The Role of Diamonds in Sierra Leone History and Conflict a Study Based on the West African Country Sierra Leone

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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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

‘‘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.

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

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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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

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

2.1.2 Advantages of Case Study Methods Just as case study methods continues to be the preferred form of carrying out research by 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

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

- 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

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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

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

43 K Ballentine & H Nitzschke, 2003: 13 44 Ibid:13 45 Collier and Hoeffler, 2002 46 I Abdullah, 2006: 12

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On the other hand, Collier and Hoeffler’s work on civil war is clearly centered on economic gains, and therefore gives little attention to historical issues and also subjective matters such as the willingness and the commitment of a selected group of people to start 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 civil wars. There is a tendency for conflicts which began with a political motive to mutate into securing 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

47 Ibid:13 48 K Ballentine & H Nitzschke, 2003: 13

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

4 Diamond history and production

Diamonds can be gotten from two main sources, and they are both known as kimberlite, but have primary and secondary deposits. The primary deposits are diamonds which are gotten 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

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

mined, but if they are minable and contains large features of diamond, then the term ‘‘kimberlite pipe’’ is used to refer to them.49

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, and sand are been washed away by the sea, depositing them around different areas, which can be found by ordinary people with 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 producing countries also led to a rise in the production of diamond worldwide from 300,000 carats in 1870 when it was first 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

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

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 (000 carats)

Year 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Sierra Leone 78 243 347 158 255 213 270 104 8.5 Liberia 100 100 150 150 100 150 150 150 150 Guinea 127 97 153 167 381 365 205 205 205 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 West African Countries in same years Selec ted Ye ar s (000 carats)

Y ear 1990 1991 1992 1993 19 94 1995 1996 1997 1998 Sierra Leone 331 534 831 344 526 455 566 770 803 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.

Source: Complete Report, Sierra L eone, Diamond and Human Se curity: Jan uary 2000, page 3551 The table above shows the volume of diamond pr oducti on in the se We st African countries and the amount wh ich wer e exported. The amount of diamond exported from Sierra Leone was the approximate fig ures in various years before the United Nations Ban on exportin g unlicensed Sierra Leonean diamon d in 1 99 9.

Comparison between the two table shows that most country’s production figures, tally with their exports to Antwerp for example Ghana, which produced (632,000 carats in

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

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

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 at 150,000 carats of diamond in 1998, exported a total number of approximately 2.5 million carats of diamond 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 in reserves in turn export less diamonds compared to a countries like 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 dollar.

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 $131.11 Australia 18,538,645.31 $364,629,604.10 $19.67 Botswana 33,638,000.00 $2,960,144,000.00 $88.00 Brazil 256,964.00 $25,807,516.00 $100.43

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

Canada 17,007,850.00 $1,657,014,734.47 $97.43 Central Africa Rep 467,710.53 $59,857,870.53 $127.98 D R Congo 28,452,496.25 $364,783,294.22 $12.82 Ghana 894,783.20 $23,202,421.73 $25.93 Guinea 1,018,722.90 $46,101,145.27 45.25 Israel Lesotho 454,014.21 $328,146,968.64 $722.77 Liberia 21,699.74 $2,657,541.58 $122.47 Namibia 2,266,09953 $715,434,111.10 $315.71 Russia 38,291,200.00 $2,625,100,500.00 $68.56 Sierra Leone 603,623.04 $141,565,685.21 $234.53 South Africa 15,210,833.33 $1,417,331,400.12 $93.18 Tanzania 279,332.57 $28,315,098.53 $101.37 Togo 17,362.03 $1,709,643.50 $98.47 Zimbabwe 695,015.99 $31,400,903.61 $45.18

Source: Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, Rough Diamond Statistics 2007. Note: this table includes just selected countries from the rough diamond statistics of the Kimberly process certification scheme and does not include all countries.

The table above also shows that the volume of diamond produced inside Sierra Leone is not as high, compared to other African producing countries like Botswana and Ghana which are relatively small countries. This might be due to the smuggling of diamonds inside Sierra Leone which were not recorded by the authorities; the instability due to the civil unrest might also have led to a low production of diamonds in the country. Refer to the Appendix for Annual Global Summary: 2007 Imports, Exports and KPC Counts.

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 production lower, compared to other countries.52

52 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:18

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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, and manages affairs within the Central Selling Organization (CSO), while the lather takes care of all Diamond operations in Namibia, Botswana, as well as all trading companies with them which includes the Central Selling 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 remained in the country, with another buying office in Freetown and still participated in the new highly competitive diamond business.

4.1.1 De Beers and Diamond Worldwide

As I have previously mentioned, the business of diamond is very massive and over the years have grown to be able to generate billions of dollars annually, with the mining and

53 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:22

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

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 jewelry, worth 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 percent of the world’s rough diamond output. 54 ‘‘According to Smillie, Gberie & 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 1984, selling the remaining shares to the Precious Metals Company (PMMC), which was owned by a Lebanese businessman in Sierra Leone.56 But the relationship between De Beer and Sierra Leone didn’t end there, as the company still 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 does not have any dealings with diamonds from Sierra Leone, De Beer still has an office in Monrovia, Liberia, where it purchases

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

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

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 does not deal on diamonds which are transferred to Monrovia by smugglers and illicit traders.

