Africa
Diamond Miners in Sierra Leone
A lad in a bright orange safety jacket pulled up on a motorbike very close to the sidewalk. " U dae go?" he asked calmly. "Yes, na Sahr Coba ee garage," I replied.
I had left my vehicle at Sahr's mechanic shop, a popular local fitter who is always searching for experienced workers because his apprentices usually go for a job at Koidu Limited—a diamond mining company—for better wages and benefits.
As a nervous pillion, I commended the young man for his careful navigation up the last steep incline on Post Office Road leading to Gbensseh Ngorbu Street at a T-junction, for a breath of fresh air experience, different from the many urgent and unsafe riders here in Koidu New Sembehun City.
I inquired if motorbike riding was his profession. He responded negatively and elaborated that he had purchased the motorbike to commute to work. He further explained that "circumstances changed when we staged an industrial action against Koidu Limited, my employer, resulting in my inability to provide for my family in less than two months since the strike action started."
He is among the many new entrants into the challenging motorbike riding industry in Kono. About a thousand workers, mostly young, have been unemployed since the industrial action against Koidu Limited began in March 2025.
Indeed, Koidu Limited has faced a significant existential threat to its survival by the ensuing industrial action at its diamond mine in Kono District, Sierra Leone. The dispute began in March over demands for wage increases, salary conversion rate discrepancy, better employment conditions, and reinstatement of dismissed workers.
There is confusion over the wage conversion rate dispute. Koidu Limited claims a government review has updated wage practices, removing the peg to an outdated exchange rate. However, many employees and government labor officials argue that no formal review justifies using a rate other than the official exchange rate set by the Bank of Sierra Leone.
The issue revolves around a discrepancy between the exchange rate stipulated in the payment contract and the prevailing official rate. According to the agreement signed in 2013, Koidu Limited was obligated to pay workers in US dollars or local currency at a rate pegged to the dollar. The agreed conversion was approximately 6.50 Leones to one US dollar at that time. However, despite the Central Bank's current rate of about 22 Leones per dollar, the company has continued to use its internal figure of 6.50 Leones for wage conversions.
The truth between Koidu Limited and the Government remains unclear as neither party has provided supporting documents for their claims. Efforts to obtain information from the company and the government have been unsuccessful.
Koidu Limited states, "A government review has altered the method of calculating the exchange rate for employee payments." In contrast, the government asserts that "the official rate determined by the Bank of Sierra Leone should be used." The issue remains unresolved, with labor representatives advocating that wages be recalculated according to the official exchange rate to ensure equity.
Meanwhile, Koidu Limited labeled the strike action "illegal" under Sierra Leone's Industrial Relations and Trade Union Act 2023, citing "concerns over procedure, violence, and intimidation." In response, the Government of Sierra Leone has deployed security support to ensure safety during the unrest triggered by the strike action.
Nevertheless, Koidu Limited has expressed willingness to negotiate but insists that "discussions can only proceed if the strike action is called off and workers return to their duties." Efforts to resolve the crisis, including Koidu Limited's proposal to "review salaries and introduce a diamond price-based bonus scheme," have involved various interest groups, including top officials and civil society operatives. At face value, the demand is far from tenable despite the company's "diamond price-based bonus scheme" offer, especially with the involvement of these external forces.
Due to the unresolved nature of the strike action, Koidu Limited suspended mine operations on March 25, 2025, placing it under "care and maintenance" and stating that "employees face threats and intimidation when attempting to return to work."
The strike action was intensified by the dearth of information about corruption that First Lady Madam Fatima Maada Bio brought into the equation, turning it into a demonstration.
Compounding the already complex build-up of interest parties in the strike action, the first lady held a rally accusing Koidu Limited of corruption and calling her husband, President Maada Bio's ministers, "dogs."
On its part, Koidu Limited has issued a generic but firm denial of any allegations of corruption, stating that "all diamonds mined are accounted for under government supervision."
The unresolved industrial action has not only intensified labor-management tensions but has also had a significant economic impact. The company claims that "the industrial action has led to estimated production losses between $6 and $8 million (U.S.) over nearly five weeks."
Whereas this loss may directly impact the company's short-term bottom-line revenue and profitability, prolonged production disruptions can escalate costs, shrinking profit margins for the company, and cause hardship for the workers, the community, and the government.
Like hundreds of wage workers, my cheerful motorbiker has already put his Koidu Limited safety jacket and motorbike to work to put food on the table for his family.
According to the 2010 Koidu Limited mining agreement, the Mines and Minerals Act initially set community development funds (CDF) at a mere 0.01%. However, the Act has since been revised to reflect an increase to 1%, applicable only to new companies entering agreements after the revision. Nevertheless, local authorities successfully negotiated Koidu Limited's CDF contribution to 0.025%.
This negotiation was necessary because the Koidu Limited mining agreement was signed and ratified in Parliament before the Act's revision. The agreed-upon 0.025% CDF, exceeding the initial 0.01%, contributes significantly to infrastructural, healthcare, and educational development in the Tankoro chiefdom, Koidu New Sembehun city, and the Kono district.
For example, here are some development projects that have either been completed or are works in progress: The Tankoro Native Administrative (TNA) Center, the Sahr R. Fillie Faboe Complex, the Thomas Saquee Resource Center, the Kimbadu Town Barrie, the Kimbadu Market, Kania Market Complex, Kissibona Women Resource Center, ten border posts in Kono District, the Kimbadu Clinic, the New Annex facility and maternity wards at Koidu government hospital, Wallayhun Border Clinic, assistance to many schools in various ways, as well as scholarship scheme for vocational and tertiary students.
