Major General Emmanuel Kotia
The National Coordinator of the Ghana Boundary Commission (GhBC), Major General Emmanuel Kotia, has emphasized the importance of working with relevant security agencies to secure the common boundaries of the country.
He said, “one of the key characteristics of a state is a define territory, we can only have a define territory when we have a define boundary, that is how important the GhBC is because there is responsibility on defining our boundaries both land and maritime.”
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra, Major General Kotia said the GhBC will lead in negotiations with neighbouring countries concerning land and maritime boundary dispute.
He said the Commission will undertake physical demarcations, delimit and manage Ghana’s boundaries including settling boundary disputes through the implementation of national legislation, regional and international conventions on boundary management and cross boundary cooperation in Africa.
“So far as land boundaries are concern, there is no dispute, so what GhBC is doing is reaffirmation,” he said.
He said the Commission is in talks with its Burkina Faso counterparts to conduct an exercise to clear an encroached buffer zone between the two countries.
“If we lose these boundaries and that pillar that means we are going to lose the demarcations around these lines,” he cited.
BY Nafisatu Abdul Razak