Diamonds for Life

Public Delegate Young Delivers Remarks on Diamonds Fuelling Conflict

by AGavin on December 29th, 2007

Source: Diamonds.net 

PUBLIC DELEGATE RODGER YOUNG DELIVERS REMARKS ON THE ROLE OF DIAMONDS IN FUELLING CONFLICT, NEW YORK CITY, AS RELEASED BY THE U.S. MISSION TO THE U.N. SPEAKER: U.S. PUBLIC DELEGATE TO THE U.N. RODGER YOUNG 

“Mr. President, the United States is pleased to co-sponsor the resolution on the role of diamonds in fueling conflict. The international community has much to be proud of when it comes to the efforts of the Kimberley Process. It is a tribute to the Kimberley Process that conflict diamonds today make up only a small percentage of the world’s diamond market. With the Kimberley Process, the international community now has the tools to head off future conflict and promote stability and security in diamond-rich regions of the world. 

The unique manner in which governments, the diamond industry and civil society have worked together in the Kimberley Process to monitor and control the rough diamond trade should stand as a model as we confront other sources of conflict. This multi-stakeholder effort demonstrates what can be accomplished when governments join forces with the private sector and non-governmental organizations. We salute our European Community colleagues who have led the Kimberley Process in 2007 to encourage the major diamond trading and manufacturing centers to strengthen internal controls over the diamond markets. European leadership also positioned the Kimberley Process to address the ongoing problem of diamond smuggling from Cote d’Ivoire through neighboring West African countries. We are confident that these initiatives, launched under the European leadership, will remain the hallmark of Kimberley Process efforts in the years ahead. 

We were particularly pleased in 2007 to welcome Liberia as a participant in the Kimberley Process. The Liberian government moved quickly in the past year to capitalize on international support. Liberia set up a credible diamond monitoring system to enable the lifting of United Nations Security Council sanctions on its diamond exports and to participate in the Kimberley Process. We appreciate the long way Liberia has come from an era when diamonds financed brutal atrocities to the point today when diamonds are playing a positive force in the country’s economic reconstruction. The United States also welcomes the efforts of donor countries to provide technical assistance to help Kimberley Process participants strengthen their internal controls. We believe that one of the best means to support stability and prevent renewed conflict in diamond- producing areas is to foster Kimberley Process controls at the same time that we support development opportunities for mining communities. 

We look forward to working closely with India as it assumes the chair and Namibia as assumes the vice-chair of the Kimberley Process in 2008.” 

Copyright © 2007 CQ Transcriptions, LLC

Tags: , , , ,

Conflict Diamond Struggle Continues Despite Congo Joining KP

by AGavin on December 6th, 2007

Source: Diamonds.net

The Republic of the Congo has been readmitted to the Kimberley Process.

The Republic of the Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville, was expelled from the Kimberley Process in 2004 for exporting diamonds from its war-wracked neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and falsifying certificates of origin.

“Congo-Brazzaville comes back now after a very serious domestic effort to put its house in order and to get its domestic systems to the level required,” said Karel Kovanda, the head of the Kimberly Process secretariat. “It was quite an emotional moment. We’re always happy to have new people” come on board the Kimberley Process.

Congo-Brazzaville’s fate is just the latest example of the enforcement procedure which gets its name from the South Africa city where one of the first meetings was held on stemming the flow of diamonds used by rebel armies or other groups to pay for their conflicts.

Congo-Brazzaville, which gained its independence from France in 1960, saw a series of coups and assassinations from that time on, erupting into a full-scale civil war in 1997 when forces loyal to current President Denis Sassou Nguesso — who also ruled the country from 1979 to 1992 — ousted President Pascal Lissouba with the support of the Angolan army.

The two-year conflict was estimated to have claimed at least 10,000 lives. A peace agreement signed by the Nguesso government with various rebel factions in March 2003 is still viewed as fragile.

Extending beyond the upheaval in Congo-Brazzaville, an even larger war in the immense Democratic Republic of the Congo also raged, killing at least 3 million as a host of rebel armies attempted to profit from the country’s natural resources, along with armed forces from Angola, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The fact that Congo-Brazzaville was exporting far more diamonds than it could have produced was the first warning sign that something was amiss, according to officials with the Kimberly Process.

Diamonds have also served as a driving force in the funding of Sierra Leone’s 1991-2002 civil war, during which the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) committed many atrocities.

