Burkina Faso calls Ghana’s Russian mercenaries allegation ‘very serious’
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (AFP):
A minister in Burkina Faso has called an allegation by Ghana’s president that it has invited Russian mercenaries “very serious”.
Burkina had earlier called in Ghana’s ambassador in protest, the foreign ministry said, while recalling its own ambassador to Accra for consultations.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo accused neighbouring Burkina of striking a deal to deploy mercenaries from Moscow’s Wagner Group, calling it “particularly distressing”.
The president added, “Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces.
“I believe a (mineral) mine in southern Burkina has been allocated to them as a form of payment for their services,” he said during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“To have them operating on our northern border is particularly distressing for us in Ghana.”
In several former French colonies in Africa, Russian influence is growing as France- an increasingly reviled former imperial power with a record of active intervention in the region- is receding in its influence.
Ghana’s ambassador Boniface Gambila Adagbila said his president “did not intend to condemn Burkina Faso, nor to sow doubt”, according to a statement.
“The intention was above all to draw the attention of partners to incite great interest in Burkina Faso,” he was quoted as saying.
Blinken had repeated strong US objections to the Wagner Group.
“Wherever we’ve seen Wagner deployed, countries find themselves weaker, poorer, more insecure and less independent. That’s the common denominator,” Blinken said after an Africa summit in Washington.
Several countries accuse Mali’s ruling junta of using the services of Wagner, which Bamako denies.
Rekindling ties with Russia has also been on the agenda in Burkina since a September coup, the second in eight months, which brought Captain Ibrahim Traore to power facing attacks from militants that have haunted the country since 2015.
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