The Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD) this morning, Wednesday 9 February 2011, hosted a symposium at the University of Cheik Anta Diop, the main venue of the World Social Forum, in Dakar, Senegal. The topic for the symposium was: Reforms in Mining Regime – Challenges in Sierra Leone. People from different parts of the world including Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Nepal, the USA and UK took part in the symposium.
The choice of the topic for the symposium was deliberate, aimed primarily at challenging the Sierra Leonean civil society to reflect on the history of reforms in the extractives sector in Sierra Leone at the global stage and what their counterparts from around the world could learn from the process.
It was also intended to assess the impact of the reforms so far on the living conditions of the people, human security, economic growth and the overall development of the country, as well as to create the forum for other civil society activists to share their own experiences.
The Programme Director of Mining and Extractives of NMJD, Mrs. Aminata Kelly-Lamin, who was the first speaker on the topic, lamented the high-level of corruption and non-accountability in the diamond industry in Sierra Leone.
She said that this pervasive corruption, which has been a common feature of the industry since mining started in the country in the early 1930s, has caused the loss of huge sums of money and the sufferings of hundreds of thousands of people, particularly in mining communities.
“Rather than being an engine of economic growth and human development, our natural endowments, particularly diamonds, have become a catalyst for human sufferings, under-development and human insecurity.
“Many companies that come into the country to do business in the diamond sector subvert laid down policies and procedures. More often than not, they are aided and abetted by the very people that are entrusted with the responsibility to control and manage the country’s natural resources for the benefit of all the citizens.
“The resultant effect is that as they come in and enter the industry illegally, so shall they continue to conduct their businesses illegally at the detriment of the nation,” Kelly-Lamin said.
Mrs. Kelly-Lamin said that the reforms in the mining sector in Sierra Leone that began in 1994 with the promulgation of the Mines and Minerals Decree and resulting in the enactment of the Mines and Minerals Act of 2009 were highly influenced by reforms initiated at regional and sub-regional levels. These initiatives included the AU Minerals Regime, ECOWAS Harmonization of Minerals Regime and the Mano River Union Regime.
“All of these reforms are meant to ensure that the natural resources of the country do not only benefit the people of Sierra Leone in the short- and long-terms, but also that mining is conducted in the most responsible manner.
“Despite any good intentions they might have had, our governments are faced with a serious dilemma: on the one hand, they want to satisfy the aspirations of mining companies by providing them with mouth-watering incentives, whilst on the other hand, they want to make the resources benefit their own people. The decision is always skewed towards the powerful corporate entities.
“So far, the reforms have not shown any real meaning to majority of the people of Sierra Leone who find themselves trapped in the resource curse,” she said.
Making his own contribution, Executive Director of NMJD, Mr. Abu Brima, referred to what is happening in the mining and extractives sector as a conspiracy waged by the giant conglomerates of the west (consumers of natural resources) against the developing countries of the north (producers of natural resources).
“Whilst the consumers are getting richer and richer, the producers are getting poorer and poorer to a level that they’ve now become the poorest countries in the world. This explains the renewed scramble for ownership and exploitation of the natural resources of Africa.
“These consumers have no regard for human lives in their areas of operations. Even though they’re not prepared to kill even the smallest animal in their home countries for wealth acquisition, they’re prepared and always ready to wipe a whole community from the face of the earth in their insatiable appetite for ‘blood’ money accrued out of our natural resources. This is inhuman in every respect, and it must stop,” Brima said.
The first diamond was discovered in the eastern region of Sierra Leone in 1930, and effective mining started about three years later. The discovery of diamonds was followed shortly by the discovery of iron ore in the northern region of the country in the late 1930s. Other minerals including bauxite, rutile and gold had also since been discovered and exploited. Oil and gas have also lately been discovered.
But in terms of human and infrastructure development, there’s very little to show for all these huge natural endowments. If anything, they’ve contributed to exacerbating poverty and human insecurity in the country.
Brima said that reforms in the mining sector were instituted in order to transform the present situation into one that would see the lives of the people in mining communities improved in terms of access and affordability of essential services in areas such as health and education.
“But sadly enough, these reforms have not yet produced any meaningful impact on the lives of ordinary men and women in the streets of Sierra Leone. This is because the reforms are still not fully completed, and there’s an absence of the political will to fully implement them to the letter.
“Another sore issue at stake is that of the country’s over-dependency on international support to run the country. About 75% of the national budget is being financed by foreign donors. This has equally created a situation where the government has become over-dependent on the mining sector to support its programmes.
“And because our government wants to attract more investors into the sector, they give them unimaginable incentives that include long-term tax holidays and even refusing to dig deep into the criminal past of the people behind these companies.
“For example, the government has given African Minerals Limited (AML) the over 10 billion tons of iron ore deposits in Tonkolili district, northern Sierra Leone, to mine. The government entered into an agreement with AML without trying to find out about the criminal record of its owner, Frank Timis. The civil society groups that dared into the past of Frank Timis were condemned by government functionaries as enemies of progress and pushed to the cutting edge,” Brima said.
He concluded by saying that the real enemies of developing countries are the donors: “These donors give our governments pittances in the name of aid that has several outrageous conditionalities, and then bring in their companies to steal our resources in the name of investments that bring no benefits to the citizens of the country.
One of the participants in the symposium, who also happens to be a Sierra Leonean working in African Minerals’ operational communities in Tonkolili district, gave harrowing stories of the unchecked corporate excesses of African Minerals in Ferengbeya chiefdom.
Mr. Lansana Sowa of the Right to Food Network in Sierra Leone said that the operations of African Minerals Limited have not only undermined the livelihoods strategies of the people, but also posed a serious threat to their human security.
“The government had given a large chunk of the land, which the people of Ferengbeya used to do their farming, to AML to mine. The agreement to the effect was reached without either party consulting the communities where these iron ore deposits are.
“Not satisfied with what they’d already acquired, AML further requested the people to give them the only piece of land now left with them to do their livelihoods activities. The people turned down the request and AML, in connivance with government functionaries, unleashed terror on them using state security personnel.
“Several people were severely beaten and forced to flee their houses and relocate in the bush. 90 people were arrested and locked in congested police cells on the allegation that they burnt down one of AML’s machines valued at over US$1Million.
“But when a team of visiting journalists (local and international) and civil society activists requested to see the burnt down machine, AML never showed them the carcass of the machine nor the site where it was burnt,” Sowa said.
Other participants from Nigeria, the USA, Nepal and the UK also shared their own horrendous experiences and made meaningful proposals as to the way forward in all of these challenges.
In his opening remarks, the moderator of the symposium who also doubles as the Director of Knowledge Management and Communication of NMJD, Sallieu Kamara, gave a brief historical background of mining in Sierra Leone.
He highlighted the numerous struggles that mining communities in the country have been faced with and how that has negatively impacted their lives. He created the link between diamonds and the brutal civil war that Sierra Leoneans fought for 11 years.
“We think this is the time for all progressive peoples of the world that are really interested and committed to creating “Another World” to come together, build strong alliances and networks to form a common front. It’s only by coming together that we can make “Another World Possible,” he said.
The second symposium will be held tomorrow on the topic: Resistance of local communities from the excesses of corporate mining companies – a case study of local communities in Sierra Leone.