Kabs Kanu: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 26 January 2021:
First of all, it should be clear to all by now that Guinea has adopted a CRY-BABY attitude over Yenga. Though it is a known fact from African History and the geographical studies of the Mano River basin that Yenga belongs to Sierra Leone, Guinea appears to be adopting an aggressive policy of always using Yenga to articulate their dissatisfaction with Sierra Leone. And whenever they encroach on Yenga, we appease them by crawling under their feet in the name of diplomatic imperatives to coax them to leave.
From my observation, unless the issue of Yenga is resolved diplomatically or through other options and prerogatives, the problem will always resurface like a sore thumb. Whenever the baby cries and he is given a pacifier, he keeps quiet, but only for a while. After some time, the baby will cry again, and it will need another form of pacifier. We cannot go on like that.
Today, Guinea has renewed their aggression because President Alpha Conde is unhappy with perceived roles played by the present government during his acrimonious power struggles with opposition leader, Cellou Diallo, which culminated in a violent and controversial elections that Professor Conde was accused of rigging.
To my mind, since this will be a recurring problem depending on geopolitical issues that may arise between the two countries or the state of goodwill between the presidents of both nations, I think the best option we have now is international arbitration. The Mano River Union, ECOWAS , AU and possibly the UN need to intervene decisively and resolve for once who owns Yenga.
Despite our political differences in Sierra Leone, we need to adopt an open mind on this issue, forgetting all partisan, tribal and regional sentiments. And in this respect, I want to postulate that Sierra Leone has done a great job in the past to exercise restraint while seeking bilateral prerogatives.
Both the late President Ahmad Tejan Kabba of the SLPP and the just-retired President Ernest Bai Koroma did a marvelous job in the past to negotiate the Yenga issue from a diplomatic and family perspective. taking in mind the traditional family and cultural affinities between the two nations. Sierra Leone, through these two leaders, has bent over backwards to remind Guinea that the two countries have treasured relations that must not be fractured by dispute over a small parcel of land like Yenga. It seemed like their bilateral approach worked as Guinea found sense to withdraw completely from Yenga.
It is probably based on the facts above that President Maada Bio decided to bypass bilateral imperatives and invite a multilateral diplomatic option when Guinea forgot past commitments and invaded Yenga once again. Opinions will vary whether it was the right approach adopted by President Bio, but in all frankness, what else must he have done?
By now, Guinea should have been working with Sierra Leone to build upon previous bilateral agreements on Yenga. They should not have been seen invading the country all over again. Though I am not a fan of President Bio, I want to make bold to say here that he was not amiss in the diplomatic option he has decided upon—to go multilateral. Let ECOWAS arbitrate on this Yenga issue for once, though many more people would think that he should involve the Mano River Union too.
But even this had been done before. It was one of the agenda items during the 22nd summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Mano River Union (MRU), which took place yesterday 1 May 2013, in Liberia, attended by President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone; Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire; Alpha Condé of Guinea; and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia.
A communique signed by the leaders at the end of the summit read: “The Heads of State commended Prof. Alhaji Alpha CONDE, President of the Republic of Guinea, for his will, courage and maturity in resolving the Yenga issue…”
The last resort – THE MILITARY OPTION – is definitely inconceivable and out of the question at the moment because of the ancient fraternal and sisterly relations between Sierra Leone and Guinea. Families live on both sides of the borders, divided only by artificial boundaries and nobody can ever see blood being shed by both countries for any reason. We have to protect the lives and properties of our people in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
When that has been said, I am sure that any right-thinking Sierra Leonean would agree with me that it is high time that Sierra Leone ceased to be the punchbag of countries in the Mano River Union. Idrissa Salaam Conteh rightly put the issue in a more painfully truthful perspective when he writes: “In effect, Sierra Leone is the weakest of the Mano River Union states which both Liberia and Guinea capitalize on to bully the country. Liberia, under the leadership of Charles Taylor, took advantage of the fragility of Sierra Leone and waged an unprovoked war that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people in cold blood. Liberia was never asked to pay reparations to Sierra Leone for the massive damage it cause in the country.”