Smuggled diamonds from that country also fostered the long-running conflict in Liberia which, under President Charles Taylor, effectively served as the RUF’s patron state. Taylor is currently awaiting trial in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Kimberly Process aims to ensure that diamonds do not finance any entity seeking to overthrow a government recognized by the United Nations, that all diamond exports be accompanied by a Kimberley Process certificate proving their origin, and that member states don’t act as third-party brokers for nonmember states.

“Countries must have a legal framework in place that uses necessary import and export controls and controls on issuance of certificates,” said Stephane Chardon, chairman of the Kimberly Process working group responsible for re-admitting Congo. “You must be able to trace the diamonds from the mine to the export points.”

For its part the United States’ Clean Diamond Trade Act, which was implemented in 2003, prohibits “the importation into, or exportation from, the United States of any rough diamond, from whatever source, that has not been controlled through the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.”

The European Union’s position on conflict diamonds, meanwhile, was articulated in a 2001 position paper that affirmed that the EU and its member states “shall support and contribute to the efforts of the international community to break the link between conflict diamonds and the financing of armed conflict.”

Nevertheless, the struggle against conflict diamonds is far from over.

Even though the guns have fallen silent in Cote d’Ivoire’s civil war, for example, the country remains split in half between a southern region controlled by forces loyal to the government of President Laurent Gbagbo and a northern and western one under the sway of the Forces Nouvelles rebel movement.

In October of this year, the United Nations Security Council renewed diamond sanctions against Cote d’Ivoire due to its concerns about the production and illicit export of the precious stones. The U.N. also requested that the Kimberley Process continue to communicate information to the body regarding the issue.

“The process certainly restricts the trade in blood diamonds, but it hasn’t totally eradicated it,” said Ayesha Kajee, a program director with the International Human Rights Exchange at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. “But, in itself, this case is an indication that the Kimberley process has succeeded to some extent.”

Tags: , , , ,

Nigeria: Diamond Bank Extends $400m GDR Offer

by AGavin on December 3rd, 2007

Source: All Africa 

Following the growing interest in the on going Diamond Bank Plc’s $400million Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), the bank has extended its offer.
The Domestic GDR Offer, which opened on Tuesday November 20, 2007 will now close on Monday December 10, 2007, the same time with the international offering ($100 million), which is expected to open this week after which the settlement price of the offer will be determined.
 Specifically, Diamond Bank is offering US$400 million through a domestic GDR and an International offer of US$100 million.
And if feelers from the banking industry are anything to go by, the bank’s ongoing $400 million GDRs offering is receiving patronage from investors, especially following the bank’s road shows held in Nigeria and some strategic cities the Europe.
THISDAY checks revealed that during the road shows, which commenced a few days ago in London and Frankfurt, and later in other parts of Europe and United States of America, the offer was well received. Major stakeholders are said to be convinced of the success of the offer given the positive feedback from potential investors.
A source said what facilitated the acceptance and endorsement was the bank’s impressive results and performance in the last three financial years.
According to the source, “the bank’s commitment to excellent service, innovation, investment in people, business integrity and good corporate governance are the key catalysts for its growth, as it has clear strategies to take advantage of many opportunities in the emerging markets and to continuously position itself as a leading brand in the financial industry”.
Each of the GDR represents ownership of 100 shares of Diamond Bank shares. After the conclusion of the offer and allotment, the GDR will be listed on the Professional Securities Market (PSM) of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and traded independently from the underlying shares. Investors however, have the option of converting the GDRs to ordinary shares of Diamond Bank upon allotment. The reference price of $13.75 per GDR translates into N16.50 per Diamond Bank share at a reference exchange rate of N120/US$1. Investors can pay either in dollars or Naira and have the privilege of earning dividends in dollars
During the road show in Lagos, the Managing Director of Diamond Bank, Mr. Emeka Onwuka, explained that the London listing of the GDR is an important step in the evolution of Diamond Bank’s strategy and is aimed at raising capital for growth, attracting new shareholders and raising its international profile. The offer prospectus, he explained, indicates that the proceeds will be used to grow and develop the bank to a reputable financial conglomerate.
He said it will also enhance the leadership position of Diamond Bank in the middle market as well as enhance product and industry expertise in the corporate sector.
The offer proceed will also enable the bank to expand its footprint through traditional and electronic channels in order to seize the retail wave, enter new business segments like Mortgages; Insurance and Investment Banking.
The bank is also expected to strengthen its West Africa expansion towards capturing the growth opportunities in that axis
Diamond Bank is one of the strongest banks in the country and its core strengths lies in its unique Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) business model, which has made the Bank a leading bank in small to medium size enterprise market.
The bank’s market track record covers the diverse Micro, Small and Medium scale Enterprises (MSMEs) sector.
The bank had its first major foreign equity capital injection in April 2007 when an international consortium led by Actis Capital LLP, as strategic investor, injected $134 million into the Bank. The investment gave Actis a 19.1 percent stake in the Bank. Actis is a leading private equity investor in emerging markets, having significant investments across Africa, China, India, South East Asia and Latin America. Actis’ approach to investment is long-term and partner-oriented.
Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc is the global co-ordinator and sole bookrunner of the GDR offering while Vetiva Capital Management Limited is acting as domestic co-ordinator and joint domestic underwriter. The other Domestic Underwriters are IBTC Chartered Bank Plc, PlatinumHabib Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, Ecobank Nigeria Plc, BGL Securities Limited, Afribank Capital Markets Limited, Fidelity Bank Plc, Greenwick Trust limited and Sterling Capital Markets Limited.
 

