The Role of Diamonds in Sierra Leone History and Conflict369732/FULLTEXT01.pdf · The Role of Diamonds in Sierra Leone History and Conflict . ... Natural resources as well as mineral

School of Social Sciences Peace and development studies Bachelor’s Thesis

The Role of Diamonds in Sierra Leone

History and Conflict A Study Based on the West African Country Sierra Leone

Author: Kadiri Joseph Osikhena

Tutor: Anders Nilsson Examiner: Manuela Nilsson

School of Social Sciences Peace and Development Studies Bachelor’s Thesis

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Acknowledgement

My profound gratitude to God Almighty for in him I found the strength and courage in

fulfilling my goals and most especially in my academic pursuit.

Special thanks to the course coordinator and also my tutor Anders Nilsson for his

constructive comments, suggestions and unprecedented support in writing this paper.

Special thanks also to all the teachers at the department of Peace and Development.

To my families, thank you for all the love and support you have offered to me in life. For

without you I would not have had the effort in life and to my friends (both in Nigeria,

Sweden and other parts of the world) too numerous to mention, you are the most

wonderful.

Kadiri Joseph Osikhena Växjö University, © 2009


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Abstract Natural resources as well as mineral resources are one among several important factors

needed for the existence of human beings, and many countries which posses few of these

resources are likely to improve in development. But the opposite has been seen in many

underdeveloped country’s that are rich in natural resources, but they still lack

development, and above all they suffer from conflict in their societies.

The aim of this study is to look into the role which diamonds has played in the conflict

between Sierra Leonean government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). And

also to relate the behavior’s of both parties in the 1991 conflict to the issue of greed and

grievance in detecting the actual causes.

I was able to conclude in my study that diamonds in Sierra Leone was not the main cause

of the conflict, but it acted as a propelling factor, due to its ability to prolong the war by

generating income for both rebels and government. But grievances emerging from Sierra

Leone’s history are more likely to have been the main driving force for the rebellion

which took place.


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Table of Contents Acknowledgement .............................................................................................................. 1 1 Introduction...................................................................................................................... 5

1.1 Research Questions............................................................................................... 7 1.2 Aims and Objectives ............................................................................................. 8

2 Methodology and Materials ........................................................................................... 10 2.1 Methods............................................................................................................... 10

2.1.1 Case study ................................................................................................ 11 2.1.2 Advantages of Case Study Methods ................................................................ 11 2.2 Secondary and content analyses.......................................................................... 13 2.3 Discussion on Materials...................................................................................... 14 2.4 Evaluation of the sources .................................................................................... 14 2.5 Previous studies on Sierra Leone Conflict.......................................................... 16 2.6 Limitations .......................................................................................................... 17

3 Theoretical framework................................................................................................... 18 3.1 The concept of relative deprivation .................................................................... 18 3.2 Rebellion ............................................................................................................. 19 3.3 Grievance and its connection to rebellion........................................................... 19 3.4 Greed theory and natural resources..................................................................... 21

3.5.1 Comparing insurgency motives within the greed and grievance debate.. 24 4 Diamond history and production ................................................................................... 26

4.1 De Beer ............................................................................................................... 31 4.1.1 De Beers and Diamond Worldwide ......................................................... 31

4.2 De Beer and connection to Sierra Leone ............................................................ 32 5 Sierra Leone’s early history and challenges .................................................................. 33

5.1 Sierra Leone background- pre- independence .................................................... 34 5.2 Sierra Leone Diamond History ........................................................................... 35 5.3 Post- Independence ‘‘1961 onward’’.................................................................. 37

5.3.1 The politics of Patronage ......................................................................... 38 5.3.2 Political power and Intimidation.............................................................. 39

5.4 New External actors and Rise of International Crime ........................................ 39 5.5 End of monopoly and rise of illegal trade........................................................... 40

6 Analysis.......................................................................................................................... 41 6.1 The emergence of a Rebellion in Sierra Leone and conflict (1991 to 2002) ...... 41 6.1.1 Revolutionary United Front (RUF).................................................................. 41

6.1.2 From grievance to grievances .................................................................. 44 6.1.3 The Role of Lebanon ............................................................................... 45 6.1.4 The Role of Liberia.................................................................................. 46 6.1.5 Diamond’s impact on Sierra Leone ......................................................... 46

7 Conclusions.................................................................................................................... 48


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7.1 A Question of Greed or Grievance?.................................................................... 48 7.2 Relationship between Diamonds and the Conflict.............................................. 49

References:- ...................................................................................................................... 51 Literatures ................................................................................................................. 51 Articles...................................................................................................................... 53 Internet Documents................................................................................................... 54


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1 Introduction

Many decades ago, developing countries were in the control of colonial powers, but over

the past decades, most of the underdeveloped countries got their independences from

their colonial countries; discoveries of the abundance of natural resources in many parts

of Africa and other developing countries around the world have been made, ranging from

Gold, Diamond, Oil, etc. This has also created a shift from agricultural products which

had always been a major source of export for revenue and a major source of food

domestically, to relying on the export of these natural resources as their main source of

revenue. Government depends on this huge abundance of resources to control and fund

their projects, of which the western countries are the destination of these resources.

Sierra Leone is located in the West Coast of Africa and covers an area of 72,000 square

kilometers. The country is bounded on the north and north east by the Republic of

Guinea, on the east by the Republic of Liberia and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean.

Sierra Leone which was a former colony of Britain just like many countries in Africa,

gained its independence on the 27th of April 1961. There are approximately twelve

districts, one hundred and forty nine chiefdoms and three hundred and ninety four wards

in Sierra Leone, with Freetown as the capital of the country. There are approximately 13

ethnic tribes in the West African country, but with English as official language, and Krio

as the lingua franca which is widely spoken.1

Sierra Leone is also a country which is rich in one of the most precious natural resources

(Diamond). Just immediately after production started in 1937, Sierra Leone produced

about 1 million carats of diamonds annually, and it increased to 2 million carats in 1960.

1 H Kabbah 2006, Sierra Leone Legal System and Legal Research


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‘‘between 1952 and 1962, the tax paid to the Sierra Leone government averaged between

30 percent and 60 percent of profits, which were significantly high at that time’’.2

The business of diamond had already begun in Sierra Leone before the country got its

independence from Great Britain, and Multinational companies participated in it, legally

or illegally. These great discoveries of diamond that were made, had been believed by

many to be the future source of development, economically and socially for the country.

But little or nothing can be seen in Sierra Leone at present, as the country is still ranked

among the poorest in the world, with life very difficult for its citizens, and the economic

situation being in a critical state.3

Precious and expensive natural resources like diamond would have been a source of

revenue for many countries and in terms of development, it can as well have a positive

impact. Since the discovery of diamond in Sierra Leone in the early 1930’s, the country

has had several authorities in charge, ranging from the previous colonial authorities

(Britain) to the Sierra Leonia government authorities itself. Diamonds have also had great

impacts in the developmental and administrative periods of Sierra Leone. Apart from the

authorities who have administered and controlled these resources since discovery, the

involvement of Multinational companies has also been huge.

Although Sierra Leone achieved its independence peacefully, ‘‘the colonial history of

Sierra Leone was not placid, as the indigenous people had mounted several unsuccessful

revolts against the British rule’’. 4 This struggle might have been due to the

mismanagement and lack of development which was visible during the colonial time and

which was unsatisfactory for the indigenous Sierra Leoneans. According to K David

2 Smillie, L Gberie & R Hazleton, 2000: 18 3 PJM, Sierra Leone 1935-2000: accessed 26/01/2009 http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/hottopics/sierraleone1.html 4 US Department of States 2008, Bureau of African Affairs


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2005, the colonial era saw a great separation in the economy of Sierra Leone between the

mining companies and the rest of the economy; this gave a greater control of the industry

to the mining companies by the colonial administration.5

This same mismanagement and lack of proper development that was experienced during

the colonial era of Sierra Leone, continued into the post independence period, and the

1960s and 1970s was overshadowed with state sponsored corruption; a decline in the

economic situation and military rule. The rebellion in 1991 brought a new atmosphere in

Sierra Leone, creating unrest for the country’s 4.5 million people, of which over 75,000

were killed and half of a million people became refugees fleeing to other countries.6

Apart from the RUF which was the main rebel group fighting against the government of

Sierra Leone, we would also see that there were other players from outside the country as

well, who had their own aims and objectives from the Civil War. Example is the former

rebel leader in Liberia who later became president of Liberia (Charles Taylor)m; and the

RUF leader (Foday Sankoh) who was formally a soldier in Sierra Leone army.7

The reason behind the rebellion was not stated clearly over the long period of time, and

the rebels made no demands, apart from their allegations that the government officials

were corrupt and they mismanaged diamond and mineral resources.8

1.1 Research Questions

Sierra Leone which underwent mismanagement during the colonial era and lack of proper

development with the separation of the diamond business which was controlled by the

5 K David, 2005: 8 6 I Smillie, L Gberie & Rhazleton: The heart of the matter, Sierra Leone, Diamond & Human Security. Africa policy E-journal 2000: 26/12/2008 7 K David, 2005: 37 8 A Shah 2001, Sierra Leone 10/04/2009


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British from other sector and which continued into the post independence period, was

characterized by high level of corruption, political mistreatment and there has been

inequality in the country, which has led to a high level of distrust towards the

government, and a feeling of marginalization among the poor citizens.9

The focus of my research paper is basically to look at the role which the abundance of

diamond in Sierra Leone had played in the history of the country as well as in the civil

war which the country went through from the period of 1991 to 2002 when the war was

officially declared ended, and to analyze what kind of negative impact it had on

prolonging the civil war in Sierra Leone, due to the fact that the rebels had gained access

to some control of these diamonds, and were able to finance their rebellion against the

government through smuggling and selling to the international market.

