ITLOS ruling: NDC’s ‘incompetent’ lawyers gave NPP victory – Asiedu Nketia

General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the government to render an unqualified apology to the erstwhile John Mahama administration for branding it “incompetent”.

Johnson Asiedu Nketia said Ghana could not have emerged victorious in the four-year-old maritime boundary dispute over ownership of oil fields with Cote D’Ivoire, without the input of competent lawyers in the Mahama government.

The International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on Saturday gave its ruling on the long drawn out maritime boundary dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast, accepting Ghana’s arguments in the matter.

Ghana argued that the equidistance rule should be used in delimiting the maritime boundary between the two countries.

The ruling ensured that Ghana retained the boundary that has its key oilfields, among them the Tweneboa, Enyira and Ntome (TEN) fields.

But after a four-year-old legal tussle, the Special Chamber said Ghana did not violate its neighbour’s sovereign right.

The Chamber said Ivory Coast did not produce a resounding argument that, bilateral talks held over the matter were not meaningful.

But speaking on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem Tuesday, Asiedu Nketia said the outcome of the protracted dispute has vindicated the NDC.

He could not fathom why the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) which claimed to have the competent men relied heavily on the former Attorney-General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong and others for such a high-profile case.

This, Asiedu Nketia noted, proves the NPP’s so-called competent men of women are just over-hyped.

General Mosquito as he is popularly called paid glowing tributes to late President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills and former President John Mahama for the various roles they played in securing the favourable.

He cited how the two leaders resisted pressure to withdraw the case and maintained support for the ITLOS process until the judges retired to write their judgments last year.

Asiedu Nketia said the NDC is proud to have played a leadership role in securing this legal victory and securing these important resources for the country.