 

 

Tags: , , , ,

Public Delegate Young Delivers Remarks on Diamonds Fuelling Conflict

by AGavin on November 30th, 2007

 PUBLIC DELEGATE RODGER YOUNG DELIVERS REMARKS ON THE ROLE OF DIAMONDS IN FUELLING CONFLICT, NEW YORK CITY, AS RELEASED BY THE U.S. MISSION TO THE U.N. 

SPEAKER: U.S. PUBLIC DELEGATE TO THE U.N. RODGER YOUNG 

“Mr. President, the United States is pleased to co-sponsor the resolution on the role of diamonds in fueling conflict. 

The international community has much to be proud of when it comes to the efforts of the Kimberley Process. It is a tribute to the Kimberley Process that conflict diamonds today make up only a small percentage of the world’s diamond market. With the Kimberley Process, the international community now has the tools to head off future conflict and promote stability and security in diamond-rich regions of the world. 

The unique manner in which governments, the diamond industry and civil society have worked together in the Kimberley Process to monitor and control the rough diamond trade should stand as a model as we confront other sources of conflict. This multi-stakeholder effort demonstrates what can be accomplished when governments join forces with the private sector and non-governmental organizations. 

We salute our European Community colleagues who have led the Kimberley Process in 2007 to encourage the major diamond trading and manufacturing centers to strengthen internal controls over the diamond markets. European leadership also positioned the Kimberley Process to address the ongoing problem of diamond smuggling from Cote d’Ivoire through neighboring West African countries. We are confident that these initiatives, launched under the European leadership, will remain the hallmark of Kimberley Process efforts in the years ahead. 

We were particularly pleased in 2007 to welcome Liberia as a participant in the Kimberley Process. The Liberian government moved quickly in the past year to capitalize on international support. Liberia set up a credible diamond monitoring system to enable the lifting of United Nations Security Council sanctions on its diamond exports and to participate in the Kimberley Process. We appreciate the long way Liberia has come from an era when diamonds financed brutal atrocities to the point today when diamonds are playing a positive force in the country’s economic reconstruction. 

The United States also welcomes the efforts of donor countries to provide technical assistance to help Kimberley Process participants strengthen their internal controls. We believe that one of the best means to support stability and prevent renewed conflict in diamond- producing areas is to foster Kimberley Process controls at the same time that we support development opportunities for mining communities. 

We look forward to working closely with India as it assumes the chair and Namibia as assumes the vice-chair of the Kimberley Process in 2008.” 

Copyright © 2007 CQ Transcriptions, LLC 

 

Tags: , , , ,

India calls for stern steps to end illegal diamond trade

by AGavin on November 27th, 2007

Source: India Times 

UNITED NATIONS: Noting that diamonds have played a crucial role in financing devastating conflicts, India has called for concerted steps to end illegal trade in the precious gem. 

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Monday, India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the world body Ajai Malhotra emphasised that the effort should not be solely seen through the narrow prism of peace and security. But efforts should be made to tackle the underlying causes and issue seen through the perspective of overall development agenda.  Such efforts, Malhotra said, need to focus not only on the supply side, but also on all parts of the supply chain including processing, trading, and purchase by the consumer. 

In this regard, he said the Kimberley Process of certification that the diamond was mined legally is an innovative and useful mechanism.  “It approaches the problem not merely at the level of extraction, but also from the standpoint of processing and trading. Its certification scheme has been particularly effective in validating and regulating production of rough diamonds, as also on their trade,” he added. 