In my mind, the only way Sierra Leone can bring to an end the tendency of being bullied is to build a very strong, fully-equipped and battle-ready army with an air force and navy to boot. Let us face it, the crazy and unpredictable world we live in today makes it an imperative to add a very robust military to diplomatic options.
We know that regional organizations like the MRU. ECOWAS AU and the international umbrella organization, the UN stress peaceful coexistence among nations and peaceful resolution of conflicts , but in today’s world of dysfunctional geopolitical realities, rivalries, suspicions and hostilities, no nation can feel a sense of doing itself and its citizens a favor by continuing to have a weak army.
Very strong militaries across borders serve as a deterrent to bullying and violations of the territorial rights and integrity of other countries.
Rwanda is a smaller nation, that could be virtually swallowed up ten times by the larger Democratic Republic of the Congo but successive Congolese presidents know the strength of the Rwandan military forces, without which they could have annexed much of Rwandan territory. This is where the question of strong or weak military comes into the equation.
An excellent piece – your latest intervention on the issue of Yenga is, Mr Jalloh. In particular, I love your brilliantly succinct recap regarding Sierra Leone’s and Guinea’s interconnected geographies, histories, cultures and ethnicities. Also, I read with a heavy heart the sad and tragic end of the likes of the brilliant Boubacar Telli Diallo, who were subjected to the most inhumane treatments imaginable by their jailers in Sekou Toure’s infamous Camp Boiro and similar death camps that passed for prisons at the time. May their souls rest undisturbed in Allah’s eternal embrace. There is yet another point in the piece that I feel compelled to address as it concerns directly the issue of Guinean presence at Yenga. You state that Conde’s avoidance of military confrontations with Liberia, Mali, Senegal and, one might add, Cote d’Ivoire, which all, like Sierra Leone, share physical borders with his country, has to do with American support for Liberia and France’s visible and active presence in the other countries.
This brings me to an inescapable conclusion: Sierra Leone with no similar strong foreign backing or presence, is the weakest military link in its immediate West African neighborhood. Hence the need for the country to beef up its capability as best it can to ensure that its frontiers are kept intact, not subjected to the whim and caprice of a hawkish political leader from across the border. Of course, I agree that the border in question is an imposition: it is not of our own making, it being the handiwork of the two countries’ erstwhile European colonial overlords. However, it is there – an inescapable reality, having become since independence part and parcel of who we are: our respective sovereign identities as Guineans and Sierra Leoneans over and beyond the affinities we share.
Most certainly, peaceful and harmonious coexistence should be at the front and centre of our interactions, and dialogue the mechanism for conflict resolution between our two peoples. However, the recalcitrant neighbour who opts first and foremost for a muscular showdown whenever he feels aggrieved should be be left in no doubt that violent confrontation will not wash, and that there is a deterrent to hold it in check if and when it chooses to rear its ugly head.
Look Mr Yillah, Guinea and Sierra Leone share almost the same ethnic mix per population. When things get messy in Sierra Leone, the first port of call for our political leadership is Guinea, Conakry. Siaka Stevens in 1968, Momoh in 1992, Kabbah in 1997, Strasser, after he was pushed out by Bio and ordinary citizens of Sierra Leone, took refuge there during the RUF war. It is not a one-way traffic. More recently the three military personnel, two men and one woman, who made an attempt on the life of Moise Dadis Camara, the former military strong man of Guinea, were arrested and executed as they tried to flee to Sierra Leone. Just before Sheku Turay died in 1984, six people were scheduled for execution. Five were executed on false charges in planning to overthrow his government.
One of them, a relative of ours escaped and was sheltered in my home town of Kabala. Few weeks later, Sheku Turay died. Suffice to say he had a lucky escape. Not so for Boubacar Diallo Telle, the first Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity, was executed on the orders Sheku Turay. Conde is starting to behave like him. Going after Fulanis everywhere. Our vice president Juldeh Jalloh is in his cross airs. He won’t pick a fight with Liberia, because of American support. Nor will he pick a fight with Mali or Senegal because they have French troops in those two countries. Look Conde is desperate because he does not have any friends in the ECOWAS region. He has 45,000 people he can summon to fight on his behalf.
