into the matter and bring finality to it.

Cote d’Ivoire responded, adding a counter-claim, including the payment of reparation from Ghana and appealed to the special tribunal to suspend all activities on the disputed area until the final determination of the case.

The first ruling given by ITLOS was in 2015 when it placed a moratorium on new projects that were being undertaken by Ghana, but said the old projects could continue.

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

MAHAMA SNUBBED JOURNALISTS AFTER DEADLY CRASH

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

The reportedly poor treatment of journalists who were attached to the presidency of John Dramani Mahama has been captured in the report of the Professor Kwesi Botchwey Committee that investigated why the National Democratic Congress (NDC) embarrassingly lost the December 7, 2016 general elections.

According to the report, former President John Dramani Mahama, for reasons best known to him, never met the journalists who were involved in a fatal accident at Afienya on their way from Ho where he had attended EP Church programme.

The Botchwey Report states that President Mahama “never met his own presidential press corps,” adding, “quarterly stipend meant for the press corps was not disclosed until August 20, 2015,” the very day the journalists were involved in the accident.

That gory accident claimed the life of Samuel Nuamah, the presidential correspondent for Ghanaian Times, while other reporters sustained various degrees of injury.

Samuel Nuamah left a young family of a wife and a child behind.

Sources said some of the reporters who covered the former president appeared before the Kwesi Botchwey Committee to vent their frustrations over what they claimed to be maltreatment by John Mahama - failing to meet and commiserate with them after such a traumatic incident. 

Even a report on the cause of the accident was never disclosed to the public.

The report also singled out Stanislav Xoexe Dogbe, the trusted aide of Mr. Mahama - who was unofficial director of communications-  for ‘editing’ money given to journalists who covered the presidency.

According to the report, which the NDC is keeping like a state secret, “Stan Dogbe ‘edited’ money meant for victims of the accident involving the Presidential Press Corps from GH¢50,000 that was supposed to be given them, to GH¢5,000 and others got GH¢10,000.”

The report further said that “Presidential Press Corps was told by Stan Dogbe that they were not part of the ‘system’ and that they were privileged to be part of the Presidential Press Corps.”

It said, “Only four out of 34 members of the Presidential Press Corps were given vehicles from a pool of about 200 vehicles available for distribution to the press corps and others.

“President Mahama’s in-house communications team was squandering resources of the President meant for communication strategy.”

  According to the report, “Dr. Omane Boamah and Stan Dogbe were the President’s undoing,” adding, “The President was virtually naked with the two around him.”

Between Pages 26 and 27 of the 65-page Executive Summary out of the 455-page report, it recounts how the behaviour of Stan Dogbe, in particular, caused the then ruling party’s massive defeat.

 “Doing away with Stan Dogbe and Omane Boamah could have earned the President one million votes so he didn’t have to look to Ashanti Region for the one million votes,” the supposedly confidential report - a copy of which is in possession of DAILY GUIDE, maintained.

“Omane Boamah and Stan Dogbe convinced the President that he was more popular than the NDC ticket,” the report stated, adding, “The two were also the shadow actors of the government.

 “The President’s inner circles were so intolerant that when you criticize the President, you are condemned.”

Mahama’s Comeback

The report recommended, “If John Mahama wants to come back he should purge himself of Stan Dogbe and co, adding,.. “will be surprised if President John Mahama decides to continue to keep Stan Dogbe, Dr. Omane Boamah, Joyce Bawa Mogtari and still have hope of winning elections.”

The report has described President Mahama as living like a “movies star” in the run-up to the crucial elections, which he lost massively to then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

GHANA FLOORS COTE D’IVOIRE OVER OIL BOUNDARY

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

From  William Yaw Owusu , Hamburg - Germany

Monday, September 25, 2017

Ghana has won the case in which Cote d’Ivoire was seeking compensation whilst laying claim to portions of huge oil and gas reserves located around the maritime boundary between the two countries in the Western Region.

The five-member panel of eminent judges at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) based in Hamburg, Germany was unanimous last Saturday in its judgement in respect of the dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary in the Atlantic Ocean.

The decision of the Special Chamber of the ITLOS is expected to bring an end to any dispute over the maritime boundary between the two countries since the judgment is deemed final.

Attorney General Gloria Afua Akuffo, who led Ghana’s legal team, introduced the members.