Meanwhile, Koidu Limited contributes 12% of the nation's total export value. The strike has compounded broader national economic concerns. For instance, the mining sector's export contribution has dwindled dramatically from 8.8% to 2.3%, reflecting the vulnerability of the national economy. Such a steep decline in exports underscores concerns about investor confidence and the long-term sustainability of mining revenues in Sierra Leone.
The broader economic impact stretches beyond just the company's losses. Labor unrest in a sector as pivotal as diamond mining poses risks to overall national financial stability, investor sentiment, and even governmental fiscal planning. Given how intertwined mining operations are with national export earnings and regional economic health, prolonged industrial actions like this one can ripple across the economy, affecting multiple stakeholders.
To get a good idea of how the community would be impacted, I visited PC Paul Ngaba Saquee, the paramount chief of Tankoro, who was the host of the Koidu Limited mining concession.
He was less than enthusiastic about talking about the matter but asked me to find out how Koidu Limited's operations impact the community. "I just hope that the poor workers' strike action for better wages and improved work conditions will be separated from the ensuing web of disagreement amongst players so that the company can resume and my people can return to earning their livelihood."
The paramount chief's hope of separating genuine actions by workers who want better wages and good work conditions from other interest parties can be observed because many of the industrial action ring leaders are not employees of Koidu Limited.
For example, the secretary of the workers' union, Sulaiman Mansaray, is not an employee. According to Koidu Limited, Sulaiman was sacked for an unrelated matter. But because he's politically connected, his actions arbitrarily insist on the workers' union.
Like Sulaiman, many jobless workers have been active on radio shows and social media, fanning the flame of discord between Koidu Limited and its workforce.
Their actions may not be too far-fetched from Madam Fatima Maada Bio's actions. She has staged rallies and appeared on social media quite a few times, actions that have not been helpful to the negotiation process. What is more, her underlings in the strike action dubiously utilized bags of rice she sent to assist demonstrators in collecting signatures from workers and showcased it as evidence of the mass resignation of workers from Koidu Limited to prove a point.
Previous industrial actions against Koidu Limited for better wages and good working conditions occurred in 2007, leading to a worker's death and several dismissals. In 2014, young workers organized themselves into a similar industrial action led by Mohamed Bandagbara, a politically influential youth at the time. That political influence emboldened Mohamed to lead his colleagues to the Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources.
When he introduced himself to the minister as the youth league leader of the governing All People's Congress (APC) party, the minister told him that "government will not shut down a national source of revenue because of a youth league leader. Whereas we will engage and meet the demands of the workers, I will ensure that you, in particular, return to politics and handle the youth league in Kono. You will pick your dismissal letter from me when the company writes one."
Mohamed was fired, and the strike ended.
Much respect is due to those who wish to lend a helping hand to advocating for better wages and working conditions for workers. But escalating the situation into a stalemate is a whole different story. At the end of the day, the workers, their dependents, and the community will always be at the brunt of the stalemate.
As evidence, a woman at Kania Market complained that "the fish I buy from Gbense market reefer container is always going bad lately because of poor sales." When asked why, she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know." She doesn't know that most of her customers are families of Koidu Limited workers who haven't been paid since the company went into "care and maintenance."
It's best to avoid GTBank at the end of the month when it's crowded with Koidu Limited employees. Today, though, I saw only a few customers there, without the usual end-of-month crowd, which is why the need for advocacy in Kono District abounds.
Whereas Koidu Limited is bound to listen to the genuine demands of its employees, there is enough room for much more activism in the diamond industry in Kono.
Large-scale, small-scale, and artisanal mining activities have coexisted in Kono since diamonds were discovered in the 1930s. Profit sharing has been a common practice in artisanal mining, which has provided a livelihood and a better future for many elderly individuals today. Many of the buildings in Koidu New Sembehun City have been constructed from diamond proceeds in the artisanal sector.
There is debate over the Mining Act's 3% and 15% (special stones) royalties for diamonds. Critics argue that the country gains little since it is not an investor. Previously, the government raised its shares to 51%, but this failed due to excessive control and inability to meet technical and financial obligations.
That was then, but now, some people advocate for profit sharing again, which means that the government may buy about 20% of shares without managerial and technical functions to leverage on profit now that the profitability of Koidu Limited has been established.
Investors in the artisanal sector have introduced a new, cunning initiative called "Kosovo," which is separate from the investor tributary agreement outlined in the artisanal mining regulations.
Young workers not affiliated with Koidu Limited don't receive profit sharing for their backbreaking daily wage work in the sector. The investors walk away with all of the profits.
Kosovo is pegged at NLE60 daily wage, which is less than $3 a day. Not only is this money not enough to feed their families, there is a risk of ending up with a very sorrowful and pathetic old age population in the future who will not be able to continue "Kosovo" and would have wasted their lives doing backbreaking work for less than $3 a day, with no retirement benefit, no pension or NASSIT, no nothing.
President Maada Bio, like Chief Saquee, seeks to resolve industrial unrest in Kono District. He stressed the government's commitment to lawful dispute resolution: "No one will replace or bypass our democratic authority. We are working with all stakeholders for a sustainable and just solution."
Meanwhile, Madam Fatima Maada Bio and others are bent on maintaining the current stalemate at the expense of poor workers.
In the meantime, I hope my motorbike rider will resume work and my fish seller will soon achieve her usual Kania sales.
