Corruption In Sierra Leone

Long had the countries of Africa been hindered beneath the rule of the colonial powers of the Europeans. In the wake of independence, the population believed that a new and better life would be in the near future. What they didn’t realize is the hardships and turmoil that would be faced to ensure success. A prime example of this is seen in the country of Sierra Leone. Quite obvious, a country utilizes their main resources in order to gain status and power amongst the world. For example, some countries contain oil as their resource, while others may produce crops to provide for their country. In Sierra Leone, mines filled with diamonds were found to be the lucrative resource needed to give the country a chance at success. With such a rare commodity

This began when Siaka Stevens became prime minister in 1968 as he sought to take control of the diamond production through criminal means (Smillie 2000, 25). When corruption arises in a government, turmoil is bound to happen. This action leads to people losing their trust in the leaders of the country, which ultimately leads to the destabilization as a whole. To run a smooth government a leader, like Stevens, needs the support of his or her population in order to achieve his goals without causing problems. With Siaka Stevens controlling the diamond production, this expensive resource saw a drastic drop in value. With the lead of Siaka Stevens and his right hand man Jamil Mohammed, Sierra Leone experienced a major drop in diamonds as it is said, “From a high of over two million carats in 1970, legitimate diamond exports dropped to 595,000 carats in 1980, and then to only 48,000 in 1988” (Smillie 2000, 25). Although this isn’t a drop in value of the resource, one can assume that it would have a similar effect on a country. As we have seen before in the Ivory Coast with cocoa beans and in Togo with coffee production. The drop in the value of these main exports can drastically hurt the country economically. With an economy in peril, a country is bound to fall in other aspects. In Sierra Leone, with the loss in production of diamonds, people begin to get agitated with the government and the distrust begins to sway toward dislike. Now with a country already divided by ethnicity, even more division has been instilled. With this type of atmosphere present, it is the perfect opportunity for a rebelling group to raise and have great success in the goals they seek. Thus, Sierra Leone is faced with the creation of the Revolutionary United