By Umaru Fofana and Alpha Abu
There are frenetic diplomatic efforts underway to resolve the deteriorating relations between Guinea and Sierra Leone.
The Secretary General of the Mano River Union, Ambassador Madina Wesseh has told Politico that she plans to lead a delegation of her organisation to the disputed border town of Yenga in Kailahun District.
Calling for the calming down of nerves, she said they planned to make a first-hand assessment of the situation amid efforts she said the MRU was making behind the scenes to resolve the dispute.
It comes amid rising tension between Guinea and Sierra Leone with troops from the former said to have entered Yenga late last week into the weekend to re-erect a border demarcation pillar that had been put up by the Guineans but brought down apparently during a road construction work in the area.
The Mano River Union was founded by Sierra Leone and Liberia in 1971, and in 1980 Guinea joined in. The organisation has as its cornerstone mission to “accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural advancement”, which begs the question as to why Guinea would, since October, close its border even to trade, crippling business between the two countries.
The Guinean authorities did so in the lead up to the October 2020 presidential election on unsubstantiated allegations that Sierra Leone’s Vice President Dr Juldeh Jalloh was supporting the main opposition leader, Cellou Dallein Diallo.
Traders complain that hundreds of vehicles and even people are stranded on both sides of the border without being able to make it across. Perishable goods have long rotted, leading to soaring prices of some essential commodities in Sierra Leone. Some are only able to pass through unofficial routes on motorbikes.
Minister of Information, Mohamed Rahman Swaray says “a high-powered Sierra Leone Government delegation” was leaving for for Conakry this week. Speaking to Politico, he said his government was “concerned about the incursions and foraging into Sierra Leonean territory, undisputed territory of Yenga by Guinean troops. We are equally concerned about the very prolonged closure of the Guinean border which is helping to engender more suffering on both the people of Sierra Leone and Guinean citizens”.
Swaray said the closure was “not in sync with the ECOWAS protocol of free movement of goods and services”.
The local Member of Parliament in the area, Sahr Juana told Politico that he and the country’s ambassador to Liberia, Eddie Massallay visited Yenga yesterday. He said the Guineans had re-erected the pillar but that the area was quiet with no foreign troop presence in the area.
A Government press release says Sierra Leone is committed to resolving the situation amicably and permanently, assuring citizens that it is fully committed in its responsibility to protect them and their livelihoods and maintain the territorial integrity of Sierra Leone.
Every week, tens of thousands of people used to make it across the official border crossing point through the northern Kambia district. Much of the foodstuff and even other items here come through Guinea.
The diplomatic efforts come days after President Julius Maada Bio called on leaders of the regional bloc ECOWAS to address the issue of Yenga and the border closure by Guinea.
The ownership of Yenga has been in dispute since the civil war ended in 2002. Guinean troops had entered the small sleepy town in the mid to late 1990s at the behest of the Sierra Leone authorities, to help end the RUF rebel war and consequently protect their own country against any instability. They stationed armoured vehicles and tanks there. But at the tail end of the war around 2001, the then Guinean president, Lansana Conte said the area was in fact part of Guinean territory.
Following negotiations, it was demilitarized by the current president, but the claim has remained.
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