OUR LAND, THEIR LOOT! … Sierra Leone Must Take Back Its Mines
By Kamalo
For over 60 years, Sierra Leone has watched its mineral riches — diamonds, gold, iron ore, bauxite, rutile — being plundered by foreign companies with little to no benefit for the people whose land holds these treasures. From the colonial era to today’s glossy investor summits, the storyline has not changed. Foreign firms loot the land, and Sierra Leoneans remain poor.
Though the truth is brutal, it must be said that our leaders have sold out our future for peanuts, and the people suffer the brunt – paying with their blood and sweat in empty stomachs.
A History of Looting in Broad Daylight
Since the first diamond was discovered in Kono in 1930, Sierra Leone has been caught in a vicious cycle of broad daylight looting. Foreigners dig up its precious stones, export them, and enrich themselves, while the host communities are left with toxic pits, polluted water, and haunting poverty.
From SLST and SLDMC to OCTEA and Kingho, the pattern has remained consistently ugly. Some of these companies even dare to bear the name “Sierra Leone” — a cruel irony, as their profits fly to Switzerland, China, the UK, and Canada in return for crumbs, a few road repairs, scattering menial jobs, hollow Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) pledges that never materialize, and the audacity of abusing local workers — underpay, exploit, and even kill them with brazen impunity.
Koidu Holdings, for example, stands accused of not only underpaying workers and failing to meet basic human rights standards, but also of cheating the nation by undervaluing diamonds in the guise of taxe purposes. Let us not forget also that in 2007, two Sierra Leoneans were gunned down for daring to protest for their industrial rights, and their lives have never been accounted for till date. Yet, these companies continue to operate freely.
A Sovereign Nation Held Hostage
Even more insulting is the reality that some foreign firms own and control the very infrastructure Sierra Leone should be commanding — like the railways used to export our own iron ore. What nation in its right mind would allow a foreign entity to control the arteries of its wealth? This is not just economic exploitation. It is national humiliation.
Our Local Content Policy (LCP), introduced to boost Sierra Leonean participation in mining and other industries, has failed spectacularly. Foreign companies create fake “local” subsidiaries to win contracts. Managerial jobs go to experts, technical knowledge not transferred, and the Local Content Agency — the watchdog — has been defanged and defrauded. This failure is no accident; it’s engineered by greed, sustained by political cowardice, and enforced by the silence of those who should scream.
The Cost of Silence
What has silence cost us? Everything. The foreign CEOs toast champagne in London and Shanghai, while Sierra Leone ranks near the bottom of the Human Development Index.
Our youth roam jobless, clinics are crumbling, and our rivers are poisoned. Our economy is shallow — extractive but not productive. The minerals leave, but the wealth never returns. Sierra Leone has become an economic colony in everything but name. No, it does not have to remain this way!
The Case for Ownership
Sierra Leone must now rise from its protracted slumber to do what it has failed to do for decades long. It is not about xenophobia or isolationism, it is about sovereignty, nationalism, justice and dignity – Sierra Leone must take back the mines!
We must rewrite the laws, outlaw any future contract that surrenders control of critical infrastructure or resources to foreigners without clear, enforceable local equity. Create Sierra Leonean-owned mining companies: transparent, audited, and community-backed. Let the profits stay here.
Mandate community ownership: mining towns like Kono, Tonkolili, and Bonthe must hold shares in the companies operating on their soils.
Cancel exploitative contracts: if companies refuse to renegotiate fairly, they should leave, full stop.
Criminalize industrial abuse: foreign companies that mistreat workers, evade taxes, or break environmental laws must be prosecuted — or terminated and expelled.
It must be remembered that Sierra Leone minerals belong to Sierra Leoneans, not to any handful of politicians, foreign executives, or corrupt intermediaries. Any government that cannot protect that truth has no business leading this country.
Enough is Enough
We are done begging. We are done bleeding. We are done being fooled by high-sounding promises from boardrooms in Europe and Asia. This land is ours, and we will not die in poverty while others feast on our inheritance. It’s time for Sierra Leoneans to stop being spectators in their own economy.
Now take back the mines, reclaim the wealth, restore the people’s dignity, Sierra Leoneans’ future is not for sale! Lonta!