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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Conflicts, resources and social instability in Subsahara Africa - the Sierra Leone case
Author:Jalloh, S. Balimo
Year:2001
Periodical:Internationales Afrikaforum
Volume:37
Issue:2
Pages:168-180
Language:English
Geographic term:Sierra Leone
Subjects:civil wars
diamond mining
Abstract:This article is the first of a two part-series on conflicts, resources and social instability in sub-Saharan Africa, with special reference to Sierra Leone. It is partly based on an earlier paper, a critical appraisal of foreign aid and international development theories, published in this journal (Internationales Afrikaforum, Jg. 28, Quart. 4 (1992), p. 351-373). The present article reviews political developments in Sierra Leone in the last 200 years, and then focuses on the diamond industry, the devastating effects of the rebel insurgency, and the issue of 'conflict diamonds'. A historical review of developments in the diamond industry in the country demonstrates that diamonds have been more of a curse than a blessing. The Sierra Leone people, and least of all the people in diamond mining areas of the Kano and Kenema districts, have gained nothing from diamonds since the discovery of diamond deposits in the country over seventy years ago. The rebel incursions into Sierra Leone which started in April 1991 could only have been sustained for so long because the rebels sold diamonds to buy weapons. These 'conflict diamonds', traded for weapons through international arms traffickers, are the main forces fuelling regional conflicts in the area. Therefore no peace accord in the area is sustainable without the resolution of the 'conflict diamonds' issue. The concluding section describes the key elements in any international programme aimed at reducing conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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