Ghana president statement sparks diplomatic row with Burkina Faso
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Burkina Faso summons Ghana's ambassador to voice its rejection of Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo's allegations about Ouagadougou's cooperation with Wagner.
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Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo
Burkina Faso summoned on Friday morning Ghana's ambassador to the country, asking for "explanations" after Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo alleged that Ouagadougou hired the Russian Wagner Group.
"Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there," Akufo-Addo said earlier, saying this was a distressing development for Ghana. His words came during a press conference alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In the aftermath, the Burkinabe foreign ministry said it had "expressed disapproval" about the statements made by the Ghanaian president.
"Ghana could have undertaken exchanges with the Burkinabe authorities on the security issue in order to have the right information," Ouagadougou added.
According to Accra, Ouagadougou offered Wagner Group a mine as a means of payment for its services in the African nation.
"I believe that a mine in the south of Burkina was allocated to them as a form of payment for their services," the Ghanian President said, claiming that "the Russian mercenaries are on the northern border" of Ghana.
"In any case, Burkina has not called on Wagner," a foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters, not confirming nor denying the allegations coming from Ghana.
Wagner made a response in light of the allegations, though it did not address the concerns Accra voiced. However, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin accused Western governments and United Nations forces of carrying out some of the offenses Wagner has been accused of in Africa.
The words of his president "were not intended to condemn Burkina Faso, nor to sow doubt in people's minds", Ghana's ambassador assured.
"The intention was above all to attract the attention of partners in order to arouse great interest in Burkina Faso", added the ambassador.
The question of a possible rapprochement with Russia has also arisen in Burkina Faso since the latest coup that took place there in late September, which marked the second in eight months and brought Captain Ibrahim Traoré to power.
The impoverished Sahel nation plunged into renewed turmoil in September when Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba - who had himself seized power in January - was toppled by newly emerged rival Traore.
Damiba only assumed power in January after outsing former President Rock Kabore via a coup of his own in light of growing frustration over the state of the country's security.
Days after the coup, demonstrators took to the streets in the country's capital waving their Russian flags, calling for France's expulsion from the country, and chanting in support of Russia.
