Jomoro wins her oil and gas fields for Ghana

He kept on mentioning Jomoro as the decider. He was speaking not for himself only but for all the members of the chamber. They had no doubt that the special position of Western Nzema District, disparagingly called Jomoro by the traitors who betrayed King Kaku Aka to the British and stole his kingdom, was the undisputable factor in the decision to be made by the tribunal in the maritime boundary dispute between Ghana and La Cote D’Ivoire. The president of the International Maritime Tribunal and his fellow tribunal members had studied how this blessed land of Western Nzema wedges in the manner of a foot between the sea and Abbey Lagoon from Half Assini to New Town bordering La Cote D’Ivoire at Manvea (Big Assini).

Jomoro District, the home of Ossagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah had been known in the 19th Century to have oil deposits in both onshore and offshore and a German company had actually exploited oil on land long before Ghana’s independence. And let world and Ghanaians in particular note that it is out of distortion of history that Nkrumah’s home town is said to be Nkruful instead of Half Assini where his father, Mr Kofi Nwiah (Kofi Nwiana Ngonloma), lived as a smith and married his mother from Nkroful. It will be instructive to note further that Nzemas trace their home paternally, and this speaks to why Samia Nkrumah, daughter of Nkrumah stood for parliamentary election not in Ellembelle but in Jomoro. This is just by way of a correction of history.

Yes, in its ruling on September 23, 2017, the International Maritime Tribunal kept mentioning the position of Jomoro as part of the land Ghana as the critical reason the sea south of the district cannot belong to, and be territorial water of La Cote D’Ivoire. The Judgment was read by Judge Boualem Bouguetaia, President of the Special Chamber.

Part of the Ivorian argument had been that the foot of Jomoro is just a small strip – insignificant in land mass to be basis for territorial claim out to sea. They claimed that south east of La Cote D’Ivoire sits on the foot of Jomoro and therefore the continental shelf below should appropriately belong to their country. But the tribunal was mindful of the technical definition of boundary which could not skip or overlook Jomoro in relation to the sea at its foot. The attached picture graphically unassailably presents the perspectives!

The politicians of Ghana and their lawyers are commended for the forthright role they played in presenting Ghana’s case. And it was also an impressive array of formidable lawyers on the Ivorian side. But as the lawyers say that bad cases are impossible rocks to break, the Ivorian side had a bad rock in Jomoro to crack. I guess they now curse the French for not to have negotiated hard enough to take up at least the foot of Jomoro as part of Cote D’Ivoire.

It is shameful that in 2007 in the early days of works in the Jomoro oil fields, the tribalists in government called the fields Cape Three Point, apparently to deprive Jomoro of association in location. Worse still, with the connivance of corrupt chiefs of Jomoro, no operation of the find in any form is taking place in the land that gives the mineral. What an aberration of natural justice!

I commend late President Atta-Mills who characteristically pursuant to peace loving and good neighbourliness launched the search for solution to the then intractable dispute via the Maritime Tribunal. Presidents John Mahama and Akufo-Addo deserve acknowledgement for following through to this successful and peaceful outcome. It was a nation-building inspiration to see the former and present Attorney Generals cooperating heartily in this matter. Well done, ladies. Gloria, you have not disappointed me. I did not make noise in support of your nomination for nothing. May God give you more success!

Ketiboa Blay is a socioeconomic development management specialist with outstanding expertise in baseline research; community needs assessment, community development planning; and projects, programmes and policy technical review and evaluation. He has considerable expertise also in conflict management. As a non-denominational Christian evangelist, Mr Blay is also a peace-builder.