They included her Deputy, Godfred Yeboah Dame; Solicitor-General, Helen Awo Dziwu; Professor Phillipe Sands who is Ghana’s lead International Lawyer and Fui Tsikata, among other top lawyers.

Final Boundary

The Special Chamber ruled that to delimit the new maritime boundary, it would use a new Land Boundary Terminus (LBT) that it had set at BP55plus, thus rejecting the different LBTs (geographical coordinates of BP55 in the case of Ghana and 168 degrees azimuth line in the case of Cote d’Ivoire), put forward by the two countries respectively in the course of the trial.

In effect, the court has generated a new base point with which to draw the final boundary, which it said is an Equidistance Line Boundary covering the Territorial Sea - the Exclusive Economic Zone in the area beyond 200 nautical miles - and experts have said it looks good for Ghana as far as exploration of oil and gas resources are concerned.

Per the judgement, Cote d’Ivoire has lost almost every claim against Ghana, except the order by the Special Tribunal for the two countries to re-demarcate the maritime boundary; but will be of no significance as far as the huge claims put forward by Ghana’s neighbour is concerned.

“The new and final maritime boundary line protects Ghana’s existing concessions,” an unnamed source told DAILY GUIDE immediately after the judgement, adding, “It protects all areas belonging to Ghana which go up to the 200 nautical miles limit in the area beyond 200 nautical miles up to 350 nautical miles.”

Tacit Agreement

Ghana appeared to have lost the argument of Tacit Agreement moved against Cote d’Ivoire, which it said confirmed the full scope of over 50 years of joint activities between the two countries regarding the maritime boundary.

Although Ghana lost that argument, it turned out that it was the display of the maps brought by Ghana that largely aided the Special Tribunal to come to the conclusion that the maritime boundary line should be drawn using the BP55plus coordinate.

Cote d’Ivoire, in its quest to get the maritime boundary re-demarcated, appeared to convince the court that Jomoro in the Jomoro District of the Western Region, is an island or a kind of a peninsula, but the court dismissed the claim saying the Ivoirians themselves had always recognized the fact that Jomoro has been Ghana’s bonafide territory.

Consequential Orders

The Special Tribunal summed up the whole judgement in seven key points and in all of them it was unanimous in dismissing the case brought by Cote d’Ivoire.

It unanimously found that it has jurisdiction to delimit the maritime boundary between the parties in the territorial sea, in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf - both within and beyond 200 nm.

The tribunal also unanimously found that there is no tacit agreement between the parties to delimit their territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf both within and beyond 200 nm, and rejected Ghana’s claim that Côte d’Ivoire was estopped from objecting to the customary equidistance boundary.

The tribunal further unanimously decided that “the single maritime boundary for the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nm start at BP55+ with the coordinates 05° 05’ 23.2” N; 03° 06’ 21.2’’ W in WGS 84 as a geodetic datum.”

It said that the geodetic datum should be defined “by turning points A, B, C, D, E, F with the following coordinates and connected by geodetic lines: A: 05° 01’ 03.7” N 03° 07’ 18.3” W, B: 04° 57’ 58.9” N 03° 08’ 01.4” W,   C: 04° 26’ 41.6” N 03° 14’ 56.9” W,  D: 03° 12’ 13.4” N 03° 29’ 54.3” W,  E: 02° 59’ 04.8” N 03° 32’ 40.2” W as well as F: 02° 40’ 36.4” N 03° 36’ 36.4” W.”

It held that “from turning point F, the single maritime boundary continues as a geodetic line starting at an azimuth of 191° 38’ 06.7’’ until it reaches the outer limits of the continental shelf.

International Responsibility

The court unanimously found that it has jurisdiction to decide on the claim of Côte d’Ivoire against Ghana on the alleged international responsibility of Ghana and unanimously found that Ghana did not violate the sovereign rights of Côte d’Ivoire.

The tribunal “unanimously, finds that Ghana did not violate Article 83, paragraphs 1 and 3, of the Convention,” adding it “unanimously finds that Ghana did not violate the provisional measures prescribed by the Special Chamber in its Order of 25 April 2015.”

Ghana’s Submission

It was Ghana’s submission that the two countries had mutually recognised, agreed, and applied an equidistance-based maritime boundary in the territorial sea, EEZ and continental shelf within 200 M and that the maritime boundary in the continental shelf beyond 200 M followed an extended equidistance boundary along the same azimuth as the boundary within 200 M, to the limit of national jurisdiction.