5 Sierra Leone’s early history and challenges

This part looks into Sierra Leone’s historical period and the challenges which were been faced by the government as well as the people of Sierra Leone. This type of historical information can be useful in determining the factors which triggered the conflict and can also 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

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

the other hand it can also be concluded that they acted out of grievance, which grew from the country’s history.

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 Northern America were taken from Sierra Leone to the islands off the coast of the southern United States; and during the 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, Sierra Leone became a British Protectorate, but the benefits of the country’s abundant resources were rarely channeled to the people of Sierra Leone, as the rule was centered for export of primary goods such as iron, agricultural products and 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 century, Freetown housed the British governor who was in charge of several other West African countries, Gold Coast (Ghana) and The Gambia 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

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

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.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 saw Sir Milton Margai appointed the Chief Minister, and later became the Prime Minister in 1960.63

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

62 H Kabbah 2006, Sierra Leone Legal System and Legal Research 63 U S Department of States 07/12/2008 64 I Smillie, L Gberie & RHazleton, 2000:41

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An agreement was made in 1935 between the Colonial authority and De Beer’s Sierra Leone Selection Trust (SLST which was formed following an agreement between the Sierra Leone government and the Consolidated African Selection Trust CAST), giving 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 create in the future.

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

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

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 was in its system of government which was undemocratic. Apart from the 1960’s and beginning of the 70’s, the country had two decades of one party rule, and power was regarded as revolving around just a few 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

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

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

other opposition groups had the notion that the SLPP leadership did not seem to pay much attention to regional balancing in power-sharing arrangements, and also because the first Prime Minister was a Mende.70

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 the elections and took over power in 1967, but it only ruled by favoritism which was visible in the Army, Police, and even labor leaders whom were been appointed and brought into parliament, police and army chiefs 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 been created with the growing poverty and isolation of the rural areas, and lack of equity in resource distribution, due to overcentralization. ‘‘Socio 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

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

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

5.3.2 Political power and Intimidation

The Sierra Leonia politics was very much associated with the use of violence or the threat of violence, and the ruling elites from the APC often force people who try to protest with 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.

There 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 security force known as the Special Security Division (SSD), and they were usually well armed unlike the weakened armed forces. This group was also formed from the APC 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 New External actors and Rise of International Crime In 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 diamond business, and this finally led to an

73 K David, 2005: 17 74 PJM, Sierra Leone 1935-2000: accessed 10/01/2009 http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/hottopics/sierraleone1.html

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

uncontrollable situation, were the security of the mining areas were surrendered to those 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 the Prime Minister.76 The amount of illicit miners and traders increased in 1971 when the SLST was nationalized, and a new route was discovered to move diamonds into Liberia through the Mano River. The ongoing 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/sierraleone1.html 76 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:45 77 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:45

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

6 Analysis 6.1 The emergence of a Rebellion in Sierra Leone and conflict (1991 to 2002)

6.1.1 Revolutionary United Front (RUF) Over the years, the situation in Sierra Leone had continued to deteriorate economically and 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,

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

thereby creating a large proportion of marginalized and frustrated youth.78 Consequently, the situations of these individuals made them an easy target for the new revolutionary united front (RUF) in launching their attacks into the country, as well as recruiting man-power.

The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) which was led by Foday Sankoh, a former 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 the other two top members of the RUF (Kanu and Mansaray), whom had previously helped in launching the first insurgency attacks. These acts created 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

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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 with the help of well equipped troops from Guinea, halted the rebels. In July 1991, the rebels were significantly dominant in most of the towns they 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 from 6,000 to about 14,000 soldiers in 1992.82

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

80 W Reno, 1998: 113 81 K David, 2005: 36 & 37 82 A Nilsson, 2008: 110

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

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

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

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

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

power with Ahmed Tejan Kabbah from the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), which was supported greatly by the Mende tribe of the country.86

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 diamond was said to be high inside Sierra 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 Lebanese involvement in the Sierra Leone diamond business 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 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 87 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:46 88 I Smillie, L Gberie & R. Hazleton, 2000:46

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

6.1.4 The Role of Liberia

According to Keen David 2005, ‘‘the Sierra Leonean war effectively spilled over from 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 launch attacks against his rebel positions.90 But despite this, we would see that a great Liberian influence has been seen in 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 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 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

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

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

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 over 70 years since its discovery in the West African country, but according to the United Nations Human Development Index which rates the level of human development in 179 countries, 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 extends, and the distribution of wealth is very poor. It is as well important to look into the diamond in Sierra Leone when talking about the conflict 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

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

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?

The 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

95 K Ballentine & J Sherman, 2003: 56

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Leone due to the economic 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 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 Relationship between Diamonds and the Conflict.