1.2 Aims and Objectives

The main aim and objective of my paper apart from analyzing the impact in which the so

called precious stones (diamonds) played in the conflict which happened in Sierra Leone,

is to as well look into the issue of greed and grievance in the conflict, as some analyst

have argued that the greedy behavior of the rebels for resource wealth was the main

motive for starting the rebellion in 1991, but others argue that it was the result of

historical grievances arising from government mismanagement and corruption.

I have chosen Sierra Leone to do my research among several countries with conflict in

Africa and around the world because the conflict between Sierra Leone and the

Revolutionary United Force carries so many characteristics that can be found in the

Greed and Grievance debate which my research paper will be based upon. Also, I believe

that I can be able to analyze how conflict generates and continues to be sustained through

9 K David, 2005: 9


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the availability of lootable and unlootable resources as have been seen in Sierra Leone

during the period of 1991 to 2002 that the conflict lasted.


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2 Methodology and Materials

A presentation is given below of the method used for this study, its weaknesses and

strength; and why it is appropriate for the paper which is selected of which the West

African country (Sierra Leone) is the main country of discussion. There is also a short

discussion on the materials used.

The main aim of this chapter is basically to explain in a broader view, the approach that is

being used and to pass a better understanding about the methodology which serves as the

basis of this paper on the role of diamonds in the history of Sierra Leone and the conflict.

2.1 Methods

A qualitative method will be used to be able to reach the aim and to answer the research

questions which would practically be done from secondary materials written by other

authors, making it easier because of the possibility of not going on a field research

personally, and saving time in concluding the research study. I am applying this method

in my case study of Sierra Leones conflict because it will save time in my research work

without going down to Sierra Leone and seeking information from the rebels themselves,

which is almost impossible for other authors too in getting first hand information. This

can be seen as one of the major weakness of using secondary materials. But in my work, I

will try to focus on using information which is provided by credible and reliable

secondary sources.


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ase study as a method of doing research is just one out of several different methods of

.1.2 Advantages of Case Study Methods

e preferred form of carrying out research by

2.1.1 Case study

A case study is said to be the well defined aspect of an historical event or episodes in

which a researcher intends to analyze, other than the entire historical event itself.10 In this

case, a researcher has to focus on which aspect of the historical event that the analysis is

going to be based on, and must do this according to the available data. Case study method

has for a long time been used in so many areas of research such as in sociology, political

sciences, social work and psychology. This is quite likely because the case study method

tends to contributes to the researchers knowledge of the social or political phenomena,

depending of the area of focus.11 This method tends to really answer the questions of

‘‘how and why’’, and ‘‘case study method allows investigators to retain the holistic and

meaningful life cycle or international relations and the maturation of industries’’.12

C

carrying out research studies in the field of social science; other methods include surveys

and analysis of archival information. ‘‘But all methods have their advantages and

disadvantages depending on the type of research question, the control of the researcher

over the particular events and the focus which is placed on contemporary as opposed to

historical phenomena’’.13

2

Just as case study methods continues to be th

many researchers, it seems generally that Case study methods have a greater advantage in

10 A. L. George & A. Bennett 2005: 18 11 R. K. Yin 2003: 1 12 R. K. Yin 2003: 2 13 R. K. Yin 2003: 1


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producing clear results were statistical methods and formal methods are weak.14 And this

is because of the following reasons that it has as an advantage over others.

- Conceptual validity: is achieved when a researcher in using a case study method

in carrying out research, and the researcher has the capability to identify, measure

or compare which of the indicators that best represents the theoretical concepts

which is being measured. Example is measuring variables such as democracy,

corruption or power, which are difficult to measure, but by doing a ‘‘contextual

comparison’’, the researcher is able to use analytical equivalent phenomena to

address certain issues. Whereas statistical method ends up with ‘‘conceptual

stretching’’.15

- Exploring Causal Mechanisms: tends to explore the causal mechanisms of every

single case individually in details, and ‘‘it helps to identify what conditions that

are present within a case, and which activates the causal mechanisms’’.16 This

helps the researcher not to make conclusion on a certain case due to the causal

mechanisms of another, because correlation does not imply causation. But

researchers can also use theories on causal mechanisms to give historical

explanations of cases.

- Deriving New Hypotheses: concludes a study with the derivation of a variables

and hypotheses through either field work like, interviews of people who were

present at an event, or historians. The ability to conclude with a new set of theory

may depend on the new variable which the researcher might have derived from

the study, and this theory can then be tested with previously unexamined

evidence.

14 A. L. George & A. Bennett 2005: 19 15 A. L. George & A. Bennett 2005: 19 16 A. L. George & A. Bennett 2005: 21


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- Modeling and Assessing Complex Causal Relations: another merit of case study

method is the ability to put together ‘‘complex causal mechanism such as

equifinality, complex interactions effects and path dependency’’.17 In other for

case study achieve equifinality, the generalization produced must be narrower or

more contingent and this makes this advantage to be relative rather than absolute.

2.2 Secondary and content analyses

Secondary analyses- this generally refers to the studies which are taken from historical

data and informational materials which previously exists or have been written and

analyzed by other researchers, and which is finally used as a source or basis for a new

research or study by someone else.18 This secondary analysis has been applied in my

paper on Sierra Leone, as the materials used were gotten from studies which were

previously carried out by other researchers.

Content analysis- there are some problems which are best researched through content

analysis, and this approach can also take the form of both the qualitative and quantitative

methods of doing research studies. There are three basic requirements that are attached to

this method of research analysis, first is that it should be objective, which means that

‘‘the researcher does not need to follow his own way of seeing the materials, but must

develop an objective category, which will have to represent the contents of the materials

used’’.19 The second is the systematic way in which the researcher needs to follow, and

this refer to the inclusion and exclusion of contents, meaning that the researcher needs to

include certain contents even though it fails to support his or her hypothesis. And the last

17 A. L. George & A. Bennett 2005: 22 18 T. Baker 1999: 269 19 T. Baker 1999: 269


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requirement is that content analysis must ‘‘posses generality’’, meaning that the research

must have a theoretical relevance.20

2.3 Discussion on Materials

During the process of writing this essay, several informational materials were used from

already published books which I got from Växjö university library, as well as other books

which were borrowed from other universities in Sweden through the inter library loan.

Internet articles and journals were also used from the search engine ELIN, as well as

informational materials from the website of the US States Department.

Several articles about the conflict in Sierra Leone, as well as the Greed and Grievance

debate were also used in my paper. Among them are the World Bank project done by

‘‘Collier Paul & Bannon, Ian (2003): Natural Resources and Violent Conflict, Options

and Actions’’; The International Peace Academy Policy Report done by Karren

Ballentine and Heiko Nitzschke, titled ‘‘Beyond Greed and Grievance’’ was also used in

my case study on Sierra Leone conflict; their report was made to show that other factors

applies to conflict beyond greed and grievance which many researchers and government

agencies regards as the general causes of conflicts.

The United Nations Human development Index, as well as the Kimberly Process,

statistics of rough diamond was used to get statistical data.

2.4 Evaluation of the sources

When one is dealing with a primary source such as books, which often have different

views from various authors, it is vital to remain un bias when reading and using them as a

source of information. This is a predicament students have to face when writing a thesis

20 T. Baker 1999: 269


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or researcher writing article. And in the age of internet, information can be posted by

almost anyone, so it is vital for students to evaluate the sources carefully. This evaluation

is built upon a set of methodological rules which is used in order to determine the level of

genuineness in what is read. The four criteria to be taken are written below:21

- Genuineness: - this is to make sure that the source is authentic, and has been

produced by those who are in the right context to do so.

- Simultaneity: - this is to make sure that the source is produced practically at the

same time of the incidence of closely to make it more reliable.

- Independence: - it is to check if the author or writer was an independent witness,

and if the source is primary or secondary.

- Tendency: - this is to make sure that the writer is not one sided, and is not biased

in they way the information is given.22

The most difficult of these criteria, as regards the evaluation of sources which I have used

for my thesis was tendency. When writing a case study or research, a student is always

faced with the problem of the information being biased, and also several authors appear

to be influenced by politics, economics, traditions and social society when writing

materials. So, students are supposed to evaluate information carefully when writing.

Many of the materials I have used are from independent researchers, non-governmental

organizations who have written various materials on the Sierra Leonean conflict and also

materials and information from International Organization such as the World Bank

Project and the United Nations Security Council.

21 P Esaiasson, M Gilljam, H Oscarsson & L Wängnerud, 2007: 315 22 P Esaiasson, M Gilljam, H Oscarsson & L Wängnerud, 2007: 316 & 317


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2.5 Previous studies on Sierra Leone Conflict

Several authors and researchers have tried to find out the actual reasons for the Civil War.

According to I Smillie, L Gberie & R Hazleton, they conducted a research called ‘‘the

heart of the matter, Sierra Leone diamond and human security’’ in partnership with

Africa Canada. They came to the conclusion that ‘‘the point of the war may not have

actually been to win it, but just to engage in profitable crime under the cover of warfare’’.

This is to say that the RUF’s intention was basically greed and wealth seeking.

Jimmy D. Kandeh who is a researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden,

wrote an article on the Sierra Leonean conflict after his several visits to the country. He

concluded that ‘‘the war in Sierra Leone was caused by the untrammeled greed of the

country’s political class. Predatory accumulation by incumbent political elites and their

cronies eroded state capacities, impoverished society, lumpenized youth and elder’s alike

destroyed public confidence in state institutions and sowed the seeds of state collapse and

armed rebellion’’. 23 This means that the rebellion was actually a repercussion of

historical corruption and state failure, which created a certain group of angry and

relatively deprived youths in the country that began a rebellion against the state.

Victor A.B Davies wrote an article in the University of Sierra Leone. He blamed the

weak institutions in Sierra Leone, for making the looting of natural resources possible

without any intervention by the state. According to him, ‘‘the people of Sierra Leone

were suffering through the entire period of the civil war, but the actors failed to end it

because the few people benefiting from the war itself were the (rebel leaders, external

actors, pro-government combatants and even the government themselves)’’.24 Their

interest for economic wealth and the presence of natural resources therefore prolonged

the war.

23 J D. Kandeh: Silencing the Guns in Sierra Leone 24 V.A. Davies, pg 366


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2.6 Limitations

There can be a lot of problems in terms of validity and the reliability of the information

which a gotten from secondary sources when carrying out a research of this nature.

Firstly, there are several materials from various authors and they can be biased in many

ways. Secondly, because the information from the rebels is difficult to get, one might end

up only getting the story of one party in the conflict which might jeopardize the

credibility of the final conclusion. Lastly, even the information that might come from the

rebels cannot be considered credible or reliable, as they are always likely to justify their

actions which are been carried out. So my conclusion on the conflict between the Sierra

Leone government and the Revolutionary United Front is based on secondary sources and

materials.


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3 Theoretical framework

This chapter presents the theoretical framework which will help to guide my research

paper on the role of diamond in the conflict of Sierra Leone. It starts by looking at the

concept of relative deprivation and how it contributes to collective political violence as

well as rebellion, followed by a short description and comparison of the greed and

grievance debate. I have chosen Sierra Leone out of several conflict countries in Africa

because it serves as a good example of the greed and grievance debate, with its

‘‘lootable’’ resources (diamonds).

3.1 The concept of relative deprivation

Relative deprivation can be said to be the level of gap between an individual or a

society’s expectations and their present capacity. This produces some kind of frustrations

which increases in levels just as the gap expands. This can be said to be common in many

societies where there is economic and social instability and the difference in level

between the rich and the poor is larger in size; this level of deprivation can be said to

sometimes lead to a sense of frustration in individuals or society. ‘‘ in

social-psychological terms, collective violence which often becomes the outcome, is a

consequence of shattered hope and aspirations, as well as fear of losing what individuals

has already achieved’’.25

Relative deprivation has three dimensions which are as follows:

- Decremental relative deprivation: shows that the individual or society is unable to

achieve what they expect to get or their previous condition depreciates or worsens.

25 E, Conteh-Morgan 2004: 71


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- Aspirational relative deprivation: shows that individuals may not necessarily lose what

they had, but they tend to assume that their condition is not satisfactory and should have

been much improved.

- Progressive relative deprivation: means that the individual or societies which have had

a long period of economic growth, suddenly experiences a decline in such growth,

thereby leading to frustrations.

3.2 Rebellion

The term rebellion is often differentiated most times from revolution, as it is often

referred to as the unsuccessful attempts to overthrow any existing system.26 Although

sometimes successful, there are however little or no changes in the way the previous

system functions, only a change in leadership. According to T Boswell & W.J Dixon

1993, Karl Marx’s theory of rebellion shows that ‘‘rebellions are a necessary but not a

sufficient cause of a revolution’s success, but it is just a component of revolution and it is

often rare for rebellion to transform social structure after overthrow of a government’’.27

Rebellion which is often carried out against a particular system and how it functions can

be said to result from different causes; examples are relative deprivation and or

grievances as a result of deprivation or frustration. This leads us to the next topic,

rebellion as a form of grievance.

3.3 Grievance and its connection to rebellion

A history of deprivation by any State government can lead to the outbreak of law and

order and violence can erupt. State failure and weakness in connection with the

mismanagement of resource funds by corrupt leaders can be the basis of a rebellion in a

26 E, Conteh-Morgan 2004: 165 27 T, Boswell & W.J Dixon 1993: 682


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country, and warlords are likely to take advantage of this avenue of anger and grievance

in a society to mobilize insurgence against any government. An example is Sierra Leone

which experienced a long era of political mismanagement and corruption by the state,

leading to socio-economic deterioration and institutional failure, causing grievance

against the state government.28 In discussing grievances, three relevant areas which might

lead to grievance will be looked upon: vengeance, political exclusion and inter-group

hatred.

As previously mentioned, grievances can continue to exist in any society due to previous

historic conflict which has taken place before between certain groups, or against the

government which might be seen as a representative of a majority or minority group.29

Such grievances might pass on from different generations, and likely to occur repeatedly,

as we have seen in most African countries.

Political exclusion can give rise to grievances, as previously mentioned, and this can take

different forms. It can occur as a result of political repression or when some groups are

being victimized in a country.30 This was particularly experienced by minority groups in

Sierra Leone just after the independence, when Siaka Stevens from the APC party ruled

the country. However, studies have been able to show that countries that are democratic

have low chances of grievance through political repression, But even democracies may

exclude if a minority group is systematically victimized. This might arise when a country

has an ethnic group that is large and dominant, which makes the smaller groups feel

marginalized.31

28 K Ballentine & H Nitzschke, 2003: 4 29 Collier and Hoeffler, 2002: 14 30 Collier and Hoeffler, 2002: 13 31 Collier and Hoeffler, 2002: 13


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Another circumstance is the result of political exclusion, which occurs when certain class

of the society is being marginalized, such as the poor; this can be a result of economic

inequality, which is an indication of marginalization of these classes, and they can

succeed in using political contest to define their economic position.32 Frustration can

occur from this political or social deprivation and may sometimes lead to collective

violence in societies.33

Inter-group hatred is also a major cause of civil conflict and it is a result of grievance held

against different opposing groups in a society. Inter-group hatred which results in conflict

especially occurs in societies which are multi-ethnic or multi-religious.34 It is prone to

fractionalize societies where division is greater and ideologies are different. A great

number of conflicts in today’s societies are as well resulting from different religious

groups.

3.4 Greed theory and natural resources

According to Collier and Hoeffler (2004) civil wars evolve from the greedy behavior of

rebel groups in organizing an insurgency against the government. This motivation that

has been brought about by greed in many civil wars has been characterized by empirical

works on the causes of civil war, where research has been done on many countries that

have gone through conflicts. An economic analysis has also been done to show that greed

is proxied by the availability of capturable natural resources or primary resources.35 This

can also imply that countries where there is abundance of resources may be prone to

conflict.

32 Collier and Hoeffler, 2002: 13 33 E, Conteh-Morgan 2004: 72 34 Collier and Hoeffler, 2002: 12 35 Murshed and Tadjeoddin, 2007: 5


22

Although so much has been written about greed in today’s research as well as on the

causes of conflict in modern day society, studies by Collier and Hoeffler have also shown

that greed can act as a propelling factor which may possibly lead to the outbreak of

rebellion in societies. However, the greed hypothesis and natural resource wealth, in

relationship to greed and conflict cannot be centered on greed alone within a given

society as the driving force behind the outbreak of civil war. The ‘‘greedy outsider

mechanism’’ which can result in the interest of greedy third parties in natural resources as

an incentive for civil war, (states or corporations).36 An example is the prolonged Sierra

Leone civil war with the contribution of the neighboring country, Liberia which

contributed to arming and supporting the rebel group. Another one is the grievance

mechanism, which shows that natural resources dependency could be linked to a high

level of grievance among societies rather than greed.37

The relationship between greed and conflict has been the focus of many researchers on

the aim and purpose of rebellion, which sometimes transform into civil war in many parts

of the world. Civil wars today are stemmed from the greedy behavior of a rebel group in

the organization of an insurgency against the government of a country.38

Often, people try to mount a rebellion against the government of a country for their own

selfish interest on the primary resources that are available under the guise of grievance;

but in order to create and control a rebel organization, the rebels have to be paid and

military equipment such as guns would to be purchased.39 Only a large rebel organization

can create a kind of casualties and unrest that can be defined in terms of a civil war and

create much attention, both national and internationally.

