Yenga
{{other uses|Yenga (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Yenga
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|settlement_type = Village
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|pushpin_map = Sierra Leone
|pushpin_label_position =bottom
|pushpin_map_caption =Location in Sierra Leone
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = 25px Sierra Leone
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_name1 = Eastern Province
|subdivision_type2 = District
|subdivision_name2 = Kailahun
|subdivision_type3 = Chiefdom
|subdivision_name3 = Kissi Teng
|leader_title = Village Chief
|leader_name = Tamba Nyuma
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|population_as_of =2012 estimate
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|population_total = 100
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Yenga{{GEOnet2|32FA8831C31D3774E0440003BA962ED3|Yenga (Approved)}}, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is a village in Kissi Teng Chiefdom, Kailahun District in the Eastern province of Sierra Leone. The village is at the international border between Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Yenga is located on a hill above the south side of the confluence of the Mafissia River and the Makona River (Moa River), where that river forms the border between the two countries.{{Cite book|title=Guinea — Sierra Leone Boundary|series=International Boundary Study, No. 136|date=2 July 1973|author=The Geographer, Office of the Geographer, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, United States Department of State|url=http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/limitsinseas/IBS136.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030923222058/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/limitsinseas/IBS136.pdf|archivedate=23 September 2003|url-status=live}} The area is inhabited by the Kissi people.{{Cite web|author=Gberie, Lansana|date=3 September 2009|title=The Guinea–Sierra Leone border dispute: Time for ECOWAS to intervene|publisher=Pambazuka News|url=http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/58462}} In July 2012 Sierra Leone and Guinea declared the demilitarization of the Yenga area.{{Cite news|date=28 July 2012|title=Sierra Leone: Guinea, Sierra Leone Demilitarize Yenga|newspaper=All Africa|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201207290274.html}}{{Cite news|title=Guinea-Sierra Leone 'deal' to end Yenga dispute|date=2 August 2012|newspaper=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19094001}} The large majority of the inhabitants of Yenga are members of the Kissi ethnic group.
History
Prior to the late 1990s Yenga was a small fishing village. However, after occupation by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), alluvial diamonds were discovered in the Makona River.Yenga, is a village within Sierra Leone believed to have huge deposits of diamonds {{cite news|date=30 March 2006|title=Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone sign Makona River Union communiqué|newspaper=The Analyst|location=Monrovia, Liberia|url=http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=11333}} Mining and agriculture{{cite journal|author=Bawoh, Cheik|title=The Yenga Conflict Hinders Border Economic Prospects / Le Conflit de Yenga Gêne des Perspectives Économiques aux Frontières|date=1 January 2008|journal=Borderlands|publisher=World Bank|volume=1|number=1|pages=1–2; 18–20|url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSIERRALEONE/147270-1154363198657/21860037/BorderlinesEdition1.pdf}} have replaced fishing as the major economic activity.
In 2001, during Sierra Leone’s civil war, the Republic of Guinea sent troops into Yenga to help the army of Sierra Leone suppress the rebel RUF. After the rebels were quashed, the Guinean soldiers remained in Yenga. Prior to the civil war Yenga was administered by the Kailahun District of Sierra Leone.{{Cite web|author=Konneh, Mohamed|date=5 June 2012|title=Guinea returns disputed Yenga to Sierra Leone July|publisher=West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR)|url=http://wadr.org/en/site/news_en/3751/Guinea-returns-disputed-Yenga-to-Sierra-Leone-July.htm}} In 2002 Sierra Leone and Guinea signed an agreement than Yenga would be returned to Sierra Leone, as soon as Guinea's border could be secured. In 2005 Sierra Leone and Guinea signed an agreement that Yenga belonged to Sierra Leone.In 2005, tensions were quelled with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries: Yenga belonged to Sierra Leone and the Makona belonged to Guinea. {{cite news|author=Bangura, Abdul Karim|date=29 December 2011|title=The occupation of Yenga by Guinean Troops|newspaper=Expotimes|location=Freetown, Sierra Leone|url=http://www.expotimesonline.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=921}} The dispute was officially "resolved" in 2019 when President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah announced that "Conakry has now affirmed that Yenga is a part of Sierra Leone".{{Cite web|last=Fofana|first=Umaru|date=2019-05-09|title=Sierra Leone, Guinea "resolve" dispute over border town of Yenga|url=https://www.politicosl.com/articles/sierra-leone-guinea-resolve-dispute-over-border-town-yenga|access-date=2021-09-25}} However, in early 2021, President Julius Maada Bio reported to the 58th Ecowas summit that "The issue remains unresolved and our Guinean counterparts have continued to encroach on Sierra Leone's land and sea borders".{{Cite web|last=Milne|first=Nicky|date=2021-01-24|title=Sierra Leone Says Guinea Encroaching On Its Territory|url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201207290274.html|access-date=2021-09-25}}