The Minority leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, has described President Akufo-Addo’s comments regarding the security situation in Burkin Faso as “reckless” among other things.
According to him, Ghana risks being plunged into a state of instability amid the economic crisis the nation’s people are trying to muddle through.
While speaking to US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, during the Africa-US Summit in Washington DC, President Akufo-Addo expressed worry over the presence of some Russian mercenaries on Ghana’s border with Cote d’Ivoire.
Nana Akufo-Addo was suspicious that Burkina Faso’s mines in the southern region have been given to the group as a form of payment to help the country fight terrorists.
“Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border,” Ghana’s president complained to the US Secretary of State.
“Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there. I believe the mines in southern Burkina have been allocated to them as a form of payment for their services. Prime Minister of Burkina Faso in the last 10 days has been in Moscow.”
This comment led to the summoning of Ghana’s Ambassador to Ougadougou, Boniface Gambilla before the country’s state officials for clarification on the issue.
But speaking about the happening, the NDC MP for Tamale South said the President “failed momentarily to help impulse control and to ensure a balance between foreign policy and the security of your state when he openly condemned Burkina Faso and mentioned the Wagner group of Russia”.
He added: “Our Ranking Member on Foreign Affairs and our members on the Foreign affairs committee will ask for detail briefing to parliament on this reckless, irresponsible unprofessional statement by the president of our republic.”
The mercenaries known Wagner group are run by Yevgeny Prigozhin who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