36 Murshed and Tadjeoddin, 2007: 9 37 Murshed and Tadjeoddin, 2007: 10 38 Collier and Hoeffler, 2002: 6 39 Collier and Hoeffler, 2002: 1


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According to Collier and Hoeffler (2002), rebels are a certain group which is formed in

the society mainly against the government, and they often base their focus on the

production or transportation of primary commodities, which are the basic source of

revenue for any country. They also use that as a source of revenue in financing their

activities such as equipments, and most often purchasing manpower or fighters from

foreign countries.40 Rebellion which often begins by creating unrest due to ideological

reasons may sometimes result to greedy behavior and embezzlement of resource wealth.

3.5 Greed Vs Grievance debate on conflicts The debates on the causes of violent civil wars have frequently been analyzed by several

authors using the greed and grievance factors. The greed factor has been mainly focused

on the fact that civil wars are essentially due to the economic factors and the economic

gains which rebel groups intend to achieve.41 According to Ballentine & Nitzschke, 2003,

statistical correlation between resource abundance and the risk of armed conflict is

explained by rebel aspirations for self enrichment, and/or by the opportunity which

rebellion creates easy access to natural resources for insurgents; with examples to Sierra

Leone and DRC. On the other hand, it can also be concluded that even though Diamonds

in Sierra Leone and other natural resources contributed to the rebellion in these countries,

Charles Cater argues that these insurgents were not out simply to capture lucrative

economic assets for self enrichment, but were rather using this as a means to finance their

socio-economic and political grievances against the state.42

However, the accuracy of these assumptions cannot fully be trusted or relied upon in

several conflicts, and this also remains a major question which surrounds the greed versus

grievance debate, as to how we can agree on a general conclusion of the main goals of

40 Collier and Hoeffler, 2002: 7 41 K Ballentine & H Nitzschke, 2003: 3 42 K Ballentine & H Nitzschke, 2003: 3


24

to finance the conflict’’.46 Rebellion is therefore economic power by all means necessary.

rebel combatants. Often these rebel insurgents are not well coordinated like state armies

and their inability to maintain a chain of command can lead to difficulties in maintaining

their main motives, which can sometimes change from political grievances to economic

greed as soon as the rebels are in control of lootable resources.43 According to Paul

Collier, the judgments of combatants as regards to their motive cannot be trusted because

rebel leaders always seek to justify their actions using ‘‘a narratives of grievance’’.

Again, judging the rebels by their actions in economic activities to pure looting for their

selfish needs cannot be fully correct. As previously stated, their actions might be to

finance rebellion for political reasons or wealth distribution.44

3.5.1 Comparing insurgency motives within the greed and grievance debate

According to Collier and Hoeffler (2000), civil wars can be related to ‘‘loot-seeking’’

wars (large-scale banditry), or as ‘‘justice-seeking’’ wars.45 The first can be measured in

terms of the human capital or the per capita, in the sense that the higher the per capita, the

less likely individuals will engage themselves in risky behaviors that are associated with

conflicts; but this is also dependent on the size of the payoffs. I Abdullah (2006), argues

that the underlying assumption in all Collier’s work can be summarized as simply one of

greed/economic calculation. This means that rebels are motivated by the desire to profit

from chaos; such calculations are propelled by the degree to which such criminal

enterprise can result to a viable economic project. Raising the revenue for such a project

might explain why the rebels without a cause have a good chance to succeed in the third

world countries like Sierra Leone. ‘‘The violence and predatory behaviors which occur

during this process may not be the objective of rebel organization, but might be a means

43 K Ballentine & H Nitzschke, 2003: 13

d Hoeffler, 2002 44 Ibid:13 45 Collier an46 I Abdullah, 2006: 12


25

ains, and therefore gives little attention to historical issues and also subjective

atters such as the willingness and the commitment of a selected group of people to start

civil wars. There is a

ndency for conflicts which began with a political motive to mutate into securing

On the other hand, Collier and Hoeffler’s work on civil war is clearly centered on

economic g

m

a revolution. This is an important factor in insurgency of civil war, because local support

is a vital aspect which keeps insurgency going. According to I Abdullah (2006), ‘‘it was

college students who inaugurated the insurgency discourse and spearheaded the call to

arms in Sierra Leone, they recruited marginal youths, including the future leaders of the

RUF for military training in Tajura, Libya, from 1987 to 1989’’.47 It is unlikely that the

issue of resources was the main driving force which brought the students together during

this period or the issue of finance, as a key element in the proposed project. The main

propelling factor was the commitment and willingness of the participants to start a

guerrilla war against the government. This has more to do with the objective conditions

rather than the availability of natural resources or economic gains.

There has also been a notion on the greed vs grievance debate about the changing of

balances over time among rebels as well as combatants during

te

short-term economic benefits, as a result of capturable natural resources that are available

to combatants. This notion is sometimes inconclusive because non-separatist conflict

consists of combatants who participate due to different goals, and it is difficult to have

control over combatants unlike regular armies. ‘‘regardless of whether economic interests

are primary or secondary, when non-separatist insurgents have access to lootable

resources, it tends to change the character of the conflict in consequential ways’’.48

tine & H Nitzschke, 2003: 13 47 Ibid:13 48 K Ballen


26

Diamond history and production

iamonds can be gotten from two main sources, and they are both known as kimberlite,

ut have primary and secondary deposits. The primary deposits are diamonds which are

otten from basic volcanic rock, referred to as kimberlite, and the secondary deposits

which are gotten from the alluvial deposits of weathered kimberlite. These kimberlite are

known to exist everywhere in the world, but it is not all that are ‘‘diamondiferous’’ to be

4

D

b

g


27

e features of diamond, then the term

‘‘kimberlite pipe’’ is used to refer to them.49

, and sand are been washed away by the

ea, depositing them around different areas, which can be found by ordinary people with

roducing countries also led to a rise in the

roduction of diamond worldwide from 300,000 carats in 1870 when it was first

mined, but if they are minable and contains larg

The process by which the kimberlite pipes are mined requires large funding, and it is

often carried out by large companies with huge amount of investments and heavy

machines are used to dig tunnels in order to extract diamonds from underground. But

another process which is often used in getting diamonds are the ones which are obtained

from alluvial fields, that is been created by the disintegration of volcanic rock

(kimberlite). In this process, diamond, gravels

s

a simple sieve and shovel, using it to separate the gravel and sand to obtain diamonds.

This process is common in countries like Sierra Leone, where local people are seen all

around the mining areas due to the fact that they do not need experience or heavy

equipments to get out diamonds in such areas.

Until 1867 when diamonds were discovered in South Africa, there was only two places in

the world were diamond could be found, which was in India (dates from antiquity) and

the Brazilian diamonds that were discovered in 1725. But since its discovery in the

southern African country in 1867, an overwhelming number of countries have been

identified with the production of diamonds, bringing the number to 27 high producing

countries. The increase in number of diamond p

p

discovered in South Africa to 3 million carats in 1920, 42 million carats in 1970, and

approximately 115 million carats in 2000,50 Below is a list of countries which currently

produces diamonds.

49 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:16 50 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:17


28

(000 carats)

Year 1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

The two tables below shows the amount of diamond produced in selected countries in

West Africa, comparing with the amount of diamonds which are exported.

Table 1 Various West African countries and diamond production in selected years

8.5Sierra Leone 78 243 347 158 255 213 270 104

Liberia

100

100

150

150

100

150

150

150

150 Guinea

127

97

153

167

381

365

2

05 205 205

Ghana

650

700

656

591

740

632

715

830

800 Ivory Coast

12

15

15

15

84

75

302

307

307

Source: Complete Report, Sierra Leone, Diamond and Human Security: January 2000, page 34

Table 2 Diamonds exported to Antwerp from l te a s c

19 1

99

9 1 9

9 19 19

West African Countries in same years Se ec d Ye r (000 arats)

Year 90

991 1 2 19 3

9 4 1 95

96

97

1998

Sierra Leone

1

83

344 52

33

534 1

6 455

566

803

770

Liberia

5,523

658

1,909

5,006

3,268

10,677

12,320

5,803

2,558

Guinea

287

374

526 1021

875

780

439

533

596 Ghana

597

675

689

526

498

643

608

531

n.a.

Ivory Coast

825

946

868

683

605

1614

2214

885

n.a. Complete Report, e m H cu ua pa

The table above shows the volume o p o o se st Afri

countries and the amou i e e o

Sierra Leone was the approxima ure n

on e g unlicensed S a d d 9 9

igures, tally

with their exports to Antwerp for example Ghana, which produced (632,000 carats in

Source: Sierra L one, Dia ond and uman Se rity: Jan ry 2000, ge 3551 f diamond r ducti n in the We can

nt wh ch wer export d. The amount of diamond exp rted from

te fig s in various years before the United Nations Ba

xportin ierra Leone n iamon in 1 9 .

Comparison between the two table shows that most country’s production f

51 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:35


29

at 150,000 carats of diamond

in 1998, exported a total number of approximately 2.5 million carats of diamond

in reserves in turn export less diamonds compared to a countries like

dollar.

1995, and exported 643,000), almost a close gap. Compared to Sierra Leone which

produced a total of (8,500 carats in 1998, but exported a total of 770,000 carats to

Antwerp in 1998).

- Liberia on the other hand, which production stands

to Antwerp.

However, these statistics does not include diamonds which were exported to other places

from Sierra Leone, example: Israel, India, New York and De Beers CSO. This statistics

still creates some kind of confusion as a result of which countries like Sierra Leone which

has much diamonds

Liberia which has a larger export, this might be due to the smuggling of diamonds away

from Sierra Leone into Liberia, and tagging them as Liberia diamonds to deviate

international awareness.

The statistical table in the next page has been collected from the public statistics section

of the Kimberly process and rough diamond statistics, and it is showing a selected

amount of high producing diamond countries worldwide and their regions. The volumes

of diamond produced by various countries are shown in approximate; according the

figures provided by various government statistics, and the values of diamond after

production is given in US

Table 3: Annual Global summary of diamond production in selected countries

Annual Global Summary: 2007 Production Summary Report

Production Country Name Volume, cts Value, US$ US$/ cts Angola 9,701,708.71 $1,271,955,353.15 $131.11Australia 18,538,645.31 $364,629,604.10 $19.67Botswana 33,638,000.00 $2,960,144,000.00 $88.00Brazil 256,964.00 $25,807,516.00 $100.43


30

43Canada 17,007,850.00 $1,657,014,734.47 $97.Central Africa Rep 467,710.53 $59,857,870.53 $127.98D R Congo 28,452,496.25 $364,783,294.22 $12.82Ghana 3 $25.93894,783.20 $23,202,421.7Guinea 1,018 46,101,145.27 45.25,722.90 $Israel Lesotho 454,014.21 8.64 22.77$328,146,96 $7Liberia 21,699.74 $2,657,541.58 $122.47Namibia 2,266,09953 $715,434,111.10 $315.71Russia 38,291,200.00 $2,625,100,500.00 $68.56Sierra Leone 603,623.04 $141,565,685.21 $234.53South Africa 15,210,833.33 $1,417,331,400.12 $93.18Tanzania 279,332.57 $28,315,098.53 $101.37Togo 17,362.03 $1,709,643.50 $98.47Zimbabwe 695,015.99 $31,400,903.61 $45.18 Source: Kimberly Process Certification Diamo ote: this table inc

untries from the rough diamond st Kimberly p scheme and does n

.

ve also shows th of d inside Sierra L

high, compared to other A ducing Botswana and

relatively small coun ight be due to the smuggling of dia

side Sierra Leone which were not recorded by the authorities; the instability due to the

e Appendix for Annual Global Summary: 2007 Imports, Exports and KPC

ounts.

duction

Scheme, Rough nd Statistics 2007. N ludes just

selected co atistics of the rocess certification ot include

all countries

The table abo at the volume iamond produced eone is

not as frican pro countries like Ghana

which are tries. This m monds

in

civil unrest might also have led to a low production of diamonds in the country.

Refer to th

C

According to the findings of Smillie, Gberie and Hazleton (2000) in their report,

government officials in Sierra Leone have estimated that about large numbers of the

country’s diamond production has been stolen or has been exported illegally, so this is

not therefore including in the table above, making the amount of recorded pro

lower, compared to other countries.52



31

and manages affairs within the Central Selling

rganization (CSO), while the lather takes care of all Diamond operations in Namibia,

ell as all trading companies with them which includes the Central Selling

d in the country, with another buying office in

reetown and still participated in the new highly competitive diamond business.

years have grown to be able to generate billions of dollars annually, with the mining and

4.1 De Beer

The name ‘De Beer’ was actually derived from two companies, De Beer Consolidated

Mines Limited (DBCM) with headquarters in Kimberly, South Africa and De Beers

Centenary AG (DECAG). The former controls most activities which includes mining of

diamond offshore in South Africa,

O

Botswana, as w

Organization (CSO). The main function of the CSO is to search for diamonds all over the

world, including getting from its own mines, and with its location of offices all over the

world, it is able to buy diamonds from outside sources and in turn sell them to

sightholders, whom are practically designated by De Beer. De Beer is said to purchase a

large majority of all the diamonds worldwide, and through the CSO, they set the prices by

manipulating both supply and demand.53

Subsequent chapter will discuss about how De Beer’s business continued to flourish in

Sierra Leone until the rise of illegalities in 1956 and the aftermath of independence in

1961; when SLST was nationalize to allow the participation of other companies in the

diamond business inside Sierra Leone by the new indigenous government. But De Beers’

Sierra Leone Selection Trust still remaine

F

4.1.1 De Beers and Diamond Worldwide

As I have previously mentioned, the business of diamond is very massive and over the



32

jewelry,

orth US $49.4 billion’’, but this huge industry is regarded to be largely controlled by

just a single company which dictates the price and also supply up to around 70 and 80

utput. 54 ‘‘According to Smillie, Gberie &

1984, selling the remaining shares to the Precious Metals

ompany (PMMC), which was owned by a Lebanese businessman in Sierra Leone.56 But

n’t end there, as the company still

oes not have any dealings with diamonds from

ierra Leone, De Beer still has an office in Monrovia, Liberia, where it purchases

production of diamonds from several country who are supposed to reap the benefits of

these. ‘‘Each year the diamond industry sells 67.1 million pieces of diamond

w

percent of the world’s rough diamond o

Hazleton 2000, De Beer practically controls the flow and sets the prices of rough

diamond worldwide’’. 55

4.2 De Beer and connection to Sierra Leone

The relationship between De Beer and Sierra Leone which was over the years cordial

until after independence when the industry was nationalized, leading to the creation of

several other diamond rivals, leaving De Beer on a struggling position. This, as

previously discussed, made the company to give up its involvement with diamonds in

Sierra Leone officially in

C

the relationship between De Beer and Sierra Leone did

held some rights of offshore mining.

According to the report of Smillie, Gberie & Hazleton 2000, ‘‘De Beers still held

concessions and rights for offshore mining in Sierra Leone, and in 1997 the company had

a tentative plans to re-open a small purchasing office in Freetown’’, but it was not

successful due to continued hostilities and unstable governments in Sierra Leone.57

Although, the company maintains that it d

S 54 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:21

55 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:22 56 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:5 57 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:28


33

does

ot deal on diamonds which are transferred to Monrovia by smugglers and illicit traders.

Sierra Leone’s early history and challenges

his part looks into Sierra Leone’s historical period and the challenges which were been

ced by the government as well as the people of Sierra Leone. This type of historical

formation can be useful in determining the factors which triggered the conflict and can

lso be important to analyze the greed and grievance model.

