Orapa — The visiting Sierra Leone President, Tejan Kabbah, and his entourage, could have learnt a lot from a lecture on 'Diamonds for Development' presented by the Orapa-Letlhakane mines General Manager, Sebetlela Sebetlela.

The composed Sebetlela made a presentation last Monday on the valuable contribution that the diamond industry continues to add to the lives of Batswana. Sebetlela's mine overview presentation at the Debswana communications auditorium in Orapa was a valuable lesson to the Sierra Leone team that is currently struggling to rid itself of the 'blood diamond' tag, which is not helping the diamond industry in their country.

He presented Debswana as the world's largest producer of diamonds, by value, at 26 percent, ahead of Russia at 18 percent, and Canada at 15 percent. The mines, boss pointed out that diamonds were a major foreign exchange earner that contributes about 70 percent to the foreign exchange earnings, 50 percent of government revenue and 30 percent of the GDP.

Debswana is the largest private sector employer in Botswana, employing some 6300 people of whom 93 percent are Batswana. As part of Debswana's campaign for diamonds for development, Sebetlela told Kabbah and his entourage that Debswana continues to empower the local citizens. He said the company was very supportive to company employees and to the community through education and training, employment and through the provision of health services. He indicated that Debswana has a broad and synergistic approach to sustainable development, concerning itself in all areas relating to environmental concerns. "As part of the campaign for diamonds for development, Debswana does business with citizen-owned and Botswana-registered companies and we also contribute to the development of citizen entrepreneurship."

Like others who visited the mines before, the mine boss was hopeful that the Sierra Leone team would take the message of diamonds for development to the rest of the world.

"We communicate to all those that visit us that diamonds are for good. This campaign is all about showing people about the good of the gem," said Sebetlela.

He added that diamonds build roads, hospitals, sponsor children for further education and, generally, they develop Botswana. He gave an example of the electrification of a rural school in Mmadikola, some kilometres west of Orapa, as one of the many development initiatives undertaken by Debswana. For many years, electricity used just to pass over the village, until Debswana took the initiative of bringing light to the rural dwellers.

"Diamonds should impact positively on the lives of the people, both urban and rural. We will continue passing the message to the world until the message of beneficiation is heard," he emphasised. From the auditorium, Kabbah and his team were taken on a tour of the diamond display room before he was finally taken for a look at the pit. There, Kabbah and a few people were taken right into the pit. For some time, the trade in diamonds was a key factor in fuelling internal armed conflict in Sierra Leone. The armed opposition Revolutionary United Front (RUF) controlled the diamond-producing areas of Sierra Leone and used the profits from the diamond trade to purchase arms and other military assistance, which contributed to human rights abuses.

Diamond mining continues to be a source of tension and instability in Sierra Leone, raising serious concerns about the protection of civilians from human rights abuses. In an attempt to control and legitimise the diamond trade, the Sierra Leone government put in place a certification system for all rough diamond exports in October 2000. Journals further show that the trade in uncertified diamonds from Sierra Leone is banned under United Nations (UN) Security Council sanctions. The international system is intended to prove the country of origin of rough diamonds by controlling and monitoring the international diamond trade. Many diamonds are also reportedly smuggled from Sierra Leone through neighbouring Guinea, which has a similar export certification system to that of Sierra Leone, but no controls on the trade within the country.

With Hollywood set to release the movie 'Blood Diamond', based on the case of Sierra Leone, the country has many challenges to contend with to penetrate the world market. Speaking to the press shortly before he departed for Gaborone, Kabbah conceded that the tour of the Orapa Mine was worthwhile, as it had helped them appreciate some of the mining processes.

"This visit comes at a time when my country has also vigorously joined the 'diamond for development' campaign," said President Kabbah.

"We have learnt a lot from here and we will continue learning from each other in areas of need." Speaking in a low voice, Kabbah, who was also accompanied by the Botswana Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Charles Tibone, stressed that since there were people in his country who were mining diamonds through shallow methods like the popular alluvial mining, which is not used in Botswana, they also had something to offer as a country that mines diamonds.

He said he hoped that their link with Botswana would not end with just such a tour. Kabbah wound up his visit in Kasane, where he enjoyed a view of the flora and fauna.