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Sierra Leone |
VIOLENCE
The illegal sale of diamonds is believed to be the main source of income
for the rebels
in Sierra Leone, but this time round, the international community
has joined hands
with the government to tighten the screws on diamond smuggling
Diamonds were discovered in Sierra Leone in 1930. Alluvial diamond mining commenced in 1934, but since then, the issue of diamond smuggling has been a persistent problem to successive governments. The civil war situation during the 1990s created an atmosphere whereby diamonds could be sold illegally. Rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) led by Corporal Foday Sankoh (rtd) have been engaged in this kind of activity ever since they captured diamond-rich areas of Sierra Leone, especially in the south-east and east. These areas border on Guinea and Liberia, making it easy for the rebels to market their diamonds outside the country.
In recent times, President Charles Taylor of Liberia has been continually accused by Great Britain of facilitating the sale of smuggled diamonds (now known in the international community as «black diamonds»). In addition to Charles Taylor, successive governments in Sierra Leone have pointed accusing fingers at the late President Houphouet-Boigny of Côte d’Ivoire, President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, and President Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, for facilitating the sale of diamonds mined by the rebels, in exchange for arms and ammunition. It would also appear that the RUF is selling diamonds within Sierra Leone, mainly to businessmen in Kenema in the east and Bo in the south, who then re-sell them to Lebanese traders.
Certificate of Origin
The fact is — the decade-long war with the rebels has been characterised by extreme brutality especially on the rebel side, and this has influenced the international community to ban the sale of all diamonds from Sierra Leone, with the exception of those accompanied by a Certificate of Origin issued by the government.
Lawrence Hindolo Myers is a valuer from the Sierra Leonean Government Gold and Mining Office (GGDO). In August this year, he was one of the delegates sent by the government to meet with interested parties in Europe and the United States. He said his team had discussions with members of the Belgian Government and the Diamond High Council (DHC). «We received encouraging promises», he said, expressing his belief that the DHC will cooperate in putting an end to the sale of the «blood diamonds» by the RUF. The DHC also promised to provide the GGDO with the necessary equipment needed for facilitating communication between the various diamond-control authorities.
Other diamond dealing centres visited included Israel (because a large percentage of Sierra Leone’s diamonds are believed to end up in that country), the United States and Great Britain. Arrangements were made while in the UK to have the Certificates of Origin printed by the Thomas De La Rue Company.
But what happens to these Certificates once they are printed? The Minister of Mineral Resources reassures people that «the Certificates will be kept in the vault of the Central Bank». His signature plus that of the Governor of the Central Bank will appear on each Certificate, thus ensuring the legality of the document in question. The authentic issuing of the Certificates will handicap the RUF in their illegal diamond trade. Also, the international community is insisting that the government must establish an appropriate diamond-dealing centre where buyers can deposit their money and the diamonds can be kept safely.
But one issue is fundamental. Stability must be restored to Sierra Leone to ensure that proceeds from diamond sales go into the government coffers. It is estimated that about US $120 million worth of diamonds are smuggled each year and that the government only benefits from about 20% of the total number of diamonds mined each year. In the long term, the effectiveness of any diamond control will depend on the cooperation of all business persons and citizens at large.
 | Alpha R. Jalloh, Sierra Leone, September 2000 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment |
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