SEWA RIVER

river, the most important commercial stream in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Formed by the junction of the Bagbe and Bafi rivers, which rise in the northeastern part of the country near the Guinea border, it flows 150 miles (240 km) in a south-southwesterly direction and drains an area of 5,460 square miles (14,141 square km). The Sewa joins the Waanje River 30 miles (48 km) east-southeast of Bonthe to form the Kittam, a distributary that empties into the Atlantic via the Sherbro Strait. The Sewa's upper reaches are extensively panned for diamonds; its basin from Sumbuya northward through the area around Yengema, leased to the Sierra Leone Selection Trust, is also worked for diamonds. South of Sumbuya, which is the head of navigation (42 miles upstream from the confluence with the Waanje), piassava (exported for the manufacture of brooms and brushes) and swamp-rice cultivation are important commercial activities.