A-G Speaks On Ghana/Argentina Naval Ship Case

The Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong has sought to allay the fears of Ghanaians regarding the dispute between Ghana and Argentina over a naval ship belonging to the latter, which was seized by the country. The seizure of the naval ship last year nearly ended up in feud between the two countries but the Attorney General has indicated that the nation is once again on good terms with the Argentine nation. According to her, “the relationship has been repaired. Our bonds of cooperation are going to be increased. Basically, Argentina and Republic of Ghana are on good terms again.” He noted that if her Ministry together with the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the office of the President had not taken any initiative to settle the dispute amicably, Ghana "would have gone through the full process at the permanent court of arbitration in the Hague. And our assessment was that we, most likely, very very likely, would have been ordered to pay some financial settlement to Argentina at the end of the case and that is why we did this to resolve it without going through the full trial.” To her, there is no cause for alarm since the country has rebuilt its strong ties with Argentina. The Attorney General Department led Ghana's team of officials to settle the dispute peacefully. The settlement agreement, as published in the Monday edition of the Herald newspaper, was "concluded last Friday, September 27, 2013 at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, the Netherlands, bringing to a successful end a yearlong dispute between the two countries." "Officials from Argentina have thus agreed to discontinue the arbitration it initiated and dropped all financial claims being made against Ghana."

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana