President Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Visits Kono

His Excellency, President Kabbah, paid a working visit to Koidu Town, District Headquarter of the Kono District on Wednesday, 27 August 2003.

The President who travelled by helicopter from the Presidential Lodge was accompanied by Cabinet Ministers and high-ranking government officials. Earlier in the morning at about 9 a.m. Vice President Solomon Berewa took off in a separate helicopter together with some more cabinet ministers, the U.S.A. Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Peter Chaveas, British High Commissioner, Dr. John Mitchener, Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General Alan Doss, USAID Country Manager, Julie Koenen-Grant, representatives of the Press and other officials.

President Kabbah's first engagement in Koidu was to officially open the rehabilitated Kono Government Hospital which had been destroyed during the rebel war. At a well-attended function the ceremony was opened with both Muslim and Christian prayers and Paramount Chief Sahr Fengai Kaimachende read the welcome address.

Sahr Randolph Fillie-Faboe, Resident Minister for the Eastern Province, chaired the occasion while Sahr Nyaama, spokesman of the Peace Diamond Alliance, gave an overview of the Alliance. U.S. Ambassador, Peter Chaveas, read his statement and President Kabbah gave the keynote address and launched the Peace Diamond Alliance. Mrs. Mary Musa, Chairperson of the Koidu/New Sembehun Town Council, delivered the vote of thanks.

President Kabbah's Statement embodied a major policy on the diamond industry in Sierra Leone.

He regretted that the problems of Illegal mining, smuggling, environmental damage, use of child labour and misuse of official authority in the local diamond industry had resulted in decreased benefits for the average Sierra Leonean.

While stressing that such "bad practices" must be halted, President Kabbah pointed out that their continuation would otherwise destroy the country's economy and might even endanger the reputation, security and image of Sierra Leone.

"My Government and our development partners will spare no efforts to bring [such practices] to an end," the Head of State noted, adding that a set of new measures had been adopted, which should succeed in "eradicating those undesirable practices, which had plagued our diamond industry for so long". It is reported that In 2002, only USD 41 million of the projected USD 300 million worth of diamonds mined in Sierra Leone were legally exported, while the rest were exported through illegal channels.

In this regard, the President further indicated that solutions to some of these problems could be found in such important initiatives as the Kono Peace Diamond Alliance, which was also formally launched at the Koidu Town Field Wednesday.

The Kono Peace Diamond Alliance is a formidable coalition involving the governments of Sierra Leone, United States (USAID) and Britain (DfID), diamond industry experts, community representatives, legitimate members of the private sector, human rights organizations and traditional leaders of the Kono community, all working towards improving the country's ability to manage, regulate, and police diamond activities thereby improving the legality and profitability of diamond mining in Sierra Leone.

"Every diamond that is smuggled out of this country robs the nation of the resources we need to build roads, schools, and clinics and money to pay the salaries of our valued public servants," the President stressed, adding that "smuggling also robs communities of their fair share of diamond export taxes - money that could go toward development projects that are desperately needed."

He also referred to some recent important initiatives designed to ensure that the country, its people and bona fide investors derive benefits from the diamond trade and from their legitimate investment. Such efforts, he said, are beginning to bear fruits. The Diamond Area Community Development Fund recently established has started ploughing a percentage of diamond export taxes collected back to the communities and legal diamond exports have tripled in the past two years as more miners were taking out legal licenses, while Illegal mining operations were being paralysed.

He called on chiefs and communities themselves to take responsibility for ensuring that diamond mining and dealing is conducted legally. "We need your cooperation. We need your eyes and ears to detect illegal practices in the industry and expose them. This is your patriotic duty as citizens of this beautiful country," he said.

Meanwhile, President Kabbah had also instructed the Ministers of Finance, Mineral Resources, Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, Trade and Industry, Local Government and Community Development, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, the Police and the Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, singly or in collaboration with each other to speedily review policy measures and provide appropriate guidelines and regulatory framework for the industry's operation within two weeks. This will include re-examining the existing penalty for the unlawful possession of diamonds so as to make it an effective deterrent. In addition, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in collaboration with the Minister of Local Government and Community Development are to "provide guidelines for the implementation of the provison in Section 18 of the Constitution which authorizes the imposition of restrictions on the movement or residence of Sierra Leoneans in designated diamond mining areas, particularly Kono, as a measure reasonably required in the interest of the proper management and exploitation of the mineral resources of the country". President Kabbah said the pronouncement should serve as further warning that any illegal or unlawful conduct by foreigners in the diamond trade would render them liable to immediate expulsion from Sierra Leone, although he made it clear that there was no desire on the part of government to renege on its commitments to respect the free movement within Sierra Leone of citizens from ECOWAS member States. "We are only taking steps to prevent activities that are inimical to the economy and security interests of Sierra Leone," he added. However, he warned that no Sierra Leonean should try to take the law into their own hands by trying to enforce such restrictions themselves. "Only legal law enforcement agencies have that right," he stressed.