Kangama | |
---|---|
town | |
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 | ![]() |
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 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.
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