By Joseph S. Margai in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Chiefdom Speaker of Gbense Chiefdom, Kono District, Chief A.M. Kamanda, has said that all mining agreements in there area are done by the central government without the inclusion of the chiefs, leading to serious misunderstanding between the company officials and local residents in some cases.
Kono District, where the widely trumpeted 709-carat diamond was recently found, is in the eastern region of Sierra Leone. It was once referred to as the breadbasket of Sierra Leone.
Chief Kamanada, who was speaking in an interview with Our Correspondent in Koidu Town, Kono District recently, said all the mineral rights are with the central government and it is only the government that has the mandate to go into mining agreements with companies.
“The central government even issues mining licenses and gives mining companies concession areas before they can come to the provinces. Local residents, stakeholders including land owners can only benefit from loyalties and corporate social responsibilities, which most mining companies, sometimes shy away from doing,” The maintained.
He said it comes to them as surprise because when the people want to do artisanal mining or farming, mining companies that are unknown to us would shockingly come out and claim to have concession in areas that the locals might want to utilize.
“That is why we have been hearing lots of grumbling that people do not have access to land in Kono District. We want any company that is coming to mine here to dialogue with the land owners and chiefs and if an agreement is reached, the chiefdom authorities would take the agreement document to the government for approval but that has not been happening,” he said, adding that chiefs are only aware of mining companies when they have entered into agreement with government and introduce themselves and their concessional areas to chiefs.
Chief Kamanda said the situation has seriously affected them in such a way that they have not been able to achieve food security in Kono district, adding that that most farmers are afraid to farm on certain lands because at any time they attempt to do so, mining companies would rise up and claim ownership.
The Chiefdom Speaker said local residents used to benefit immensely from artisanal mining but these days, the wind is really blowing away the presence of artisanal miners in the district.
“Artisanal mining started in 1956 and government was supporting the artisanal miners by providing machines to license holders in order to aid their mining activities, but that has not been happening now. There were wardens that were monitoring the miners and if they found a diamond, it will be taken to the Diamond Cooperative in Kenema where it would be sold and the proceeds were given to the miners,” he said.
In order to boost artisanal miners and food security in Kono district, Chief Kamanda said the government must include chiefs and landowners in some of the mining agreements.
“The chiefs would be in the capacity to tell the government areas that are left for farming and artisanal mining. Areas would be demarcated for multi-national investors so that there will be no conflict in our chiefdoms,” Chief Kamanda said.