No doubt, the military is well-equipped than ours. But these Yenga issues have been there for years. Why now? Military solutions is not the answer. Dialogue is the only way forward. Lest we forgot, these artificial boundaries were drawn by European powers at the Berlin conference of 1885. They literally just drew lines dividing up the African Continent for their own selfish ends without taking any due consideration to the tribal make up of the newly created colonies. Just take a look at the map of Senegal and The Gambia. The British were not prepared to cede a groundnut producing region to the French. Suffice to say, there were no African Kings or Chiefs present in that conference hall. As a result of this massive dislocation of families and communities that have lived side by side peacefully, found themselves on the other side of the border.
Mr Thomas – Thank you ever so much for your indulgence. It is a delight and an honour to give to and take from the wonderful forum that is The Sierra Leone Telegraph; a forum teeming with talented polemicists, possessed of eloquence and relishing controversy on an unending flow of information relating to our beautiful homeland. Indeed let controversy rage – the more of it, the better. Rest assured that in my future comments, I will adhere strictly to the prescribed word limit.
MSSRS JALLOH, STARGAZER AND MATTURI – I just wanted to thank you all for your differing but no less enjoyable and stimulating reactions to my recent comments on the vexing question of Guinea’s recurring infringement on our national territory. Let me say from the start that I have no party political and ideological axe to grind over the issue. I am an affiliate of neither the party currently in opposition nor the one that holds the reins of power at the moment. My position is that of a party politically neutral but no less patriotic and concerned citizen, who is trying to understand and articulate why it is that Guinea seems to choose to bring war to our country and what we can do about it. One may love or loathe Bio and his administration. The fact remains that he and his party did win the last general elections. All we need to do is to wait until 2023 to decide whether to keep them in power or vote them out.
For now though we need to wish them well for love of country as they navigate the choppy waters of geopolitics in their search for a solution that will keep our country safe and secure and at peace with Guinea, which after all, is a sisterly nation that did so much for us by welcoming thousands of our brothers and sisters fleeing the ravages of war at home. My insistence on the coupling of diplomacy and military means as a way forward in dealing with the issue of Yenga has nothing to do with my love of war for war’s sake. Rather, it is borne out of the fact while Conde’s Guinea has closed it doors to several of its neighbours, it has to my knowledge intervened militarily in only one. Is it because it thinks it can do so with impunity? If so, does it follow that Senegal for instance is, unlike Sierra Leone, a militarily no go area? And were Sierra Leone perceived to be militarily a capable nation, would Guinea think twice before daring to encroach on its territory?
Both Messrs Stargazer and Matturi seem to hold our current crop of fighting men and their leadership with utter contempt. In his inimitable, irreverent and highly delicious style of putting things, Mr Stargazer pours scorn on their incompetence believing they cannot be counted on to defend our nation. Mr Matturi is no less scathing thinking they are no match for Guinean forces. I beg to differ here, however. Some rebuilding of our forces has indeed taken place from Tejan Kabba’s time in office, through Koroma’s to the present. With time and with more investment – within our means of course – this solid base can be strengthened further. I simply don’t share your pessimism that when it comes to the crunch Guinean soldiers will just blow our men to smithereens. As to the question of whether it is the rational and ethical thing to do to divert the country’s limited resources for military purposes away from such core areas as education, health, poverty alleviation and so on, all of which are critical to our national development and well-being, I would say that safety and security are equally critical, if not more. Only on a safe and secure national territorial foundation can anything lasting be built.
In our discussions, we should not sweep under the carpet the internal political dynamics of the invading country. Ethnicity and its deliberate politicisation by Conde is at the heart of his action relating to Yenga. The point being that it is not the people of Guinea that are at war the people of Sierra Leone. Rather, it is Conde’s single-minded desire to hold on to power that has led him to ignite the powder keg of ethnic antagonisms and violence, and this, without a care for their sub regional repercussions. As Mr Jalloh rightly puts it, while Conde may take delight in throwing his weight about, he may be in for a surprise as to the consequences of his recklessness. Lastly, all three of you favour diplomacy, dialogue, negotiations. I fully endorse these approaches, methods and strategies, but with a caveat. Military means should not be ruled out. In the event that the preferred approaches fail, there should be something to fall back on. In a dangerous and uncertain world such as ours, events may take us by surprise, and we need to be flexible enough to handle such eventualities.
