AYV News, December 20, 2024
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Timothy Musa Kabba, has disclosed that the Government of Sierra Leone is engaging a special envoy from the Republic of Guinea on recent happenings between the two countries.
Minister Kabba said that the issue between Guinea and Sierra Leone is a clear indication that the former is persistently not acting consistent with the norms of international relations.
He explained that the aggression of Guinea against Sierra Leone did not start with the recent incident, citing the issue of Yenga since the days of the late President Ahmed Tejan Kabba.
He furthered that he recently met with his Guinean counterpart on Yenga during which he told him in no uncertain terms that Guinea’s occupation of Yenga amounted to an aggression against Sierra Leone.
“No matter how small our economy and country may be, Sierra Leone is a sovereign state and is a powerful nation at many levels,” Minister Kabba underscored.
He assured that Sierra Leone is using all the available diplomatic means to settle whatever impasse exists between the two countries.
“On the 10th of December 2024, I received a distress call from Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea informing me that two trucks loaded with Sierra Leonean citizens had gone to the border in what was a forceful repatriation,” the Foreign Minister told journalists.
He said that the security forces from Sierra Leone refused to allow them entry without proper identification and diplomatic protocols that any country should follow in repatriating aliens to their home country.
He added: “The Guinean government, according to facts, raided a particular area called a slum, infested with crimes and drugs trade, and bundled people identified as Sierra Leoneans to our border.”
He described this act as undiplomatic, unfriendly and barbaric, pointing out that after this action Sierra Leone’s foreign ministry later received a “Note verbale” from Guinea explaining the reasons.
According to Minister Kabba, details emerged that the Guinean government was engaged in a nationwide mopping-up operation targeting areas where suspected crime makers are dwelling. Many foreigners were found in these locations, Sierra Leoneans among them.
The document went further to state that other nationalities were imprisoned, but because of the relationship between Sierra Leone and Guinea, the Guineans decided to forcefully repatriate those believed to be Sierra Leoneans without following due diplomatic procedures.
Minister Kabba said that following these incidences, an emergency meeting was held in Guinea with the Guinean Foreign Ministry led by the Sierra Leone Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea, where an apology was tendered by the Guinean Government for their action.
He emphasized that the government of Sierra Leone has the solemn responsibility to protect the territorial integrity of the nation and the rights of its citizens regardless of their location.
He clarified that His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio did not, and has not, given any orders to anybody to arrest any set of people, adding that Sierra Leone will explore all existing diplomatic ways to handle such issues, apologizing on behalf of the government to any tribe or set of people who felt profiled.
So far, he went on, the Guinean government is responding positively to the situation. “They have acknowledged that their action was wrong and have tendered an unreserved apology to Sierra Leone through the Ambassador.
