Koroma Accused of Neglecting Yenga – ‘I’m Surprised He Didn’t Mention the Issue’- Hon. Tamba Sam

Concord Times (Freetown)

Regina Pratt

13 May 2011

Freetown — SLPP member of parliament for Constituency 04, Kailahun district has voiced his disappointed at what he referred to as President Ernest Bai Koroma’s failure to bring up the Yenga issue for discussion during his recent meeting with Guinean leader Alpha Conde in the district of Forecariah for the commissioning of a bridge to be used by both Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Speaking to Concord Times in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, Hon. Musa Tamba Sam said “President Koroma had all the opportunity to discuss this burning issue with his Guinean counterpart, which could have been very timely, but he failed to do so”.

“I was surprised in the sense that President Koroma was at the inauguration of President Conde and also recently the two leaders met at Forecariah but could not raise this very important issue, despite the unique opportunity he had to do so,” said Hon. Sam.

He said discussions between Sierra Leone and Guinea with regard the disputed territory should be ongoing at the diplomatic level, as the issue was a serious concern to his constituency, of which Yenga is a part of.

He alleged that when the APC assumed the reins of power in 2007, the minister of Defence Alfred Palo Conteh did say that Sierra Leone was not going to discuss the Yenga issue with the then military junta of Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara and that it would be wise to wait after elections and engage the democratically elected civilian government that will be ushered on the issue.

“Now we have a civilian president in Guinea in Alpha Conde but our president does not consider Yenga a serious issue and therefore did not mention it in their discussions,” the MP from Kailahun district said, adding that he has serious doubts as to whether the APC government was committed in resolving the Yenga impasse.

“I’m very interested to see the genuine commitment of the government to resolving the Yenga stalemate once and for all because my people are suffering,” Hon. Sam noted. According to him, former president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah did make a significant move through Liberia’s president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to settle the dispute by signing a communiqué with Guinea, which he said the current government should have followed-up on to expedite the process.

He quoted President Koroma as saying that the multilateral approach used by ex-president Kabbah was wrong and that they (APC government) have opted for a bilateral approach.

“All gains made by former President Kabbah have been ignored by President Koroma’s government on the issue,” he claimed. “Since then we’ve heard nothing from the government on the bilateral approach they are intending to take.”

However, efforts to get the reaction of the minister of Information and Communications, Alhaji I.B. Kargbo – who doubles as government spokesman – proved unsuccessful as his phone kept ringing but failed to pick up.

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