My Yillah – please note that on this occasion we have published your comment that has breached our word limit of three paragraphs – each paragraph should contain no more than 5-7 lines. We strongly advice that you keep to this rule in future, to prevent your comment from being partly deleted.
Leave it to the African he will advocate going to war with his brother for something that can be easily ironed out via diplomatic measures, but let a foreign entity decides to come and colonize our economy, him and the rest of the community will be celebrating like it’s the second coming…. We have got to find a way to get rid of these self-loathing, anti Africans with skin bleaching wives and girlfriends out of our beloved continent. If not, I promise you that it will be the end of us as a people.
Sincerest thanks Mr Abraham Amadu Jalloh for your thought provoking response; I totally agree,if Alpha Oonde has the “GOODS” on the Criminal SLPP Cabal that clearly shows some inappropriate,questionable behavior in matters relating to security sovereignty,and stability of his country he must get the ECOWAS and AU involved as soon as possible before things get out of control.Our corrupt President claims to be an Ex military officer and yet cannot show some form of spine even in an atmosphere of mutual dialogue with our Guinean brothers and sisters.This right here needs to be a laughing chicken contest – a Red Rooster should laugh and laugh in front of millions of eligible voters crowing,saying intermittently;”People of Sierra Leone..cluck,cluck,cluck there is a Spineless cowardly dictator now in State House.” (lol)
Thank you Mr Yillah, that is exactly why Alpha Conde is looking for any excuses to throw his weight aroud. First Cellou Dalein Diallo the opposition leader. Guinea is the only country in west Africa where Fulanis claim to make up more than 40% of the population. His ultimate nightmare scenario is, His country is surrounded by countries headed by Fulanis, Senegal in Mikay Sall a Fulani, Barrow of Gambia, Mali’s transitional president Bah Ndaw, and Juldeh Jalloh of Sierra Leone. Buhari of Nigeria. Thats the reason he was the only one in the ECOWAS region that supported Yahah Jammah the former tyrant of the Gambia. So Alpha Conde must feel really isolated if he were to start a fight over an issue that communities tbat live in that area have to live side by side for generations.
No problem until Alpha Conde came to power and realised there is a political card to play after failing to deliver on his economic promises and tackling the poverty his restless population is completely running out of patient with. This Yenga border dispute has been with us since the 2000s or since independence. Bio needs to raise this with ECOWAS that has dispute mechanism processes amongst member states, failing which the AU, UN or the International court of justice. Alpha Conde feels he can throw tantrums like a baby in a pram, then every one should come to his attention. He certainly don’t have a lot of friends around him. He is like a caged lion, ready to lash out at any time. You can start a war but you don’t know how it will end. And there has never been winners, only loosers. Conde should be careful what he wishes for.
The irony of it all is that Alpha Conde, the militarist and master strategist and tactician of ethnopolitics of the worst kind, would have us believe that he is a Pan-Africanist, cast in the mould of Mandela of blessed memory and the unifier incarnate of Guineans of every ethnic shade and colour! Take a look at the very name of the party he created and leads: RPG Arc-en-ciel (roughly translated as Guinean People’s Rainbow Assembly). The inspiration behind the name is self-evident: the appellation ‘Rainbow Nation’ coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in referring to the diversity and pluralism we have come to associate with post-Apartheid South Africa.
So Alpha Conde, a Pan-Africanist, who none the less closes his doors to his African neighbours, and undertakes military forays into one of them. Guinea, a rainbow nation, where ethnopolitics in all its ugliness holds sway, with its flames reaching across national borders. Sierra Leone owes it to itself to put out those undesirable, transgressive flames. It’s instinct of self-preservation demands that it does so. Diplomatically by all means and militarily if need be.
Did I hear them say “Diplomatically by all means and militarily if need be” President Bio was a junta member and Leader during the NPRC Junta I and II era. Why did he not attack and get rid of the Guinean Military from Yenga? How could anyone believe, that someone as head of a Junta regime who cannot even put an end to a civil war in his country, will try to attack the huge and mighty Guinean Army. If President Bio attempts any confrontation with Guinean Military, the Guinean Military will prove to him how reckless and brutal they can be on the war front.
