By Lemuella Tarawallie
Honourable Fallah Tengbeh, a Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) Member of Parliament representing Kailahun District, has raised concerns about the worsening economic hardships faced by his constituents, particularly in Yenga, a border village long plagued by territorial dispute between the Republic of Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Hon. Tengbeh disclosed that despite a recent fact-finding mission by an ECOWAS delegation, the people of Yenga remained trapped in hardships due to an economic embargo and restrictions on farming activities imposed on them by the occupying the Guinean military forces.
“My people cannot access their farmlands because of the continued encroachment by Guinean military forces into Sierra Leonean territory,” he said, noting that livelihoods had been shattered as residents remained displaced”.
He stated that Yenga, perched strategically on a hill at the Sierra Leone–Guinea border, had been the subject of multiple treaties affirming Sierra Leone’s sovereignty, including Agreements in 2002 and 2005, as well as assurances given in 2019. “However, Guinean troops still occupy the area, defying these accords,” he bemoaned.
Hon. Tengbeh, who was briefing journalists of the Parliamentary Press Gallery on Monday at Parliament Building in Freetown, reminded the media that even President Julius Maada Bio had flagged the issue in 2021, which led to renewed diplomatic efforts.
He said, “In May 2025, a high-level government delegation visited Koindu Town in the Kissi Teng Chiefdom to engage with local authorities and affected communities”. He made reference to the latest intervention by a fact-finding mission by ECOWAS from its Abuja headquarters, which included Sierra Leone’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Morie Lengor, alongside representatives from the Mano River Union (MRU), the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), the Sierra Leone Police, the Office of National Security (ONS), the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other government institutions.
Though the Kailahun MP welcomed ECOWAS’s involvement, he stressed that words must now be matched with urgent action. “I am calling on the Government of Sierra Leone to act swiftly through diplomatic channels. ECOWAS’s involvement is a crucial step, but my people cannot continue to suffer while this dispute drags on,” Hon. Tengbeh concluded.