Diamonds are the main source of revenue for the government of Sierra Leone and the 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

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

- Historical Inequality which was present before independence and even after independence among the elites and ordinary citizens.

- 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 exiled from Sierra Leone. He came back to Sierra Leone after undergoing military training in Libya, and carried out his attack through Liberia.

- 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 large number of manpower for the rebels to recruit easily for their attacks.

- The external factor which involves neighboring countries such as Liberia. It is believed that Charles Taylor of Liberia participated in arming the RUF, as a result 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 structure, which provided 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.

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

References:-

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Abdullah I (2006): Africans Do Not Live By Bread Alone: Against Greed, Not Grievance. Africa review of books

Ayissi A and Poulton R.E (2006): Bound to Cooperate, Conflict, Peace and People in

Sierra Leone: United Nations

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Third Edition

Ballentine, K & Sherman, J (2003): The Political Economy of Armed Conflict, Beyond

Greed and Grievance. Lynne Reinner Publishers, London

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

Bannon, I & Collier P (2003): Natural Resources and Violent Conflict, Options and

Actions: The World Bank, Washington D C

Conteh-Morgan, E (2004): Collective Political Violence, an Introduction to the Theories and Cases of Violent Conflicts, Routledge, New York and London

David, K (2005): Conflict & Collusion in Sierra Leone: Palgrave New York

Esaiasson P, M Gilljam, H Oscarsson & L Wängnerud, (2007): Metodpraktikan, Konsten att Studera Samhälle, Individ och Marknad. Norstedts Juridik AB

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Sciences. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nilsson R.A (2008): Dangerous Liaisons (why ex-combatants return to violence, cases from the republic of Congo and Sierra Leone): Uppsala University

Peluso, N & Watts, M (2001): Violent Environments: Cornell University

Reno, W (1998): Warlord Politics and African States. Lynne Reinner Publishers, London

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

Smillie I, Gberie L & Hazleton R, (2000): The Heart of the Matter, Sierra Leone,

Diamonds & Human Security. Complete report

Yin, K. R (2003): Case Study Research, Design and Methods. Sage Publication, Inc.

Third Edition

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Collier, P and Hoeffler, A (2002): Greed and Grievance in Civil War: World Bank

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Murshed, M and Tadjoeddin M, (2007): Reappraising the Greed and Grievance

Explanations for Violent Internal Conflict: MICROCON Research Working Project 2

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

Smillie I, Gberie, L & Hazleton, R (2000): The heart of the matter, Sierra Leone,

Diamond & Human Security. Complete report

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Boswell, T & Dixon, W J (1993): Marx's Theory of Rebellion: A Cross-National

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Kimberly Process, Rough diamond statistics, 2007: https://mmsd.mms.nrcan.gc.ca/kimberleystats/default.asp Accessed 23/04/2009

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

Shah, A (2001), Sierra Leone: http://www.globalissues.org/article/88/sierra-leone

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Accessed 07/12/2008

55 Appendix I

Annual Global Summary: 2007 Imports, E xpor ts and KPC Coun ts Summary Report Import Export KPC Counts Country Volume, cts Value, US$ US$/ cts Volume, cts Value, US$ US $/ cts Im p ort Export Angola 8,520,485.75 $1,129,774,806.55 $132.60 174 Australia 443,606.37 11,796,179.34 $26.59 19,862,137 .6 2 $ 463,998,61 3 .41 $2 3.36 11 8 174 Botswana 222,860.50 119,446,442.21 $535.97 34,962,965.98 $3,170,056,591.20$9 0.67 22 5 67 Brazil 6,606.65 201,628.45 $30.52 168,070.79 $ 18,017,143.17 $1 07.20 10 54 Canada 1,034,728.60 128,007,497.57 $123.71 17,444,702.83 $1,693,808,096.90$9 7.10 32 0 298 C A Rep 417,710.53 $ 59,857,870.53 $1 43.30 107 D R Congo 28,331,376.35 $ 609,833,223.00 $2 1.53 1,360 Ghana 865,,612.78 $27,863,557.48 $3 2.19 134 Guinea 108,761.62 2,316,683.39 $21.30 1,009,732.96 $50,197,581.82 $4 9.71 8 154 Israel 23,901,390.12 5,858,193,455.77$245.10 23,580,428.67 $4,135,209,707.34$1 75.37 10, 917 6,717 Lesotho Liberia 224,936.88 $164,073,484.32 $729.42 22 Namibia 148,028.51 108,178,510.88 $730.80 2,266,463.84 $ 748,052,673.92 $3 30.05 94 60 Russia 202,018.11 20,229,218.37 $100.14 28,874,732.81 $2,002,499,682.82$7 0.04 38 1,695 Sierra 41.51 30,045.00 $723.80 603,623.04 $141,565,685.21 $234.53 1 374 Leone South 1,239,334.28 2,113,894,527.23 $1,705.67 13,889,687.89 $1,867,334,580.89$1 34.44 440 1,392 Africa Tanzania 2,541.80 487,356.85 $191.74 275,681.04 $28,496,515.65 $103.37 30 107 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 $47.79 2 17