Burkinabe authorities now at ease with Akufo-Addo’s Wagner comments

Ghana’s Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Boniface Gambila has confirmed he was summoned by Burkinabe authorities over President Nana Akufo-Addo’s recent comments on the operations of the Wagner group in Burkina Faso.

Boniface Gambilla confirmed that the summon turned out to be a good one and was worth the courtesy of diplomatically seeking clarifications on the president’s comments.

He said his Burkinabe counterparts were glad to learn the president meant well with his comments because the sub-region is currently and collectively battling a common enemy which is terrorism.

“They called me to express their displeasure but at the end of it, it was rather a pleasurable thing for them because the intent of the message as presented by President Akufo-Addo was about seeking the support of parties in the battle against terrorism.”

Mr. Gambilla added that the Burkinabe authorities perfectly understood the weight and objective of the comments president Akufo-Addo made in his capacity as the chairman of the Accra Initiative and said it may have had different interpretations without his explanations.

“The president, being the chairman of the Accra Initiative took the initiative to comment on the happenings in the sub-region to be able to tell partners that they need to move in to help Burkina Faso fight the insurgency, so my invitation was to explain the intent behind the message.”

The Accra Initiative aims to prevent a spillover of terrorism from the Sahel and to address transnational organized crime within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

It is an African-led, African-executed initiative that would depend solely on the armed forces of its member states.

President Akufo-Addo during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of a US-Africa Leaders Summit alleged that the government of Burkina Faso had given Russian mercenaries a mine as payment to help fight an insurgency in their country.

Akufo-Addo remarked during the meeting that “Russian mercenaries are on our northern border” and “Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there.”

His comments were widely condemned and resulted in Burkinabe authorities issuing a summon to Ghana’s ambassador to the country.