It will be catastrophic and SAD for the people of Yenga. The Guinean Military is not like those unarmed prisoners and prison officers at the Pademba Road Prisons. So be careful, all those talking about Military intervention with the Republic of Guinea. God bless and protect Yenga and may God help maintain peace between Sierra Leone and our peaceful and helpful Guinean neighbours. C’est ca mon ami.
For me,the question is this: what do you do as a country when a neighbour, at the slightest provocation – real or imagined – chooses to use his military capability to settle scores? Do you close your eyes as if nothing is amiss, turn Christian-like the other cheek, resort to virtue signalling by way of pacifist rhetoric, and allow the aggressor to do his worst in the shape of brazenly violating your sovereignty and territorial integrity? What tangible, palpable and tactile proof is there to justify Guinea’s Alpha Conde’s sudden outburst of ire and pugnacity towards our country?
If there was one, Conde, I would have thought, would display it for the entire world to see, judge and do him justice. My haunt is that there isn’t any. This brings me directly to the context and possible motives relating to the Guinean leader’s aggressive behaviour towards his neighbours. Desperate to hold onto to power to the point of egregiously undoing the very democratic principles and constitutional arrangements that brought him to power in the first place, Conde has raised his gamesmanship to the all too dangerous level of vicious and divisive ethnopolitics.
His most potent and charismatic rival being a member of the Peul community, he imagines members of that community, in Guinea as in Sierra Leone and Senegal, lurking in the shadows at every turn, all too ready to thwart his vaulting ambition of becoming a president for life. Pointing the finger at our own Vice President and and the President of Senegal on the grounds of the common ethnicity they share with his rival back home in Guinea, and then using that nation’s military might to teach our country a lesson, Conde commits a political faux pas that deserves a fitting muscular response on our part. Over the years, Sierra Leone has sadly had its own share of weaponising politically its own ethno-regional differences; differences it could, if it had any sense at all, drawn on positively to create and maintain a richer, more tolerant and more inclusive society.
A Fitting muscular response huh?(lol)Please repeat that again;An appropriate response coming from who? Our Ramshackle bootless,hopeless Military that is overcrowded with frail,unkempt,untrained soldiers with boots full of holes? You can’t be serious!Warmongers beware!This fragile nation of ours has already been through a lot – Ask no such heartbreaking sacrifices ever again from her. Goodness gracious!Have you forgotten that brutal civil war that scattered dead bodies indiscriminately everywhere like grains of corn thrown from a farmers hand?How can you imprudent,misguided people become so cold and indifferent to the continuing suffering of a nation that went the whole nine yards completely through a brutal Civil war,a broken nation is what we have now become that is still struggling to stand on her own two feet;Folks,this nation can no longer encourage,endure or tolerate the burdensome responsibilities being cast upon her again by your faulty,ill-advised judgement.
If you can’t put common sense on full display then show her some empathy – leave her children out of your war speeches,war strategies and stratagems.Our beloved Sierra Leone is now exhausted,dejected and worn out after going the whole distance against Ebola, mudslides and abject poverty;Yup,She has not faltered and her strength has not failed her.Warmongers beware – tactful diplomacy – knowing what to do and say
without damaging our relationship with Guinea is the path we must sensibly pursue.
Please stop talking about military actions in this dispute. The solution of this problem should only come in open, transparent and democratic talks in consideration of the ordinary people. I believe neither the Sierra Leonean nor the Guinean ordinary people like to die again in a war for the interest of a small elite. Again, no voice of a woman on this forum to this conflict!!
Mr Wiecha – Its been quite tiring to you hear you emphasize times without number that this glorious forum is lacking in female representation. So what do you expect or suggest that the Editor should do Sir? In all fairness, this forum has always been open to everyone that gladly chooses on their own volition to participate by making their opinions heard in all our impassioned open and fair discussions. The forum is open to all and if some women feel that they don’t want to contribute their thoughts and ideas in the interest of enhancing our country’s progress and stability, then would you be happy if we wrestled and arm-twisted them into changing their minds? (That’s called Violence against women) (lol)
Again, there are some women on this forum that contribute from time to time, consistency it seems doesn’t quite appeal to them; what do you suggest we do then? You can take a horse to the stream but can’t force it to drink. I have a hunch that you Sir, are one of those sentimental people that would do just about anything to get women into positions of authority and power even if it means trampling and bulldozing the rights of men more deserving of those offices than them.
