Ghana’s candidate for the election to serve as a Commissioner on the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) at the United Nations, Lawrence Asangongo Apaalse, has secured a landslide victory after beating competitors.
Mr. Apaalse polled 131 votes out of the total of 167 people who voted at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.
Mr. Apaalse, a former Chief Director of the Ministry of Energy was among 26 candidates from different who were vying for 21 positions at the United Nations.
Commenting on the victory, Mr. Apaalse expressed gratitude to all those who supported him.
“It is not about me; it is about the love people have for our Great Ghana,” he said.
The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) is one of the three institutions created under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The Commission plays two significant roles in the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles of a Coastal State.
First, the CLCS is tasked to evaluate the claim of a Coastal State for an area of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.
Second, the CLCS may, upon request, also provide scientific and technical advice to the Coastal State in the preparation of its submission of the claim.
Mr Apaalse, a former Chief Director at Ghana’s Ministry of Energy, played a key role in securing victory for Ghana against Ivory Coast in 2017 during the three-year Ghana-Ivory Coast maritime dispute.
Delivering a speech at a short ceremony organised by Ghana’s Embassy in the New York City, USA, ahead of the election, Mr. Apaalse said he had learnt a lot of lessons since 2006 when he started following the State parties’ meetings and would bring his experiences to bear if he was elected.
Touching on his vision, Mr. Apaalse said one of the things he would do is to help accelerate the pace of evaluation of submissions to the Commission.
He noted that most of the submissions had remained on the shelves for several years, noting that it was about time these submissions were evaluated.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
