Diamond war in Sierra Leone 💎💎💎

Diamonds and the “Curse of Riches”💎💎💎

The southern and eastern provinces of Sierra Leone are rich in alluvial diamonds, especially the provinces of Kono and Kinama, and most importantly, these diamonds are accessible to anyone with a surveyor, a sieve, and a means of transportation. Since this was discovered in the 1930s, it has become central to financing a continuing pattern of corruption and self-interest at the expense of the public services, institutions and infrastructure that people need. The phenomenon of countries rich in natural resources yet characterized by low levels of economic development is called the “curse of wealth.”

The presence of diamonds in Sierra Leone sparked the civil war in several ways. First, the huge disparity in benefits from diamond mining has disappointed ordinary Sierra Leoneans. In Stevens' government, revenues from the National Diamond Mining Company - a joint venture - were used 

Between the government and DeBeers - to increase Stevens' personal wealth and the fortunes of members of his government and the elite who surrounded him. When DeBeers withdrew from the partnership in 1984, the government lost direct control of the diamond mining sites. In the late 1980s, all of Sierra Leone's diamonds were smuggled and traded 

Illegal, and its revenues went into the hands of private investors. During this period, Lebanese merchants controlled the diamond trade, and later (after things turned in favor of Momoh's government) it was controlled by the Israelis who were in contact with international diamond stores in Antwerp. Momoh tried to curb smuggling.

And corruption in the diamond mining sector, but it lacked the political influence that would enable it to enforce the law. Even after the Interim National Governing Council took power in 1992, whose ostensible goal was to reduce corruption and return revenues to the state, senior state officials were selling diamonds for their personal benefit and were living a luxurious life behind these sums.

Diamonds also helped arm United National Front fighters. The Front used funding from alluvial diamond mines to purchase weapons and ammunition from Guinea, Liberia, and even from Sierra Leone army soldiers. But the most important connection between diamonds and war is that the presence of easily extracted diamonds was a catalyst for violence. To preserve important diamond-rich prefectures like Quno, thousands of civilians were expelled to keep them away from these important economic centers.

Although diamonds were an important factor in inciting the civil war and keeping it going, there were other ways to benefit from this civil war.  For example, gold mining was common in some areas, as was the cultivation of commercial crops using forced labor.  Looting in Sierra Leone's civil war was not just about diamonds.

It also included currency, household items, food, cars, livestock, and international relief ships. For Sierra Leoneans who did not have access to farmland, joining the rebels was an opportunity to seize property using lethal force.

The Civil War should not be entirely attributed to the struggle over the economic benefits of alluvial diamond mining, because pre-war grievances and frustrations were not limited to the diamond sector. The United National Front arose in conditions that led to twenty years of widespread poverty, corruption and oppression, because after all these years people were yearning for change.

#Africa #SierraLeone