Ghana insisted that in accordance with international law, by reason of its representations and upon which Ghana has placed reliance, Côte d’Ivoire was estopped from objecting to the agreed maritime boundary and that the land boundary terminus and starting point for the agreed maritime boundary is at Boundary Pillar 55BP 55.

Cote d’Ivoire’s Submission

In its final submission, Côte d’Ivoire requested the Special Chamber to reject all Ghana’s requests and wanted a declaration that the sole maritime boundary between the two neighbours followed the 168.7º azimuth line, which it said, starts at boundary post 55 and extends to the outer limit of the Ivorian continental shelf.

It sought a further adjudication that the activities undertaken unilaterally by Ghana in the Ivorian maritime area constituted a violation of the exclusive sovereign rights of Côte d’Ivoire over its continental shelf, as delimited by the Chamber, as well as the obligation to negotiate in good faith, pursuant to Article 83, paragraph 1, of UNCLOS and customary law.

Cote d’Ivoire had insisted that Ghana did not respect the obligation not to jeopardize or hamper the conclusion of an agreement, as provided for by Article 83, paragraph 3, of UNCLOS and had wanted a declaration that Ghana violated the provisional measures prescribed by the Chamber per its Order of 25 April, 2015.

They also wanted the Special Tribunal to invite the parties to carry out negotiations in order to reach agreement on the terms of the reparation due to Côte d’Ivoire.

Case Chronology

The dispute was submitted to a special chamber formed in application of Article 15, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Tribunal by way of a special agreement concluded between the two states concerned on 3 December, 2014 and on 25 April, 2015. The Special Chamber delivered its Order on a request for the prescription of provisional measures filed by Côte d’Ivoire.

Further to the closure of the written proceedings, hearings on the merits of the case took place from 6 to 16 February, 2017.

Case History

When Ghana discovered oil in commercial quantities in 2007, Cote d’Ivoire said Ghana was straying into its waters in the course of the exploration exercise in the West Cape Three Points.

Cote d’Ivoire came again with a renewed set of claims in 2010, including compensation from Ghana for entering into its territory when the Dzata-1 Deepwater Well was discovered by Vanco.

Ghana then constituted the Ghana Boundary Commission sometime in March 2010 after Cote d’Ivoire had petitioned the United Nations over the oil exploratory activities and requested for a demarcation of the maritime boundary.

After about 10 high-level negotiations between Ghana and Code d’Ivoire had yielded no dividends, Ghana filed a petition before ITLOS in 2014, asking the special tribunal to look into the matter and bring finality to the case.

Cote d’Ivoire responded, adding a counter-claim, including the payment of reparations from Ghana and appealed to the special tribunal to suspend all activities on the disputed area until the final determination of the case.

The first ruling given by ITLOS was in 2015 when it placed a moratorium on new projects that were being undertaken by Ghana, but said the old projects could continue.

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

GHANA, COTE D’IVOIRE MAKE JOINT PLEDGE

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

From  William Yaw Owusu , Hamburg - Germany

Monday, September 25, 2017

Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire have pledged their respective commitments to the historic judgement of the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

The Special Chamber sitting in Hamburg, Germany, over the weekend, disabled any future effort by Cote d’Ivoire to lay claim to the maritime boundary between the two countries in the Atlantic Ocean when it dismissed the suit filed by Cote d’Ivoire.

The Special Chamber ruled that to delimit the new maritime boundary, it would use a new Land Boundary Terminus (LBT) that it had set at BP55plus, thus rejecting the different LBTs (geographical coordinates of BP55 in the case of Ghana and 168 degrees azimuth line in the case of Cote d’Ivoire) put forward by the two countries respectively in the course of the trial.

Immediately the court gave its verdict, representatives of the two countries issued a joint statement reiterating their commitment to abide by the decision.

Gloria A. Akuffo, Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, who acted as agent, signed for Ghana while Adama Toungara, who is an Advisor to President Alassane Quattarra, acting as agent, signed for Cote d’Ivoire.

“Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana accept the decision, in accordance with the statute of ITLOS,” Ms Akuffo, who read the English version of the joint statement, said.

 “Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana seize this opportunity to reiterate the mutual commitment of the two countries to abide by the terms of this decision from the Special Chamber and to fully collaborate for its implementation.

“The two countries affirm the strong will to work together to strengthen and intensify their brotherly relationships of cooperation and good neighbourliness.”

