We’ll settle boundary disputes with neighbours peacefully —Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that the country will continue to work amicably with its immediate neighbours to ensure that disputes over boundaries are peacefully resolved.

Though he did not give reasons, it is believed that this is to prevent replication of situations where countries have gone to war because of disputes over boundaries and natural resources.

President Akufo-Addo stated this when various heads of Boundary Commissions in West Africa paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House in Accra last Wednesday.

The delegation was led by the Commissioner General of the Ghana Boundary Commission, Major General Emmanuel Kotia. The group are in Accra under the auspices of ECOWAS.

They are discussing modalities for the establishment of a coordinating mechanism between national and regional actors for better implementation of border governance strategies.

Commendation

President Akufo-Addo commended ECOWAS for the initiative, saying it would go a long way to prevent border disputes that have culminated in wars between neighbouring countries.

He recounted a dispute between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire over a maritime boundary, which was litigated at the maritime court in Hamburg. The outcome favoured Ghana and the verdict was readily accepted by Cote d’Ivoire.

That, the President added, was because the Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara, “is a very far-sighted statesman who believes in bringing the conflict to an end”.

He said it was to ensure such issues were settled out of court and also to prevent possible war situations that ECOWAS commenced the coordination of the border commissioners, a move President Akufo-Addo described as crucial.

Advice

The President further said that Africa was blessed with rich natural resources, both onshore and offshore, and that the only way leaders could prevent conflicts over the control of their resources was for the commissioners to take the initiative by ECOWAS seriously.

He gave the examples of the dispute between Nigeria and Cameroun over the Bakassi oilfields; Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the River Nile; and the ongoing Russia and Ukraine war, adding “I am saying all these to situate the seriousness of the work that you are doing”.

President Akufo-Addo said one of the most important decisions that was taken at the beginning of the formation of the OAU was for all countries to abide by the colonial boundaries as inherited.

He said European history was littered with wars over boundaries till the present day and, therefore, to have a mechanism to be able to resolve such issues peacefully was an important development.

The President encouraged the commissioners to work towards establishing a coordinating mechanism and also find ways of working together to concretise decisions about boundaries.

Significance

Gen. Kotia said the meeting was expected to come up with work plans to facilitate collaboration and coordination among boundary commissions in West Africa to avoid duplication and facilitate documentation and sharing of information, intelligence and good practices.

He said the group also aimed to establish practical modalities for the meeting of heads of West African Boundary Commissions going forward.

Gen. Kotia also said that since not all countries in West Africa had boundary commissions, the group intended to set up such bodies and accompanying framework for effective boundary governance in Africa.