Arriving at a final conclusion on the cause of the conflict in Sierra Leone can be very

challenging because the greed and grievance model both can be proven to be the reason

why the rebels of Sierra Leone carried out their attacks. On one hand, it can be concluded

that the rebels acted out of their greedy nature which is supported by many analyst, but on

diamonds from the open markets. But as this report has previously shown, Liberia has

been a major transit point for the smugglers of diamonds from Sierra Leone, and this is

difficult to identify whether those diamonds are not been purchased by De Beers buying

office in Monrovia, Liberia, so it is quite a difficult task to conclude that De Beer

n

5

T

fa

in

a


34

vance, which grew from

the country’s history.

n America were taken from

ierra Leone to the islands off the coast of the southern United States; and during the

ierra Leone became a British Protectorate, but the benefits of the

ountry’s abundant resources were rarely channeled to the people of Sierra Leone, as the

, agricultural products and

ntury, Freetown housed the British governor who was in

harge of several other West African countries, Gold Coast (Ghana) and The Gambia

the other hand it can also be concluded that they acted out of grie

5.1 Sierra Leone background- pre- independence

Sierra Leone is regarded as one of the first countries in the region to come in contact with

the Europeans. The first slaves that were brought to Norther

S

1700’s, the trade was lucrative as a lot of slaves were needed to work in the plantations of

South Carolina and Georgia.58

The British helped freed slaves from the United States, Nova Scotia and Great Britain

to return to Sierra Leone in 1787 and to establish a settlement called ‘‘Province of

Freedom’’.59 In 1896, S

c

rule was centered for export of primary goods such as iron

diamonds. The rural areas were largely ignored, and the urban centers were mainly for

trade and administrative activities; a means to channel out raw materials from the

country.60

In the beginning of the 19th ce

c

Settlements, and Sierra Leone’s educational system was one of the best in the region due

to its adoption of the British University pattern, and was a regular choice for other

English speaking African countries in the west coast.61 The country is bounded on the

north and north east by the Republic of Guinea, on the east by the Republic of Liberia 58 U S Department of States 07/12/2008 59 U S Department of States 07/12/2008 60 K David, 2005: 8 61 U S Department of States 07/12/2008


35

e are approximately twelve districts, one hundred and forty nine chiefdoms

nd three hundred and ninety four wards in Sierra Leone, with Freetown as the capital of

w Sir Milton Margai appointed the Chief Minister, and later became the

rime Minister in 1960.63

neighboring West African country Ghana, were they were currently based at that time.

and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Sierra Leone which was a former colony of

Britain just like many countries in Africa, gained its independence on the 27th of April

1961. Ther

a

the country.62

Although Sierra Leone appeared to be peaceful during the colonial era compared to other

countries in the region, the colonial history of Sierra Leone was not so smooth, as the

indigenous people tried to mount a few revolts against the then British rule, showing that

they were not so satisfied with the colonial administration of the country, but these

revolts were unsuccessful. But most of the twentieth century colonial history of Sierra

Leone was very peaceful however, and the country successfully got its freedom from the

British colonial rule peacefully without any violence. Its 1951 constitution included a

framework for decolonization, and local ministerial responsibility was introduced in

1953, which sa

P

5.2 Sierra Leone Diamond History

Diamonds which were first discovered in Sierra Leone in a small town called Kono

District in 1930 is said to be among one of the world’s best and high quality diamonds. It

came about when a group of geological survey team led by N.R Junner and his Assistant

J.D. Pollet found a piece of crystal near the Gboraba stream, and this subsequently was

made known to the British who were the colonial authorities at that time.64 The assistance

of the British company De Beer was needed in Sierra Leone, and they came in from the

ierra Leone Legal System and Legal Research 62 H Kabbah 2006, S

63 U S Department of States 07/12/2008 64 I Smillie, L Gberie & RHazleton, 2000:41


36

1935 between the Colonial authority and De Beer’s Sierra

eone Selection Trust (SLST which was formed following an agreement between the

ated African Selection Trust CAST), giving

create in the future.

An agreement was made in

L

Sierra Leone government and the Consolid

the exclusive right of mining and prospecting diamond for a period of 99 years. The

company was also subjected to pay an income tax of 27 percent of its profit made, and

also create a special development fund for the district of Kono.65 Another group which

were there to be satisfied by the company were the local chiefs from the region who were

the original owners of the lands were the discoveries were made, but they did not pose

any threat to neither the mining company nor the government, as they were almost

unconcerned, and unable to comprehend the long term impact which the diamond mining

would

De Beer’s Sierra Leone Selection Trust enjoyed its absolute monopoly in Sierra Leone

diamond industry for many years with some kind of satisfaction from the local chiefs

who had no problems with the foreign mining company, this lasted until 1956 when the

presence of illegal and unauthorized miners (consisting of Lebanese businessmen) inside

Sierra Leone started to pose a treat for the company’s monopolistic pattern, and these act

was brought huge losses and also created a breakdown of law and order which the

company could not control even with its private securities employed. In 1956, the number

of illicit miners grew to nearly 75,000 in Kono district, and the majority of the problem

was blamed on the SLST itself, which had some of its internal members involved in the

illicit act or supporting illegal mining activities.66

65 I Smillie, L Gberie & RHazleton, 2000:41 66 I Smillie, L Gberie & RHazleton, 2000:41


37

as in its system of government which

as undemocratic. Apart from the 1960’s and beginning of the 70’s, the country had two

rded as revolving around just a few

he visibility of division in ethnicity was common after independence in 1961, when

5.3 Post- Independence ‘‘1961 onward’’

After the achievement of independence in 1961, the lack of development and

mismanagement which was introduced by the British was not largely changed, the new

development pattern also saw a huge separation between the mining companies (De Beer)

and the rest of the country’s economy.67 This development pattern was continued by the

indigenous Sierra Leoneans who took over the affairs of the country from their colonial

masters.

Another area was the administration of Sierra Leone which took the same direction of the

colonial and the new independent Sierra Leone w

w

decades of one party rule, and power was rega

particular ethnic group, mainly the Temne speakers of the north and the Mende speakers

of the south and east, which brought about the issue to ethnicity in politics of Sierra

Leone. The Mende were largely involved in the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), of

which Milton Margai became the first Prime Minister of Sierra Leone, while most of the

Temne supported the All People’s Congress (APC).68

T

appeals to ethnicity became the cheapest way to win supporters in any election in Sierra

Leone. The Mende tribe was dominant in Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), while the

other which was the All People’s Congress (APC) got most of its supporters from the

Temne tribe.69 The SLPP was created by the first Prime Minister Milton Margai, and it

tried to bring the various ethnic group together by appointing people from other tribes,

but these attempts to unite the country was not seen as successful, due to the fact that

67 K David, 2005: 8

68 K David, 2005: 14 69 K David, 2005: 14


38

arrangements, and also because

e first Prime Minister was a Mende.70

the elections and took over power in 1967,

hich was visible in the Army, Police, and even labor

leaders whom were been appointed and brought into parliament, police and army chiefs

en created with the growing poverty and isolation of the rural

reas, and lack of equity in resource distribution, due to overcentralization. ‘‘Socio

other opposition groups had the notion that the SLPP leadership did not seem to pay

much attention to regional balancing in power-sharing

th

5.3.1 The politics of Patronage

With the independence already gained in Sierra Leone and the future of the country in the

hands of just a few people, and also with the politics of ethnicity becoming a great

priority in the country, patronage was seen not just to those who are in the same ethnic

groups, but also to win support of all those who were seen as creating any obstacles in the

way of the ruling elites.

Siaka Stevens who became a prominent figure in Sierra Leone even before the country’s

independence, created the APC which won

but it only ruled by favoritism w

were brought into cabinet. Recruitments of police were been done by bribery and money

was been used to buy higher positions in the force in return for bags of rice and other

gains which they made when they are already members.71

Grievances was also be

a

economic development was confined to Freetown, and a few other towns, leading to the

feeling of deprivation in the rural community and countryside’s’’.72

lton, 2006: 21 70 A Ayissi and R. E. Pou

71 K David, 2005: 19 72 A Ayissi and R. E. Poulton, 2006: 21


39

he use of violence or the threat

f violence, and the ruling elites from the APC often force people who try to protest with

here was sometimes factionalism in the army during the early period of 1968 which

resulted in a coup plot against Siaka Stevens, and this led to the creation of a special

rity Division (SSD), and they were usually well

armed unlike the weakened armed forces. This group was also formed from the APC

External actors and Rise of International Crime

ond business, and this finally led to an

5.3.2 Political power and Intimidation

The Sierra Leonia politics was very much associated with t

o

the use of the police and army who were often on their side, top generals and high ranked

officials in these forces were been appointed by the APC from their stronghold, and

thereby marginalizing others who were from other parties or other ethnic groups.

T

security force known as the Special Secu

stronghold and informally recruited APC thugs, and their mission was to practically

reduce the strength of the military involvement, and also to intimidate other opponents of

the APC, as well as local chiefs. Example was in 1977 when they stopped the protest by

Fourah Bay College students against the APC.73

5.4 NewIn the 1930s when De Beer arrived in Sierra Leone, the SLST had enjoyed absolute

mining rights of diamonds over the years in Sierra Leone which was assigned to them by

the colonial administration and was suppose to last for a period of 99 years.74 But soon

came the new ways discovered by illegal miners, whom were not assigned the right to

collect diamond from Sierra Leone, these however was said to be made up of a majority

of Lebanese traders who were inside Sierra Leone and discovered that the illegal process

was a quick way to make out money from the diam

d 10/01/2009 eweler.com/archives/hottopics/sierraleone1.html

73 K David, 2005: 17 74 PJM, Sierra Leone 1935-2000: accessehttp://www.professionalj


40

ncontrollable situation, were the security of the mining areas were surrendered to those

e Prime Minister.76 The amount of illicit

iners and traders increased in 1971 when the SLST was nationalized, and a new route

h the Mano River. The ongoing

u

international investors which were there.75

5.5 End of monopoly and rise of illegal trade

When Siaka Stevens became Prime Minister of Sierra Leone in 1967, he created the

National Diamond Mining Company (NDMC) in 1971, which effectively nationalized

SLST; taking a total number of 51% of the total SLST shares and SLST owning just 49 %

of previous shares. The new NDMC board was supposed to comprise 11 members, which

six would come from the government and the remaining five would be from the SLST;

but Siaka appointed a Lebanese Businessman Jamil Mohammed to take charge of affairs,

but all important decisions were still made by th

m

was discovered to move diamonds into Liberia throug

situation forced the new government to ask all foreign companies to provide their own

private security in the country; but more diamonds continued to be sent out of the country

to Liberia. These diamonds were sold out tagged as Liberian diamonds, and also forcing

