The Burkinabe president announced Thursday that Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo travelled to neighboring Burkina Faso for the first time on Wednesday following a controversy brought on by comments he made regarding Russian mercenaries.
The visit was closed to the press, but according to the presidency, Akufo-Addo met with military leader Captain Ibrahim Traore to discuss “major issues in the region regarding the security challenge.”
“I believe a (mineral) mine in southern Burkina has been allocated to them as a form of payment,” Akufo-Addo had said, adding the mercenaries “are at the border” with Ghana.
The Burkinabe government denounced the comments, withdrew its envoy from Accra, and summoned Ghana’s ambassador to Ouagadougou for a reprimand.
Frustrations in the army about their inability to put an end to a brutal insurgency led to the coup that brought Traore to power in September.
Although Burkina Faso has frequently denied turning to Wagner, it has forced French forces out of the nation as well.
Relations with Moscow are improving, though, and on May 4 Traore declared that Russia was now “a strategic ally.”
“We will continue to acquire major means with the country (and) will cooperate with those who wish to help us in this war” against insurgents, he said.
According to NGOs, Burkina Faso has been fighting an insurgency that has resulted in more than 10,000 deaths, both civilian and military, and two million displaced individuals.