Sierra Leone: Blood Diamond Conflict

The history between Sierra Leone and Blood Diamonds has been interesting to say the least. Their number one natural resource in Sierra Leone is diamonds. They have an abundance of these precious stones and this has caused problems in the past. In the early 1990’s, diamonds in Sierra Leone were called “blood diamonds” because they were associated with conflict and warfare in the country. The demand for them was continuously increasing because rebel groups used them as a trading mechanism to pay for war-efforts to suppress the government in that region. The citizens in this country were treated like slaves when digging for these diamonds because the rebel group would put a tax on anything they found. This tax was then put into the fund that would buy rebel supplies. Digging up houses was not a rare occasion when looking for these diamonds. This is because before the increase in demand for these stones took place, diamonds were used as a part of gravel to build houses. Therefore people were finding “blood diamonds” in middle of their homes.

The history of blood diamonds in this country really took a toll on the economy because the diamonds were being smuggled out instead of sold for country revenue. However, there have been plans for a new start now that this conflict has settled down. The town of Kodui has implanted a new diamond digging plant that makes searching for diamonds a positive, rather than negative thing. Instead of these diamonds being used as rebel funds, the country is now using them as a major source of export, which is allowing money to slowly flow back into the economy. However, the problem that this country is now facing with the introduction of new machinery and programs like this is how the investment money is going to eventually be seen by the thousands of people that are still in poverty. These very poor people have skills in agriculture, not engineering, so they are remaining unemployed and frustrated.

The reason that I chose this topic was because I feel that it is an important conflict that the country is facing, but no one is really paying attention to. Of course Sierra Leone was a highlight of conflict back in the 1990’s, but now that the “blood diamond” scare has pretty much subsided, it is off the national radar. Sierra Leone is seen as partly free, but is in the process of establishing democracy. Their issue of trying to get back on their feet by creating more wealth in the country and eliminating corruption can be related to the theory of prerequisites to democracy that we have learned about in class. Right now, Sierra Leone cannot be seen as a full democracy because of the number of jobless people, the absence of a strong middle class, and the fact that living standards are not where they should be. These are all usually good prerequisites that show the country moving to democracy. Sierra Leone obviously needs to create more improvements to their economy so the people unemployed and in poverty can have hopes of getting a job. Since the majority of these people live in the agricultural lands, the government needs to put their focus there. While having a new mining site for diamonds is good and should stay, something to increase revenue in the agricultural sector should be put in place as well. It would be an amazing investment into Sierra Leone.

Sources:

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18109186

·      Doyle, Mark. "Sierra Leone 'blood Diamonds' Not Forever." BBC News. BBC, 21 May 2012. Web. 09 Oct. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18109186>

2.  http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-26/africa/world_africa_blood-diamonds_1_world-diamond-council-kimberley-process-conflict-diamonds?_s=PM:AFRICA

·      Armstrong, Paul. "How Diamonds Fuel Africa's Conflicts." CNN. N.p., 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 09 Oct. 2012. http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-26/africa/world_africa_blood-diamonds_1_world-diamond-council-kimberley-process-conflict-diamonds?_s=PM:AFRICA