De Beer to open a buying office in Monrovia, when it saw the booming business of

diamond inside Liberia. De Beer tried to handle the problem inside Sierra Leone by using

its buying offices in Liberia to purchase diamonds, but finally ended its business in Sierra

Leone in 1984, when it sold its remaining shares to the Precious Metals Mining Company

(PMMC), a company that was set up by the Lebanese trader Jamil Mohammed.77

75 PJM, Sierra Leone 1935-2000: accessed 10/01/2009 http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/hottopics/76 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:45

sierraleone1.html



41

Analysis .1 The emergence of a Rebellion in Sierra Leone and conflict (1991 to

002)

.1.1 Revolutionary United Front (RUF)

ver the years, the situation in Sierra Leone had continued to deteriorate economically

nd otherwise, and the frustrations began to emerge from ordinary civilians who were

deprived their own rights; their resources been stolen by few elites, and there was no

hope for improvement in the situation. These were as a result of the corrupt regime of the

All Peoples Congress (APC), which concentrated on embezzling the country’s wealth,

66

2

6

O

a


42

a large proportion of marginalized and frustrated youth.78 Consequently,

y

united front (RUF) in launching their attacks into the country, as well as recruiting

er.

er

the other two top members of the RUF (Kanu and Mansaray), whom

ad previously helped in launching the first insurgency attacks. These acts created

thereby creating

the situations of these individuals made them an easy target for the new revolutionar

man-pow

The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) which was led by Foday Sankoh, a form

member of the Sierra Leonean army, before he was jailed and later exiled; together with

some NPFL military personnel and as well as mercenaries from Burkina Faso; formed

this insurgency group. At first, the rebel group was seen as a combination of angry youths

trying to oppose the government due to past grievances which they have had and to try to

liberate the country from corrupt leaders. But the mission of the RUF was soon changed

from been politically motivated, to just another common rebel group in Africa, made up

of rogues and touts. This became the case when they started threatening, raping, and

killing these same people whom they have previously claimed to protect.79 This even led

to the execution of

h

confusions as to what the real aim and purpose of the RUF were; and whether their

mission in Sierra Leone was actually grievances towards the government, or greed

towards the resource wealth.

The first RUF invasion into Sierra Leone came from Liberia. It is believed that the Sierra

Leonean conflict was a spill over from the civil war in Liberia, which was between the

Charles Taylor led NPFL rebel group and the Liberian government in 1989. It was from

these rebel held town in Liberia that some group of armed Sierra Leoneans, backed by

Taylor’s NPFL first launched attacks into Kailahun district, on the Eastern part of Sierra

78 A Nilsson, 2008: 110 79 K David, 2005: 36


43

with the help of well equipped troops from Guinea, halted

e rebels. In July 1991, the rebels were significantly dominant in most of the towns they

from 6,000 to about 14,000 soldiers in 1992.82

preferred operating at night as rebels, extracting diamonds, raping, and stealing from

Leone.80 Their success led to further advancement into the country, which made them

attack towns like Bomaru and Senga within few months; the next point was the town of

Daru located in southern Kailahun, but the swift intervention of the Sierra Leonia

government forces, combined

th

had captured, including the Kailahun District and the Diamond-rich town of Kono that

remained under their control.81

The retreat of the rebel group was seen as a little success for the Sierra Leonean

government and the SLA at that time; but the corruption which loomed around in the

country’s administration soon grew into the army, as many senior officers who were

supporters of the APC began to embezzle funds which were meant for other troops that

were engaged in the battle. The result of this was a growing anger of frustration within

the army, which led to the seizure of power from the APC on April 1992 by a group of

lower ranked army officers, led by Valentine Strasser. This new government called

themselves the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC), and in no time began a

large recruitment in the SLA; rising

The new government began to make some progress in the country as well as organizing

its military against the RUF. The SLA launched an attack against the RUF positions in

1993, and this made the rebels to change their tactics of operating in densely populated

areas, to a new style of operating from the bushes; making it difficult for the army to

determine their positions. Apart from the new style which the RUF had adopted, another

problem that SLA had was within its own army; bad soldiers known as the ‘sobels’.

These group of soldiers felt deprived and marginalized by their own superiors, and

80 W Reno, 1998: 113

37 81 K David, 2005: 36 &82 A Nilsson, 2008: 110


44

obel’ and the weakness of the SLA, made the rebels launch a comeback in the country,

These new clashes created problems for the new government, which were already starting

civilians. These acts by the so called ‘sobels’ created fear among civilians, and reduced

the trust they had on the SLA; thereby boosting the powers of the RUF. The combination

‘s

and this time they extended up to the outskirt of Freetown.83

6.1.2 From grievance to grievances

Although the new government which was formed in Sierra Leone after the overthrow of

Joseph Saidu Momoh by a group of low ranked soldiers led by Valentine Strasser in the

April 29th 1992 coup plot, made little success in its aim to re-stabilizing the West African

country and try to put an end to the conflict by eliminating the RUF with its newly

formed military (SLA).84 There were a lot of problems due to these acts which were

being carried out by ‘sobels’. The trust for the government depreciated in the society, and

the local communities started protecting themselves with the creation of a local militia

from traditional hunting societies; solely to fight back against these irregular soldiers

‘sobel’ and the RUF’s attacks.85

to loose control of their own military. There was a break down of law and order in the

society, as well as an unstable or less powerful government; the newly formed Mende

militias also created tensions within the country. Amidst all these, the NPRC government

decided that elections would be carried out in the country in February 1996, but this was

widely unaccepted by the RUF. Irrespective of the RUF’s threats to the electorate and the

general public, the election was held in Sierra Leone and a new government came into

1

83 A Nilsson, 2008: 111 84 K David, 2005: 93 85 A Nilsson, 2008: 11


45

e tribe of the country.86

diamond was said to be high inside Sierra

banese involvement in

siness was related to the Lebanese civil war, and from the

late 1970s to the early 1990s, the Sierra Leone diamond was use by some of the militias

power with Ahmed Tejan Kabbah from the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), which

was supported greatly by the Mend

The new government by Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, also had the same aim by the last

government in trying to stop the conflict by eliminating the RUF, but they had a different

strategy in doing this, as they were reluctant to use the SLA in these operations, but

preferred to use the Mende militias instead. This began to create a whole new form of

grievances not only with the Mende and Temne tribes of Sierra Leone, but it created

grievances and hatred against the government by the SLA, who were feeling deprived

from the way the new government handled and treated the army.

6.1.3 The Role of Lebanon

The presence of Lebanese traders dealing with

Leone, and according to Smillie, Gberie & Hazleton 2000, these traders were active in the

illegal mining and trading of diamonds in the West African country even before the

industry was said to have been nationalized. The visibility of these traders grew

enormously when the industry was nationalized and they began to work hand in hand

with the new Siaka Stevens Sierra Leones government who began to sideline De Beer.87

According to Smillie, Gberie & Hazleton, Another aspect of the Le

the Sierra Leone diamond bu

as a source of funding through which they got from informal taxes or reliefs, helping

different factions in raising funds internationally for various groups back in Lebanon.88

86 A Nilsson, 2008: 111

. Hazleton, 2000:46

. Hazleton, 2000:46 87 I Smillie, L Gberie & R88 I Smillie, L Gberie & R


46

ccording to Keen David 2005, ‘‘the Sierra Leonean war effectively spilled over from

h

attacks against his rebel positions.90 But despite this, we would see that a great Liberian

Sierra Leone even before the RUF conflict began, this was

first started during the great diamond rush in the 1950s, when a huge amount of diamonds

December 2000 the United Nations Security Council decided to place an embargo on

every export of gems out of the troubled West African country Sierra Leone, which was

6.1.4 The Role of Liberia

A

the civil war which began in Liberia in 1989, when a small group or rebel crossed into

Sierra Leone in 1991 from NPFL territory’’.89 And also, many believed that the ex-

Liberian rebel leader (Charles Taylor) wanted to punish Sierra Leone because of its

support for the monitoring troops from ECOMOG (Economic Community of West

African States Military Observer Group), which used Sierra Leone as a base to launc

influence has been seen in

started to go out of Sierra Leone through Monrovia, because of probably the porous

borders, and the ‘‘untaxed prices offered by dealers who created offices in Monrovia’’91

so that they could buy diamonds which has been stolen through the borders into Liberia.

