Ghana, Burkina Faso re-affirm cooperation to fight terrorism against backdrop of diplomatic crisis

Ghana Thursday announced commitment to deepen cooperation with Burkina Faso in the fight against terrorism in the sub-region after a brief diplomatic crisis between the two.

The move came following a one-day visit to Burkina Faso of Ghana’s home security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah, during which he conveyed a message from President Akufo-Addo to the Burkinabe leader, President Ibrahim Traore.

Mr Kan-Dapaah led a high-level delegation from Ghana which also included Security chiefs and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.

“We discussed the concrete support that Ghana has advocated for Burkina Faso under the Accra Initiative and the Economic Community of West African States, calling on West African states to act quickly on the issue,” Kan-Dapaah told media during his visit.
Flanked by the Burkinabe Foreign Minister Madame Olivia Rouamba, He said “the two countries reviewed the strong cooperation between them and clarified to their mutual satisfaction recent reported discussions between Ghana and the United States with regard to the needed partnerships for sustainable peace in the region”.

The two countries also stressed the importance of building the resilience of vulnerable communities and assisting displaced people and those who have lost their livelihoods.

They both reaffirmed their support for a joint fight against terrorism and welcomed the operationalization of the Accra Initiative to defeat the terrorists who have caused untold suffering to the people of Burkina Faso, Kan-Dapaah added.

The visit came after Ouagadougou slammed Ghana’s leader Nana Akufo-Addo who claimed during last week U.S.–Africa summit that Burkina Faso has hired the services of Russian private security company Wagner believed close to Moscow and gave it a permit to exploit a gold mine in form of payment.

Burkina Faso authorities rubbished the comments and summoned Ghana’s ambassador to Ouagadougou for explanation.