By John Baimba Sesay
Diplomacy, a viable tool
Border disputes in Africa aren’t a new phenomenon. They do come with their economic and political impacts. Nigeria and Cameroon had their own experience over the Bakasi peninsula. Ethiopia and Eritrea did have theirs, too.
Yenga border dispute, between Sierra Leone and Guinea gives a clear reflection of the unending terrible effects of former’s civil war. May we never get to that chapter again. It is sad to learn that even the border between the two sister nations remains closed from the Guinean side. This should not continue within the spirit of peace and subregional cohesion.
Sierra Leone and Guinea remain sister nations, something we should continue to promote. The cross boarder economic activities are a pointer to how both nations remain crucial to each other.
Seeking international arbitration to border disputes can be helpful, but there always is a positive way forward to challenging matters and I therefore would recommend thus:
The most workable option is diplomacy. Let’s AGAIN get to the diplomatic table for discussions.
We cannot afford drawing diggers. It makes no sense. We should pursue engagement at the bilateral level first. When that fails to produce result, we escalate the talks at the multilateral level (within the sub regional framework) involving MRU (bringing in Liberia and Ivory Coast).
At some point, we can get ECOWAS and later AU from a broader perspective.
Diplomacy can work especially when matters are brought up at a subregion level. I have seen how subregional cooperations helped in fostering a common goal. A time there was when MRU nations came together to promote the idea of an economic free zone. Funding was being sought from the Chinese within the Forum On China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Heads of States of the respective nations were literally meeting in one room (through their envoys) for such discussions.
Guinea should not continue to use Yenga as a tool to always get a pound of flesh. Be it a small piece of land or just a well of water, Yenga is ours and nothing should change that fact. Our territorial integrity should jealously and firmly be protected, be us rich or poor nation. Guinea should work on demilitarization of the disputed border town in furtherance to an amicable diplomatic way forward .
This is not about our military size, it is about what legitimately belongs to us.
May common sense prevail .
