Kangama | |
|---|---|
town | |
  Kangama Location in Sierra Leone | |
| Coordinates: 08°20′21″N10°22′52″W / 8.33917°N 10.38111°W Coordinates: 08°20′21″N10°22′52″W / 8.33917°N 10.38111°W | |
| Country |  Sierra Leone |
| Province | Eastern Province |
| District | Kailahun District |
| Chiefdom | Kissi Teng |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (GMT) |
| UFI | -1316897 |
Kangama [1] is a town in Kailahun District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. It is the headquarters of the Kissi Teng Chiefdom. [2]
During the Sierra Leone Civil War Revolutionary United Front (RUF) forces with support of the Liberian NPFL captured Kangama on 6 April 1991, after a failed Sierra Leone Army (SLA) attempt to secure the Kailahun District. They immediately displaced the local chieftain, looting and burning his house. The RUF conscript the local youth into the army, both boys and girls, and a number of wealthy citizens were executed. From Kangama the RUF/NPFL forces launched an attack on Buedu, leaving Kangama in their rear. [3] By January 1992 the RUF had completely pacified the district and the local conscripts had returned from training to help maintain order. [4] However, in February 1992, SLA forces briefly took Kangama, causing much destruction, but the RUF quickly responded and retook the town. [5]
In Spring 1993 the SLA began a new offensive and captured Kangama in June of that year. [6] Many individuals, whether they'd actively collaborated with the RUF forces or not, fled to Liberia and Guinea. [6] When SLA troops left Kangama in late 1993, the RUF and others returned. The RUF began a guerrilla war in the district, and Kangama quickly returned to RUF control. [7] The SLA again briefly took Kangama toward the end of 1994, but it was back in RUF control by December. [8] where it remained until May 1998. Kangama did not take part in the February 1995 elections. [9] In March 1996 the RUF opened the school at Kangama, paying the teachers in foodstuffs. [10] In March 1998, the head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council that had briefly ruled Sierra Leone escaped to Kangama when Freetown fell. [11]
In May 1998, ECOMOG forces took Kangama, but the RUF continued guerrilla warfare in the area, [11] and Kangama was soon back in RUF hands. When the Lome Peace Accord was signed in 1999 the RUF in the Kangama area did not disarm. Some retreated into Liberia, others into the bush. It was not until December 2001 and January 2002 that the RUF in Kangama finally surrendered their arms. [12]
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The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surviving leaders, Issa Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao, were convicted in February 2009 of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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The First Liberian Civil War was an internal conflict in Liberia from 1989 until 1997. The conflict killed around 200,000 people and eventually led to the involvement of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and of the United Nations. The peace did not last long, and in 1999 the Second Liberian Civil War broke out.
Julius Maada Wonie Bio is a Sierra Leonean politician, and the current president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier general in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military head of state of Sierra Leone from 16 January 1996, to 29 March 1996, in a military junta government known as the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). As the candidate of the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), Bio defeated Samura Kamara of the ruling All People's Congress (APC) in the runoff vote of the 2018 Sierra Leone presidential election with 51.8% of the votes to Kamara's 48.2%. International and local observers declared the election free and fair. Bio succeeded Ernest Bai Koroma as president. As the main opposition leader, Bio was a critic of his predecessor president Ernest Bai Koroma and his administration. As president, Bio has overturned most of the policies of Ernest Bai Koroma, whom he accuses of corruption, and the two men rarely speak to each other.
The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the capital by a coalition of West African troops. It was no longer a coherent and effective organization by the elections of 2002.
The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government. The resulting civil war lasted 11 years, enveloped the country, and left over 50,000 dead.
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Kailahun District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is the town of Kailahun. The second most populous city in the district is Segbwema. Other major towns in Kailahun District unclude Koindu, Pendembu and Daru. As of the 2015 census, the district had a population of 525,372. Kailahun District is subdivided into fourteen chiefdoms.
Mattru Jong commonly known as Mattru is the capital of Bonthe District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Mattru Jung is located on the mainland of Bonthe District, along the Jong River, 52 miles southwest of Bo. The town is the seat of Mongerewa Jong Chiefdom, and is the home of Mongerewa Jong Paramount Chief Alie Badara Sheriff III. The town's current estimated population is about 20,000 people. In 2010 it was 8,199, and in the 2004 census the town had a population of 7,647.
Yenga 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.
Kissi Tongi Chiefdom is a chiefdom in Kailahun District of Sierra Leone with a population of 33,457. Its principal town is Buedu. During the Sierra Leone Civil War the Kissi Tongi Chiefdom was one of the major strongholds of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The War Office of the RUF was opened in Buedu in February 1998, and Kissi Tongi was one of the last chiefdoms to be disarmed in January 2002.
Kissi Teng Chiefdom is a chiefdom in Kailahun District of Sierra Leone with a population of 30,455. Its largest town is Koindu, but its headquarters is in Kangama. The major industry in Kissi Teng Chiefdom is farming. The population of Kissi Teng Chiefdom is largely from the Kissi ethnic group.
Jawei Chiefdom is a chiefdom in Kailahun District of Sierra Leone with a population of 42,635. Its largest town and headquarters is Daru.
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The United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone from 1998 to 1999 that was established with the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1181. Its mission was to monitor the military and security situation in Sierra Leone. The mission was terminated in October 1999, when the Security Council authorized deployment of a new, and significantly larger peacekeeping operation, the Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).