For these reasons, major diamond trading and processing countries, like India, have engaged constructively and actively with this Process and support its full implementation, he said.  In this context, he stressed the need for a strong government oversight of rough diamonds trading and manufacturing. 

As Chair for 2008, India will strengthen the Kimberley Process mechanism by building on previous traditions and conventions and will strive to implement the decisions taken during the Brussels Plenary, he told the 192-member Assembly. 

Tags: , , , ,

Sierra Leone plans laws to boost diamond earnings

by AGavin on November 24th, 2007

Source: Reuters

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Sierra Leone plans to introduce new laws on diamond trading to boost earnings by ensuring most of its stones are polished before being shipped out, government officials said.
President Ernest Bai Koroma, who won an election in September on a promise to tackle corruption and heal divisions in the war-torn country, said the new policy would be put before parliament “as soon as possible”.
 ”We have not benefited as much as we should have from our mineral resources and that is why we are going to … put in place a mining policy that will ensure that we move away from having low returns,” Koroma told reporters late on Thursday.
He declined to elaborate what the policy would entail or whether it would mean banning or imposing quotas on the export of raw stones.
But a Koroma aide working on government mining policy said: “The idea is to get finished products exported after treating them there … legislation is inevitable.”
This would also create work for thousands of jobless people, said Koroma, who is in Kampala for Friday’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
“It will not only add value but it will enhance employment opportunities,” Bai Koroma said.
Sierra Leone is working hard to rebuild its economy and repair its image after a 1991-2002 civil war for control of its diamond fields, one of the most brutal in African history.
Despite the country’s mineral wealth, including diamonds, gold, rutile and bauxite, around three-quarters of Sierra Leoneans live below the poverty line. The government says this is because so many diamonds are smuggled out.
On Wednesday, Sierra Leone banned the export of mineral samples in an effort to stop smuggling, disappointing the diamond industry, which argues the west African nation lacks adequate technology.
At the end of October, Minister of Mines Alhaji Abubakar Jalloh said he would review all mining contracts to clean up corruption and cheating and increase the percentage of revenues that stay in Sierra Leone.
Under a scheme sponsored by the British government’s development arm, foreign experts are trying to help the administration overhaul its mining sector.
The UK-led Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which aims to ensure government and mining companies publish all transactions between them, is encouraging Sierra Leone to join.

Tags: , , , ,

Botswana: Batswana Buy Stake in African Diamonds

by AGavin on November 22nd, 2007

Source: All Africa 

Over 300 Batswana investors now hold in excess of 15 percent of BSE-listed African Diamonds.
This follows the recent acquisition of over 7.6 million shares in the company by asset management company Investec Botswana on behalf of investors.

 

The 7.6 million shares, which amount to almost 11 percent shareholding in the gem diamond mining company, were purchased at prices ranging from between P12.33 to P14.18 each.
The company’s chairman John Teeling said in a press statement that the company was pleased with the acquisition by Botswana investors, which means that they see value in African Diamonds’ shares.
“I am delighted with this purchase by Investec Botswana of behalf of their investors,” Teeling said.
“Over 10 percent of African Diamonds is a significant commitment and is very positive news for our shareholders in so far as knowledgeable investors on the ground in Botswana see value in our shares.
“The listing of African Diamonds on the Botswana Stock Exchange as well as AIM is working well.”
“Over 300 Batswana now hold more than 15 percent of the company,” he said. Through its whlly-owned subsidiary Kukama Mining, African Diamonds was awarded three new exploration licences near Orapa two weeks ago.
The new prospecting licences have brought the amount of land under exploration by African Diamonds alone to 3 473 square kilometres. In addition, the company is prospecting on about 3 700 square kilometres of land near Orapa through a joint venture with De Beers.
Following news of the awarding of the licences, African Diamonds stock has been one of the best performing mining counters on the BSE, gaining by 1.68 percent two weeks ago and by 0.72 percent last week.
“With £3,5-million in cash available to the company, there is more than enough capital to undertake the work set out for this year and probably next year as well,” African Diamonds MD James Campbell said in a recent interview with Mining Weekly.
Campbell stated that an important factor in being granted new licences in Botswana was abiding to due process and that African Diamonds benefited from being listed in Botswana where local funding and shareholding was approaching 60 percent.
The company has closed trading on the bourse at P14 since Monday.
 

Tags: , , , ,

Congo Re-joins KPCS

by AGavin on November 20th, 2007

Source: Diamonds.net 

Agence France-Presse, BRUSSELS:  Congo joined the Kimberley Process against the trade in so-called conflict diamonds on Thursday after being expelled over three years ago, the program’s chairman said at a conference in Brussels. 

