By Mabinty M. Kamara
The diamond mining giant OCTEA is again in court over its operations in Sierra Leone.
This time residents living in communities affected by the activities of the company are seeking a court ruling over its role in the destruction of their environment and, consequently, their livelihoods.
The case was instituted by the Marginalized Affected Property Owners (MAPO), whose members comprises residents of Gbense and Tankoro chiefdoms, the two chiefdoms hosting OCTEA’s lucrative operations.
MAPO is supported by the Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), a right based civil society organization, which hired the services of a Makeni-based law firm, C &J. The law suit was initiated as part of a partnership between NMJD and the US-based campaign group Advocate for Community Alternatives (ACA), under the Public Interest Lawyering Initiative for West Africa (PILIWA).
ACA, which also has an office in Ghana, helps West African communities that are threatened by the destructive impacts of extractives-led development to take control of their own futures, according to a statement on its website.
ACA is the coordinated body of PILIWA which aims to inspire and train a movement of lawyers that serve communities and assist them to fight for their own vision of the future in the face of pressure from powerful political and economic actors.
Kono, located in the eastern region of Sierra Leone, is best known for its diamond riches, which has been explored since the early 1930s, when the first precious stone was found there.
Rather than being a blessing, many believe that diamonds have become a curse to the people of Kono who say their rights are daily abused by mining companies and their cohorts, mainly local and government functionaries.
The aggrieved community people say the sources of livelihoods have been destroyed, and their air and water polluted. They also say they have been forcefully removed from their traditional homes without adequate compensation.
In their (OCTEA) response, the Head of Community Development Henry Vagg said they had paid the compensations the people were asking for.
“ We have paid compensation for all their crops,” Vagg said.
In the past protesters have been shot to death trying to campaign against these realities.
OCTEA, a company owned by a business interest of the Israeli magnate Benny Steinmetz, entered the Sierra Leonean mining sector after the (1991-2002) civil war. It has gone ahead to establish the largest investment in the diamond sector since the gems were first discovered in the country.
But While OCTEA and the government say it has helped grow the local economy through payment of tax and employment of the local population, the complaints of the local residents have eclipsed these reported gains.
In 2015, OCTEA was sued by the Koidu New Senbehun City Council over unpaid taxes. The company was accused of refusal to pay property taxes in contravention of the 2004 Local Government Act.
But OCTEA has argued that the agreement it signed with the government and approved by the country’s parliament exempted it from paying property tax.
Gbense and Tankoro are two of the six chiefdoms known to contain diamonds among the 14 chiefdoms in the district. And it is these two chiefdoms that host OCTEA, which operates in the district under the name Koidu Limited.
MAPO is a new body that has been formed to advocate for the people of Kono after several interest groups failed to represent the interest of affected persons.
Prince J. Boima, chairman of MAPO, said they had run out of all options after the company and the government failed to address their concerns.
“Since the advent of this company in the district, there has been untold suffering on women, men and children. Our houses are being demolished without adequate compensation. We have gone to our authorities concern for a solution but to no avail,” Boima told journalists at a press briefing in Kenema, shortly after the first court hearing in the case on March 4.
Vagg said the deal they signed does not include handing out cash payments, which is a form of compensation the people were expecting.
“We have built houses, schools and markets for them. This is the form of compensation we agreed on. Some people have relocated whiles others have not. Therefore we still hold the key to the houses that have not been occupied, when they decide to relocate we will hand it over to them,” Vagg told Politico.
Boima narrated the experience of citizens affected by OCTEA’s operation, noting that they have lost their plantations and people relocated against their will. Women, he said, gave birth in vehicles during in prepared evacuation for blasting; something he said has happened about four times now.
“Even the government once said that the Koidu Ltd is above them. So this is why we very much appreciate NMJD and its partners for giving us the platform to seek justice,” he added.
NMJD, headquartered in Freetown, seeks to ensure that justice is delivered to the poor and that they are empowered to challenge the system that keeps them in abject poverty.
Abu A. Brima, Executive Director of NMJD, said that since 2003 the organization has consistently been involved in supporting and organizing local communities, sensitizing them on mining lease agreements and all kinds of contract agreements that have been entered into by the government and investors. He said NMJD was branded as anti-development, but he noted that they took that label that as a credit as they do not consider any project that is detrimental to citizens as development.
‘‘Despite the numerous obstacles placed on our way, the threats by both successive governments and mining companies, we continued to work with the affected mining communities to seek adequate redress for the atrocities being meted out to them,” Brima said.
“With the help of PILIWA and other interested institutions like the C&J Law firm and Advocate Community Alternative (ACA), MAPO has initiated litigation proceedings against Koidu Ltd for the sufferings and human rights abuses that their activities have caused on the people over the years” he added.
Barrister Chernor MB Jalloh of C&J Partners is the lead solicitor in the case which is before the Kenema High Court. Barrister Jalloh will be heading a battery of eight. The legal team presented eight exhibits before Justice Ivan Sesay in the first hearing, appealing for the judge to grant them an order to initiate proceedings in Sierra Leone against the UK-registered OCTEA Mining Group.
On the second hearing March 13, the application was granted.
Jalloh described the suit as a “worthy fight” which they were ready to pursue to ensure that justice is served and multi-national companies are made to account for their actions.
Ibrahim Turay, Corporate Affairs Officer of Koidu Ltd (OCTEA), told Politico that in as much as they do not want to comment on the issue, fearing prejudicing the matter which is already in court, the company’s position is that the complaints generally lack merits. He said they operate on the basis of an agreement called the Resettlement Action Plan of 2012 (RAP), which was signed by the company, the government and the community people through the Village Resettlement Committee (VRC).
“We are doing what we are mandated to do as per the Resettlement Action Plan,” he said.
Turay said their lawyers were accordingly working on the matter.
Jeffrey Kenneth Commerford, Head of Department of Safety, Health, Environmental and Quality at Koidu Limited, added that the company has always ensured environmental management and safety of both their employees and the community in which they operate. He also said that they have always been monitored by the Environment Protection Agency
Commerford also said that he has never received any complaint from community people.
(c) 2019 Politico Online
