Ghana To Address Boundary Brouhaha With Neighboring Countries– Minister Of Foreign Affairs

By Maxwell Nkansah [caption id="attachment_96367" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey[/caption] Ghana is trying to resolve all boundary delineation issues with Togo and Burkina Faso before the end of the year, according to Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration. That, she said, was to help sustain the country’s foreign policy principle of good neighborliness by fostering and enhancing existing good relations with the two countries. She made the remarks during a lecture on the country’s foreign policy at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College’s Senior Command and Staff Course 43. Students came from 11 African countries’ military forces, including Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Foreign policy was a government’s approach to interacting with foreign countries and actors having a global presence. Ghana has had territorial and maritime disputes with its three neighbors, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Cote D’Ivoire, for years. Ghana won a maritime boundary dispute with Côte d’Ivoire at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea’s Special Chamber in 2017. (ITLOS). Other land boundary conflicts with Burkina Faso and Togo were being resolved by the Ghana Boundary Commission. The ITLOS verdict, according to Ms Botchwey, resulted in an amicable resolution of the issue with no detrimental impact on fraternal relations, and she expressed hope that the others will be settled peacefully as well. She noted that in recent years, the country’s foreign policy has focused on good neighborliness and the promotion of good governance since they were critical to the country’s continued development and peaceful existence. She stated that Ghana’s Foreign Policy Principles included respect for sovereign equality of nations, Pan-African orientation in global interactions, and positive neutralism in global affairs, based on Article 40 of the 1992 Constitution and the Directive Principles of State Policy. Others, she said, included respect for public international law and the principles of global organizations of which Ghana was a member; non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, except unconstitutional changes of governments across Africa, genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Ms Botchwey stated that one of Ghana’s primary foreign policy objectives is to promote global peace and security, while the country is also devoted to economic diplomacy to attract investments and resources to Ghana. “As the world grows increasingly interconnected and interdependent, and our people’s fortunes are linked to those of people everywhere, our foreign policy can be defined as an extension of our domestic policy, and vice versa.” “This necessitates increasing citizen involvement in global processes, as well as adaptability, flexible knowledge, and high-quality professionalism.” “Ghana is committed to being at the forefront of the modern diplomacy required in the changing world we live in,” she stated.