The international scheme, which was launched in 2003 and is known as the Kimberley Process after a diamond mining city in South Africa, aims to keep diamonds from financing wars via a certification initiative. 

The European Commission, which currently holds Kimberley’s rotating presidency, hosted some 300 officials from industry, government and non-governmental organisations this week for a stock-take of its progress. 

Congo, which was expelled in July 2004 for fraudulently exporting diamonds from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, was readmitted but only at the last minute, said Karel Kovanda, who chaired the meeting for the commission. 

“The process of reintegrating the Congo was not easy, it took a lot of time,” he told journalists. “It wasn’t finalized till early this morning (Thursday) when the Congo came with the last document or two.” 

Venezuela, which is often accused of ignoring the Kimberley Process’ rules, accepted to receive an inspection early next year but only after “delicate negotiations,” Kovanda said. 

Non-governmental organisation Global Witness called a month ago for Venezuela to be kicked out of Kimberley for not respecting its rules. 

An initiative was also launched to “address the cross-border movements of rough diamonds in the Ivory Coast” targetted by a UN arms and diamonds embargo,” Kovanda said. 

He said the country needed to “re-establish appropriate internal control “if it wanted to join the Kimberley Process, which would only be possible “if and when the UN Security Council lift the sanctions.” 

Prior to Congo, Liberia and Turkey already joined the process, which now counts 47 member countries and the 27-nation European Union. 

Among non-members, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Mali, Mexico and Tunisia participated in the conference with the aim of joining. 

Bahrein, Cape Verde, Gabon, Swaziland and Zambia have also expressed interest in participating in the programme, which will be chaired next year by India and in 2009 by Namibia. 


Copyright © 2007 Agence France-Presse

Tags: , , , ,

Côte d’Ivoire: Diamonds From Country Need Cleaning

by AGavin on November 18th, 2007

Source: AllAfrica 

A new initiative for preventing diamonds from financing conflict in the Cote d’Ivoire has been agreed at an international conference in Brussels.
Since 2005 export of rough diamonds from Cote d’Ivoire has been banned by the United Nations due to violation of a ceasefire agreement between the Abidjan government and the New Forces guerrillas, which control the north of the country.

 

The embargo does not appear to have prevented Ivorian diamonds from entering Europe.
Last month it was reported that Belgian judicial authorities had confiscated 14 million euros (21 million dollars) worth of illegal diamonds of Ivorian origin. This was despite a screening system introduced by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre to block ‘conflict diamonds’ - gemstones sold to fund a war effort. Antwerp and London are Europe’s two largest centres for trading diamonds.
The Cote d’Ivoire was one of the major topics of discussion at the annual conference of the Kimberley Process - a grouping of 73 countries - in Brussels Nov. 5-8.
The Kimberley Process was launched in South Africa in 2000, when a number of governments met to examine how trade in illicit diamonds could be halted. Most observers feel that it has brought tangible benefits, especially through introduction of an international scheme for certifying the origin of diamonds in 2003.
Participants agreed that there should be a new effort to improve controls on rough diamonds from Cote d’Ivoire, with particular attention paid to its neighbouring countries. This follows concerns raised by the UN Security Council about involvement of Malian smuggling rings in shipping Ivorian diamonds abroad.
In November 2006, the Kimberley Process agreed with Ghana that a number of measures should be taken, following indications that Ivorian diamonds could have been transported through this West African country.
Karel Kovanada, the European Union official currently chairing the Kimberley Process, said that the modalities of this approach will have to be worked out by experts but that it will probably imply greater use of on-the-spot checks. Ghana’s exports already go through “extraordinary controls”, he told IPS.
But hampering Ivorian shipments that go via its other neighbours may prove trickier. Unlike Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso have not yet joined the Kimberley Process. According to Kovanda, however, they have indicated their willingness to cooperate with it.
“The borders of Cote d’Ivoire are porous,” said Ian Smillie, research coordinator with Partnership Africa Canada, an independent group that works to build sustainable human development in Africa. “The borders of its neighbours are also porous. Diamonds don’t stop in Burkina Faso, if that is where they are going. They all reach world markets in Europe, the U.S., Japan and India.”
During the 1990s, diamonds were a significant factor in the civil wars that devastated Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Nearly 4 billion dollars worth of diamonds are believed to have passed through the hands of the Angolan rebel group UNITA in the 1992-98 period.
Smillie said that the proportion of conflict diamonds in the overall diamond trade may have fallen from 15 percent to less than 1 percent. “The Kimberley Process and other efforts helped to end this trade,” he said.
Although the Process is based on voluntary regulation, countries which do not belong to it may not sell diamonds to countries that do. And countries where controls are deemed lax may be suspended from the Process. This happened in the case of Congo-Brazzaville. After providing an explanation on why there was a gulf between rough diamond exports from the central African country and its actual capacity for production, it was re-admitted this week.
Smillie urged that laws be introduced to ensure that countries carry out audits and checks on diamonds. “Industry has asked for tougher government controls on industry,” he noted. “This is unusual. I can’t think of many industries that would ask for tougher controls. But it is all voluntary. What I would like to see in the months and years ahead is that more governments adopt these and make them compulsory within their own jurisdictions.”
Eli Izhakoff, chief executive with the World Diamond Council in New York, said it is “unprecedented” for an industry to seek the kind of controls that he favours over gemstone trading centres.
“Our policy is one conflict diamond is one diamond too much,” he told IPS. “We are doing everything in our power, together with NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and governments, to make sure the right controls are in place. We have done a lot but of course there is more to be done.”
But Charmian Gooch, director of Global Witness, the organisation which exposed the role of diamonds in Angola’s civil war, is not convinced that industry is being sufficiently vigilant.
Gooch said that one of the problems with the certification scheme introduced in 2003 is that it is not accompanied by an “oversight and verification mechanism”, and does not provide for independent analysis of data.
“This resulted in a voluntary system of self-regulation parallel to the Kimberley Process because governments refused to take proper responsibility for the oversight of their own industries,” she said.
“Independent monitoring neither takes place nor is required to verify industry compliance with such measures. This self-regulation will remain inadequate as long as it is not backed up by independent monitoring and government oversight. The diamond industry has failed to live up to its promise to create an auditable tracking system to ensure that diamonds are conflict-free.”