Answer – Would you put square pegs in round holes strictly because of their gender status just to be able to say with pride that we now have a more equal society, even though it is overcrowded with players unequal to the tasks at hand? The field of play is open all day, has been level and clear all the way, for those who say YAY and NAY alike and for everyone who wish to relish and taste of abundant fruits in the Sun that come from the productive trees of freedom of speech.(lol)
The Yenga issue has risen again. This was due to a claim by the Guinean government that the Sierra Leonean VP was implicated in illegal acts in their country. This issue has not been addressed. The Guinean intelligence services are very effective, which is the raison d’etre that the bush war in the 90s did not consume them, therefore, I am inclined to believe the Guineans. Sierra Leone has a weak military, however, we have a tendency to interfere in other countries – think Ecomog base in the 90’s, which led to 10 years of a brutal war.
I have lived in Guinea and militarily, we do not stand a chance. The Guineans have an effective military force, which would crush us. Therefore, I would advice the Sierra Leonean VP to stop interfering in Guinean issues and render an apology to Professor Conde.
It has been said that Old men, make wars and young people fight them because they are always tricked, coerced, deceived and lied to. Here we go again, a nation without priorities in order, being encouraged to make another disastrous choice by encouraging Militarism instead of embarking on robust, sensible and tactful diplomacy. A new breed of young people are here that are prepared to move our little nation towards greatness in the paths of peace, stability and diligence. Advocates of War beware!(lol)
When gentility fails, brutality follows.
I think Sierra Leoneans are just naive, saying the Sierra Leonean military is weak. In reality it is not a weak military. Do you think Guineans will defeat Sierra Leone in combat – no they can not defeat Sierra Leone. The only problem is that, the Mendecrate trabalistic government has disenfranchised and divided the the military. That is the only problem.
We must also remember that war is money. Bio and his mafia cartel have now depleted the central bank and destroyed the country’s economy. So how can Sierra Leone as a country, defend and invariably go in an offensive against the Guineans with no money? It is a pity that Sierra Leone as a country voted for a criminal cartel like Bio and his henchmen.
Sierra Leone have more hard-core battle tested men than Guinea. I will agree that the Guineans have many out-dated former Soviet noisy defence systems within their capabilities, but with what I am aware of, hard-core battle tested Sierra Leoneans can overwhelm and overrun those systems within 24 hours.
Great article, Mr Kabs Kanu. Militarism and a readiness to deploy it either as a complement of or indeed an alternative to bilateralism and/or multilateralism in resolving recurring border disputes, is of the essence in this case. To cower in the face of a bully in any given instance, is to lay oneself open to more bullying. The bullying will stop only if the culprit is made to see that he is equally matched, not to say outmatched, in his belligerence. Sierra Leone must cease to be seen as the militarily weak and supine member state of the Mano River sub-region.
Of course flexing one’s military muscle must never be the basis of managing foreign relationships, particularly so when such relationships relate to countries that are to borrow the words of the current British Prime Minister, culturally, historically, geographically, geologically and indeed economically joined at the hip. Our experience of the bitterness of war in the 1990s, right through to the early 2000s is perhaps the reason behind Bio and his administration’s cautious approach to the issue of Yenga. Perhaps because Guinea is yet to experience such bitterness, its bellicosity is a mark of its delusional view of its own prowess and invincibility.
What our leaders need to demonstrate is that despite the lasting damaging effects of the civil war that destroyed our country, Sierra Leone is not without a backbone. Standing up to Guinea militarily will ultimately force it to make an about-turn, realising that diplomacy is the one and only option for ensuring lasting peaceable neighbourly relations.
When leaders of countries becomes unpopular at home, due to their misguided economic and human rights violation, what better way to divert public attention from their ineptitude and lack of good leadership, than to pick a fight with your neighbours. Summoning nationalistic feelings will go a long way to appease those asking for change in leadership in your country. Today Guinea, under the dictatorship of Alpha Conde is playing exactly that wild card. Suffice to say he will not win. There are Fulanis, Susus, Sanda Temne, Mandingoes, Malenke, Mende, and Kissy populations in each of this country’s. So why start a war? But on this one, I support President Bio to take the fight to him and stand up to his bullying tactics.