Despite having little diamond reserves, Liberia continued to export a pretty much higher

volumes of diamond into the world market, and in the 1950s, an estimated 20 percent of

all the diamonds sold in to the world were smuggled away from Sierra Leone, probably

through Liberia which had several diamond marketers relocating to Monrovia.

6.1.5 Diamond’s impact on Sierra Leone

After careful analysis, the United Nations also discovered that illegal diamonds had a role

in fuelling and prolonging conflicts in countries like Sierra Leone and Angola, and in 1

89 K David, 2005: 36 90 K David, 2005: 37 91 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:48 & 49


47

r 70 years

since its discovery in the West African country, but according to the United Nations

level of human development in 179 countries,

tends, and the distribution of wealth is very poor. It is as

portant to look into the diamond in Sierra Leone when talking about the conflict

adopted by the Security Council’s resolution 1306 on 5 July 2000.92 But the country is

not just a new player in the production and exportation of Diamond throughout the world,

and the problem associated with the production of Diamond inside the country did not

just erupt recently.93 Sierra Leone has been a producer of Diamond for ove

Human Development Index which rates the

Sierra Leone stands as the country with the lowest Gross National Products in the world,

(with HDI of 0.329%) and is last in the UNHDI report. This of course is different,

compared to some other African country that are rich in Diamond, and this has had a

positive effect in their own economy, example of these is Botswana which has a medium

human development, and is ranked 126 in the Human Development Index with a HDI of

0.664 in 2006.94

There is not doubt that diamond has been very influential in Sierra Leone since its

discovery in the West African country even before independence. It has been the

country’s greatest sources of income from its trade, even though high majorities of the

diamonds are being smuggled or are controlled by just a few elites (mainly government

officials and rebels) and their counterparts in the country. A country like Sierra Leone

with such an enormous amount of diamonds might have been among the richest and most

satisfied country’s in the world, but Sierra Leone is still ranked as one of the most poorest

country today, and instability has been constant in its economy, as the gap between the

rich and the poor continuously ex

well im

in Sierra Leone, as many writers have argued that the diamond has been the main source

which fuelled the conflict in Sierra Leone, and the main reason why the RUF attacked the

92 UN, Conflict Diamonds, Sanctions and War 93 PJM, Sierra Leone 1935-2000: accessed 10/01/2009 http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/hottopics/sierraleone1.html 94 UNDP, Human Development Report, 2008 Statistical Update


48

he big question is whether the rebels in Sierra Leone started the conflict against the

government due to greed for economic wealth, or grievances which they had against the

government? This question I believe can be answered by looking into the country’s

history which shows a tendency for a backlash or rebellion from the people of Sierra

government in the first place, due to their anger on the distribution of resources and

wealth in the country. These diamonds also propelled and prolonged the civil war, in the

sense that it was used to fund several activities by both the rebels and the government,

examples is purchasing weapons and ammunitions for fighters of the different factions.

Unlike other natural resources like Oil and Natural gas which requires high sophisticated

equipment to extract which makes them unlootable, Diamonds are very much different,

as they are regarded as lootable natural resources and rebel groups have easy access to

them due to the fact that they can easily be extracted, using unskilled labor, and also easy

to smuggled or transported because they are small in sizes. According to K Ballentine & J

Sherman (2003) ‘‘the more lootable a resource is, the more likely it is to benefit a rebel

group, and the more unlootable it is, the more likely it is to benefit the government’’,95

But in diamonds, both parties are likely to benefits from controlling areas were they are

located, which were the Kailahun and Kono districts.

7 Conclusions

The main aim of this paper has been to look into the influence of diamonds in the history

of Sierra Leone and the conflict which happened from 1991 to 2002. However, not all

countries in Africa that are resource rich, are bound to engage in conflict; example

Botswana. Sierra Leone has been an exceptional case due to the emergence of a Civil

War.

7.1 A Question of Greed or Grievance?

T

95 K Ballentine & J Sherman, 2003: 56


49

onomic crisis in the country, corruption which created a huge gap

between the rich and the power, and also the lose of control of the country’s own military

elationship between Diamonds and the Conflict.

e government of Sierra Leone and the

Leone due to the ec

and security forces. The RUF took advantage of the weakness of the state and its

unpopular support the government had, to recruit a large number of fighters during their

campaign, because of the grievances the people had towards the government.

7.2 R

Diamonds are the main source of revenue for th

expectations of the people depend on these diamonds industries in order to be fulfilled.

According to K Ballentine & H Nitzschke, 2003: ‘‘recent quantitative research indicates a

strong correlation between natural resources abundance in a given country and the risk of

armed conflict, and the impact of the conflict varies according to the type of resources

that are available (lootable or unlootable)’’.96

The diamonds in Sierra Leone was a major source of revenue to the Revolutionary United

Front during the conflict period and access to these natural resources helped in acquiring

arms for their campaign.

In conclusion, I would say that the diamonds was not the major cause of the civil war in

Sierra Leone, but grievance which has generated from the historical period inside Sierra

Leone. This means that the diamonds was just acting as a propelling factor, that was able

to fuel the conflict by helping both the rebels and the government to purchase more

ammunition and manpower in order to continue fighting. This conclusion is based on the

following reasons which were discovered during my research:-

96 K Ballentine & H Nitzschke, 2003: 4


50

inary citizens.

d from Sierra Leone. He came back to Sierra Leone after

undergoing military training in Libya, and carried out his attack through Liberia.

rge number of manpower

for the rebels to recruit easily for their attacks.

ntries such as Liberia. It is

believed that Charles Taylor of Liberia participated in arming the RUF, as a result

cture, which

rovided social amenities for its people. The future of Sierra Leone depends on its

government, and with the help of the United Nations peacekeepers, the country has being

able to make some progress towards reconstruction.

- Historical Inequality which was present before independence and even after

independence among the elites and ord

- The formation of RUF can be linked to previous student association. They had

previously rioted in the country several times, before their first leader (Foday

Sankoh) was exile

- The oppression of citizens by the government and misuse of the country’s wealth

through various level of corruption, leading to lack of development.

- The breakdown of various social economic structure and amenities in the country

such as lack of schools and unemployment, created a la

- The external factor which involves neighboring cou

of the grievances he had with Sierra Leonean government for allowing ECOMOG

to use the country as a base for launching attacks in Liberia. Sierra Leone had also

earlier refused him access to launch his insurgency against previous Liberian

government from Freetown.

However, it would have being very difficult for the RUF to gain support from the local

people inside Sierra Leone, suppose there was a good governmental stru

p


51

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Appendix I

Annual Global Summary: 2007 Impo E ts and tsrts, xpor KPC Coun Summary Report

Import Export C Counts KP Country Volume, cts Value, US$ US$/ cts Volum s Value, US$ $/ cts p Export e, ct US Im ort Angola 32.60 174 8,520,485.75 $1,129,774,806.55 $1 Australia 443,606.37 11,796,179.34 $26.59 19,862, .6 463,99 3 3.36 8 174 137 2 $ 8,61 .41 $2 11 Botswana 222,860.50 119,446,442.21 $535.97 34,962,965.9 $3,170,056,591.20 0.67 5 67 8 $9 22 Brazil 6,606.65 201,628.45 $30.52 168,070.79 18,017,143. 07.20 54 $ 17 $1 10Canada 1,034,728.60 128,007,497.57 $123.71 17,444,702.8 $1,693,808,096.90 7.10 0 298 3 $9 32 C A Rep 417,710.53 59,857,870. 43.30 107 $ 53 $1 D R Congo 28,331,376.3 609,833,223 1.53 1,360 5 $ .00 $2 Ghana 865,,612.78 27,863,557. 2.19 134 $ 48 $3 Guinea 108,761.62 2,316,683.39 $21.30 1,009,732.96 50,197,581. 9.71 8 154 $ 82 $4Israel 23,901,390.12 5,858,193,455.77 $245.10 23,580,428.6 $4,135,209,707.34 75.37 , 6,717 7 $1 10 917 Lesotho Liberia 224,936.88 $164,073,484.32 29.42 22 $7 Namibia 148,028.51 108,178,510.88 $730.80 2,266,463.84 748,052,673 30.05 94 60 $ .92 $3Russia 202,018.11 20,229,218.37 $100.14 28,874,732.8 $2,002,499,682.82 0.04 1,695 1 $7 38Sierra Leone

41.51 30,045.00 $723.80 603,623.04 34.53 374 $141,565,685.21 $2 1

South Africa

1,239,334.28 2,113,894,527.23 $1,705.67 13,889,687.8 $1,867,334,580.89 34.44 1,392 9 $1 440

Tanzania 2,541.80 487,356.85 $191.74 275,681.04 $28,496,515.65 $103.37 107 30 Togo 13,091.71 $1,242,952.50 $94.94 4 Zimbabwe 286.51 13,248.15 $46.24 489,170.76 $23,377,870.35 7.79 17 $4 2