Burkina Faso has denied it had paid Russian mercenaries by giving them the rights to a mine as reward for helping them to fight terrorists.
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo sparked a diplomatic row when he stated last week that Burkina Faso had hired mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group to help it fight Islamist militants.
“I believe a mine in southern Burkina has been allocated to them as a form of payment for their services,” Akufo-Addo said, speaking to reporters alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
But Burkina Faso’s mines minister on Tuesday denied the allegation by the president of Ghana.
“We have not granted any permit to a Russian company in southern Burkina,” said mines minister Simon Pierre Boussim, speaking to reporters after a meeting with civil society groups that were concerned about the allegations.
“We made a list of all the exploitation or research permits for large industrial mines in the south, so they can see clearly that there is no hidden site,” he added.
Mali hired Wagner last year to help it fight insurgents but the anticipation of the group expanding its presence in Africa has troubled the West.
Burkina Faso’s government however did not confirm or deny the allegation that it has made an agreement with Wagner.
Last week though it summoned the Ghanaian ambassador for a meeting on Friday to explain the president’s remarks and recalled its ambassador to Ghana.
Ghana on high alert over reported movement of suspected terrorists
Source: Africafeeds.com
