By Muctar Koroma
An imposing 22-foot structure is the first thing that meets the eyes as you enter Koryardu village. This is the newly built clock tower, which has become a center of attraction in the village. This is just one of several construction works that have been carried out in Koryardu, paid for from the community’s share of the proceeds from the sale of a massive 709-carat diamond, called the “Peace Diamond”.
At the top of the clock tower is a symbol of a diamond. This, according to Mr. Gbami, the village Head Teacher, is a monument that has been established so that in years to come they will be telling the “peace diamond” story to their children, and the development it brought to the village.
Almost three years ago in March 2017, a 709-carat uncut diamond was found in Koryardu Village, Tankoro Chiefdom in Kono District, Eastern Sierra Leone by workers hired by Pastor Emmanuel Momoh. The views held by many people are that diamonds seem to have been more of a curse than a blessing to Sierra Leone, because the country has not benefited tremendously from its rich mineral deposit. With the history of Sierra Leone’s diamonds being tagged as “blood diamonds” during the war in Sierra Leone, Pastor Momoh decided to call this diamond the “peace diamond” - believing that it would be a blessing and not a curse to Koryardu, and that it would bring transformation.
On 4th December 2017, the government of Sierra Leone appointed Rapaport Group – an international network that supports the development of fair, transparent and competitive diamond and jewelry markets – to act as its auctioneers for the diamond. The 709-carat diamond was sold by international tender in New York to British Jeweler, Laurence Graff for US $6,536,360. The government, at the time headed by All People’s Congress (APC), pledged 15% out of the US $6,536,360 – that is US $980,454 – to be used for development projects in Koryardu.
The following year, the APC government lost the 2018 elections and a new government was formed by the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), who had won the presidency.
As a result of the change of government, the villagers were a bit concerned. They thought that their promised share of the diamond proceeds would become history, more so with the slow pace of development seen at that time. Thankfully though, the new authorities followed through on the pledge of the previous government, and soon contracted a company to complete a series of development projects in Koryardu.
“Almost 95% of the projects in the village have been completed,” declares a confident Foday Rado Yoko, who is the current Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, adding that at this point, “there is only minor finishing work that should be done in the buildings.” He disclosed that, according to the contract documents, the contractor should construct a six classroom building, a community health center, community VIP toilet, water tank, and fix a road leading to the village. He said that, as a Ministry they are satisfied with the work done by the contractors.
During a visit to Koryardu Village, to see the development described by the Minister, it was found that the village now has a population of a little over five hundred inhabitants. Prior to the discovery of the Peace Diamond, Koryardu was a deprived community, no good roads, no hospital and the only well in the village had dried up. With a high level of illiterate people in the community, their major form of employment is mainly agriculture and illicit mining. During the afternoon hours, the village seems deserted because most people have either gone to the farm or to a mining site.
According to Head Teacher, Mr. Gbami, inhabitants of the village have always desired better living conditions and better health and school facilities. However, he explains, up until recently, these dreams have been far-fetched, because government has not been able to meet the needs of all the communities in the country.
The discovery of the “Peace Diamond,” according to its finder, Pastor Momoh, brought a light of hope - that the community will enjoy the value of the diamond through the development and transformation that would be carried out.
The Koryardu Village Community School is the only school in the village, and it is a primary school with 135 pupils and four unqualified teachers, all crammed in an old mud structure. Currently, the dilapidated school building cannot hold all the pupils at the same time, so some of them usually take classes under the shade of a nearby tree. However, by the end of this school year, a new school building will be available as part of these new developments.
As the Head Teacher of the school, Mr. Peter Sahr Gbami expressed his appreciation for the work done so far in the village – most especially for the newly built school, which is a standard concrete structure with six classrooms, and four living quarters for teachers, which are yet to be furnished.
A guided tour across the village to see the development brought by Pastor Momoh’s “Peace Diamond”, shows that the village – which was previously facing serious challenges for water – now has three bore holes. The 6” diameter boreholes have submersible pumps with solarized pumping systems; the hospital, school and the center of the village have one each. Residents of the village including children expressed satisfaction for the bore hole at the center of the village, as that has provided relief for them not to walk miles away to fetch water from nearby streams.
Previously, the road leading to the village was untarred and bumpy, but now a 10km feeder road has been constructed including a culvert.
At night, the once dark and dreary village has become bright and lively, as solar street lights have been installed. As one villager puts it: “We can now walk in the streets at night with confidence.”
Construction of a 16-bed hospital has also been completed. Alongside the hospital are two quarters for nurses and doctors to reside. Furnishing and equipping the hospital with the necessary gears for full operation are the only outstanding activities to be completed.
The Deputy Mamie Queen of Koryardu Village, Margret Senesse, says the community is happy with what the government has done in fulfilling their promise, but expressed concern over the quality of some of the structures, as according to her they have seen some cracks – which, she claims, may mean “the building is not strong”.
Mohamed Sesay, a senior contractor at Gouji Construction & Investment Co. Ltd – the company contracted by the government to complete the development work in Koryardu – said they have made significant progress on the construction work, even though it was stopped for a brief while in 2018, and at this point the work is now 95% complete. He disclosed that a total land space of seven acres have been utilized to carry out the construction work in the village. Commenting on the quality of the structure as raised by the Mammy Queen, he says: “We have solved that problem and there will be no more cracks in the buildings.”
Mohamed Ngaima, who works as Regional Mines Officer in Kono District for the National Mineral Agency (NMA), said he is impressed with the work done.
“I have been monitoring the work since its inception,” he explains, “and it is almost complete. The people of Koryardu only need to maintain and take care of the structures.”
Pastor Emmanuel Momoh, who sponsored the mining activity that led to the discovery of the 709-carat diamond, expressed satisfaction over the transparent manner in which the processes leading to the sale of the diamond were carried out.
“It was really a grace for me,” he explains. “I never spent up to fifty million Leones in mining, and God blessed me with two million dollars. I’m really grateful.” He said out of the two million dollars given to him by the government in 2017 after the sale of the diamond, one million dollars were shared among his workers who found the diamond, Koryardu village elders, and his Church.
Pastor Momoh, who now resides in the capital city of Freetown, said he has quit diamond mining for the moment, and is now focusing on business. He has opened a school around Goderich community in Freetown where he lives, called Grace International Academy. The school operates as a primary, junior and senior secondary school. The school has a total of 300 pupils and 30 of them are on scholarship sponsored by Pastor Momoh – his way of giving back to society.
He has seen his desires being fulfilled; his community is benefitting from the proceeds of the sale of the diamond. As he emphasized, he named it “Peace Diamond” because he wanted it to do what blood diamonds did not do.
“I’m happy that Koryardu village has been transformed by this diamond,” said Pastor Momoh.
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