Tags: , , , ,

Pres. of Sierra Leone: ‘New Dawn’ with Unlimited Opportunities

by AGavin on November 16th, 2007

Source: Diamonds.net 

Agence France-Presse, FREETOWN: Ernest Bai Koroma was sworn in as Sierra Leone’s new president on Thursday and promised a “new dawn” for the war-scarred and corruption-tainted west African country. 

“My inauguration marks a new dawn with unlimited opportunities,” Koroma said at his colorful inauguration ceremony at the national football stadium in the capital Freetown. 

Elected on promises to fight corruption and turn around Sierra Leone’s fortunes, Koroma said it was time for some shock therapy in the world’s second most impoverished nation. 

“The country requires a radical change in attitude to work and … responsibility,” he said after being handed the golden presidential baton, the symbol of power, by former President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. 

“Our values have been undermined and eroded,” he said, citing the constant abuse of donor funds and equipment by state officials. 

“This must be changed, and we need a radical break from this behavior,” he said. 

“Unless we change our attitude towards corruption, our determination to eradicate this stigma, will be futile,” he said. 

Tens of thousands of people, including five African heads of states and senior officials from the United States and Europe’s governments, attended the ceremony. 

The African leaders included presidents Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, Yahya Jammeh of Gambia, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. 

The United States was represented by assistant secretary of state for African Affairs - Jendayi Frazer. 

Dressed in a white African robe with a matching head scarf, Koroma rode into the stadium on the back of a white horse draped in Sierra Leone’s national colours of green, blue and white to prolonged wild cheers from a 70,000-strong crowd. 

Traditional dancers and a military band kept the crowd entertained during the half-day ceremony. 

Koroma, 53, a leader of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) won a second round election with 54.6 percent of the votes against former vice president Solomon Berewa who gained 45.4 percent. 

The elections, given a clean bill of health, were the first to be held after the pullout of a giant United Nations peacekeeping force following a gruesome decade-long civil war. 

Sierra Leone was ravaged by the war which was fuelled by so-called blood-diamonds and ended in 2001 after claiming the lives around 120,000 people. 

Tens of thousands of others had their limbs amputated and others traumatised in one of the most brutal conflicts in modern times. 

The former ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) boycotted Thursday’s event in protest at the alleged intimidation of its supporters by the new government. 

Koroma’s APC also won a majority 59 of the 112 elected seats in the single chamber parliament in which the SLPP took 43 seats, down from 83 in the previous assembly. 

Copyright © 2007 Agence France-Presse 

Tags: , , , ,