Back in 2012 this issue with Yenga was settled by a mutual agreement, after Guinea took advantage of the RUF wars and occupy that part of Sierra Leone. The then Guinean’s Foreign Minister Edouard Nyankoi Lamah, agreed the two sides to resolve the dispute through dialogue. I think it is about time we involve the former colonial powers, the United Kingdom and France, to help us sort out this ongoing problem. Take it to the international court of justice to sort it out. Why is it only Sierra Leone that has never laid claim on our neighbour’s territory? Samuel K Doe and later Charles Taylor brought wars to our country and in part because of the Gola forest. Which to many Liberians is seen as Greater Liberia. We reached a settlement in February 2020, in which we established a joint patrol on either side of the border called the Gola Transboundary Peace Park. So we can see where their is will, there is a solution. Unless of course you are Alpha Conde spoiling for a fight.
Sierra Leone we have a problem – And I am not talking about a shortage of our local currency no longer in circulation, the abject poverty that has gripped all our desperate people or the rampant thefts and baneful calculated witch hunts by the Criminal SLPP Cabal against a peace loving opposition. This is on another level, a problem so massive it has the potential of destabilizing both nations and triggering a needless all-out war. Folks, there are always two sides to a story. What exactly have these arrogant, short-sighted, disagreeable people done to the President of Guinea behind the scenes. A rooster does not crow to remind the world, it wears a crown on its head, but to remind those fast asleep that daylight is approaching.
The criminal SLPP Cabal needs to come clean on this one and tell us exactly what is going on. Seriously, we all know Alpha Conde is unbalanced and we are also aware that the SLPP boys in green are an implacable bunch of knuckleheads that care very little about the rights of other people. So what exactly led to this? Count me out, I am not taking sides until I get to the bottom of this so that we fix things once and for all and never allow them to repeat ever again. See gentlemen, this is exactly the point I have been reiterating all along, our past leaders have been approaching such a critical land dispute with only a cosmetic approach attaining only superficial flimsy solutions that have always proved unsustainable in the end.
Mr Kanu wants a stronger military that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars instead of advocating for modern mental facilities and affordable public housing for the poorest of the poor among us.(lol) I beg to differ Sir, these are new times – military might alone cannot solve our problems against our neighbours who are our friends, brothers and sisters – an open dialogue approach that emphasizes honesty, listening, mutual respect and understanding is what Sierra Leone and Guinea should now put their efforts vigorously into if peace must prevail.
Mr Stargazer, there is a problem in the North. I get information from family members, that since Alpha Conde won the last three years presidential election, he is suspicious of our vice president Juldeh Jalloh of interference in their election. This is a hot topic around the border with Guinea in the Northern part of Sierra Leone. Indeed, I was reliably informed recently some twenty unfortunate Sierra Leoneans went over the border on a business trip and was tied up and beaten up by vigilante Guinean nationals thinking they have crossed the border, to destabilise the Guinean government. Don’t forget the opposition leader from the UFDG party, lost the recently rigged presidential elections. Alpha Conde resuscitated this problem because he is upset with our vice president.
Former president Enerst B Koroma managed to negotiate this Yenga issue, claiming that it has always been there with the then Guinean government back in 2012. This is seen as a way for Alpha Conde the dictator, to vent his anger for election interference. We all recalled when Thomas Quiwonkpa attempted to overthrow the Doe government in 1985 using Sierra leone as his staging post. There were even rumours back then that it was with the blessing of President Momoh’s government because he and Doe did not get on. So the suspicions that the Sierra Leonean government is always out to cause mischief with neighbouring regimes they do not particularly like, is not far-fetched. This is a serious issue which should not be ignored. If we are not careful, we will a sleep-walk into a conflict with Guinea. There are no winners in a war. So we need cool and mature heads. If Alpha Conde has evidence that Sierra leone is harbouring rebels or interfered with their election, he should show it to ECOWAS or take it to the African Union.