The statement further indicated, “On behalf of the presidents and the peoples of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, I would like to express our gratitude to the Special Chamber of ITLOS for the courteous attention with which the proceedings were conducted.”

The joint statement also commended the Registrar of the Tribunal and his team for the “admirable efficiency with which the case has been managed, resulting in expeditious hearing to the mutual benefit of both parties. We are united in the expression of our gratitude to the Special Chamber.”

MAHAMA ‘NAKED’…BOTCHWEY REPORT REVEALS

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Stanislav Xoexe Dogbe, the trusted aide of former President John Mahama, together with former Minister of Communications, Dr. Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, have been heavily criticized in the report of the Professor Kwesi Botchwey Committee that investigated why the National Democratic Congress (NDC) embarrassingly lost the December 7, 2016 general elections.

According to the report, apart from the former president, who was described as living a life of a ‘movie star’ in the run-up to the crucial general elections, the two aides should also take a portion of the blame for the NDC’s unprecedented defeat.

Between Pages 26 and 27 of the 65-page Executive Summary of the 455-page report which the NDC has kept like a state secret, it recounted how the behaviour of Stan Dogbe, in particular, caused the then ruling party’s massive defeat.

Mahama Naked

According to the report, “Dr. Omane Boamah and Stan Dogbe were the president’s undoing. The president was virtually naked with the two around him.”

Apparently referring to the NDC’s much hyped garnering of one million votes from the Ashanti Region during the electioneering campaign last year - which never materialized - the report indicated that the votes could have been garnered from elsewhere, had it not been for the fanfare and road show-like campaign.

“Doing away with Stan Dogbe and Omane Boamah could have earned the president one million votes so he didn’t have to look to the Ashanti Region for the one million votes,” the supposedly confidential report - a copy of which is in possession of DAILY GUIDE - said.

“Omane Boamah and Stan Dogbe convinced the president that he was more popular than the NDC ticket,” the report stated, adding “The two were also the shadow actors of the government.

 “The president’s inner circles were so intolerant that when you criticize the president, you are condemned.”

Mahama Comeback

The report recommended, “If John Mahama wants to come back he should purge himself of Stan Dogbe and co,” adding, “…we will be surprised if President John Mahama decides to continue to keep Stan Dogbe, Dr. Omane Boamah, Joyce Bawa Mogtari and still have hope of winning elections.”

Damning Conclusions

The ‘confidential’ report has made damning conclusions on the role played by Mr. Mahama himself in the massive electoral defeat of the NDC last year.

According to it, Mahama had let himself down with his attitude towards the campaign, saying, “John Mahama lost the elections and not the NDC.

“President Mahama ignored the Akuse strategy. It included no flamboyant campaign, no amorphous group, etc.”

Mahama Adamant

Some have said that the damning revelation is going to make it difficult for Mr. Mahama - who is lacing his boots to lead the NDC once again for the 2020 presidential election – to make a comeback, but recent events show clearly that the former president is bent on becoming the NDC flag bearer again.

Even though the report has clearly recommended that he should not surround himself with persons like Joyce Bawa Mogtari, Omane Boamah and Stan Dogbe, among others, Mrs Mogtari, who was the spokesperson for the failed Mahama 2016 re-election campaign team, is still the spokesperson of Mr Mahama as former president.

Implementation Committee

The 13-member committee, chaired by Professor Kwesi Botchwey, with influential personalities like the former speaker of parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho on board, had presented the report on Monday, June 19, 2017 and the party subsequently formed an Implementation Committee (IC), made up of respected NDC gurus like Kofi Totobi Quakyie, Nana Ato Dadzie, Kwame Peprah, among others, to work out the modalities of re-organization of the party as recommended in the report.

However, the Implementation Committee did not even know that the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the NDC had already set up sub-committees to commence work until recently.

Subtle Attempt

Some members are already complaining bitterly about what they claim to be a subtle attempt by the camp of former President Mahama to take control of the NDC so that his ambition to lead it again will be fulfilled.

They cynically claim that the Mahama camp is getting its people to head the various sub-committees so that the damning verdict about the former president and his inner circles in the report would be watered down.

Angry Members

The situation has gotten some NDC members of the grassroots -   who believe the former president might not be the ideal candidate for the party for the 2020 presidential election - agitated because they are claiming that it was these same bigwigs who were indicted in the Prof Kwesi Botchwey Committee report.