In Sierra Leone now Diamond lure children out of school.

SIERRA LEONE: Diamonds lure children out of school KOIDU, 6 December 2012 (IRIN) - Sierra Leone’s diamonds fuelled the 1991-2002 civil war, and are now boosting economic growth, but at the sametime they are keeping thousands of children out of school. At a mine resembling a lunar landscape outsideKoidu town in Kono Region - the diamond mining heartland in northeastern Sierra Leone - thousands of young men dig and shovel gravel in search of the precious stone. “I had to support my family so I dropped out of school. When I could not find a job in my home town I came here,” said 21-year-old Mumuni Diallo, who arrived in the mining fields when he was 17. “I am very tired. I havebeen digging this pit formonths, but so far I have found nothing. Still, in mining, every day is a new possibility,” said Diallo,explaining that he was lured by tales of peoplestriking riches. About 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed . Twenty-year-old Alhadji Gborie, who left his home town of Lungi near the capital Freetown for the miningfields, blames the government for failing to provide jobs. “There is too much talkfrom the president. Let him come here and work for a day to see how it is,” said Gborie, standing in a thigh-deep, muddy water hole. On 17 November SierraLeoneans re-elected President Ernest Bai Koroma for a second term of office, helped by the fact that the country has seen extensive infrastructure improvement and economic growth in the past five years. Driven by exports of gold, diamonds and ironore, the country’s economy will grow by up to 21.3 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, but this wealth has yet to filter down to most ordinary SierraLeoneans. “In many families, children are becoming the breadwinners,” Esate Konteh, from a local NGO in Kono Region, told IRIN. “When the civil war ended in 2002, many families had lost one ortwo parents. Some of them had their limbs amputated and could not work or were not eligible for employment.” Children are paid 10,000-20,000 leones (US$3-6) a day and 40,000 leones if they find diamonds. In Kenema, to the east of the capital, and Koidu around 3,000 children are estimated to be working in the mines, but there are no officialfigures and the numbermight be much higher, Konteh said. Youths work either in mines, open pits or riverbeds. Marginalized youth “If you work in the pit you don’t go to school. These youth have been marginalized in society from a very young age. Some of theboys were forced to take up arms during the civil war. When they returned home they were met by burntdown houses. Some of them have lost all their family members… This makes it even harder for them to find work and almost none of them returned to school,” said Denis Lansana of local NGO Network Movement for Justice and Development. Youth training programmes funded by the World Bank and theInternational Red Crosshave only been partially successful, he added. “With no skills and no other possibility to find work, the mine is an easy way to get rich,” said Lansana, adding: “Diamond mining is just more attractive and lucrative than woodwork or farming. The children enrolled inclasses ended up selling their textbooks before returning to the pit.” “Our aim is that no children should work in the pits. However, this is hard to control as wehave no means to follow up on the [government] ban [on children working in mines],” said Sahr Tamba, a director at the Ministry of Mines.

In Sierra Leone now Diamond lure children out of school.

SIERRA LEONE: Diamonds lure children out of school KOIDU, 6 December 2012 (IRIN) - Sierra Leone’s diamonds fuelled the 1991-2002 civil war, and are now boosting economic growth, but at the sametime they are keeping thousands of children out of school. At a mine resembling a lunar landscape outsideKoidu town in Kono Region - the diamond mining heartland in northeastern Sierra Leone - thousands of young men dig and shovel gravel in search of the precious stone. “I had to support my family so I dropped out of school. When I could not find a job in my home town I came here,” said 21-year-old Mumuni Diallo, who arrived in the mining fields when he was 17. “I am very tired. I havebeen digging this pit formonths, but so far I have found nothing. Still, in mining, every day is a new possibility,” said Diallo,explaining that he was lured by tales of peoplestriking riches. About 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed . Twenty-year-old Alhadji Gborie, who left his home town of Lungi near the capital Freetown for the miningfields, blames the government for failing to provide jobs. “There is too much talkfrom the president. Let him come here and work for a day to see how it is,” said Gborie, standing in a thigh-deep, muddy water hole. On 17 November SierraLeoneans re-elected President Ernest Bai Koroma for a second term of office, helped by the fact that the country has seen extensive infrastructure improvement and economic growth in the past five years. Driven by exports of gold, diamonds and ironore, the country’s economy will grow by up to 21.3 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, but this wealth has yet to filter down to most ordinary SierraLeoneans. “In many families, children are becoming the breadwinners,” Esate Konteh, from a local NGO in Kono Region, told IRIN. “When the civil war ended in 2002, many families had lost one ortwo parents. Some of them had their limbs amputated and could not work or were not eligible for employment.” Children are paid 10,000-20,000 leones (US$3-6) a day and 40,000 leones if they find diamonds. In Kenema, to the east of the capital, and Koidu around 3,000 children are estimated to be working in the mines, but there are no officialfigures and the numbermight be much higher, Konteh said. Youths work either in mines, open pits or riverbeds. Marginalized youth “If you work in the pit you don’t go to school. These youth have been marginalized in society from a very young age. Some of theboys were forced to take up arms during the civil war. When they returned home they were met by burntdown houses. Some of them have lost all their family members… This makes it even harder for them to find work and almost none of them returned to school,” said Denis Lansana of local NGO Network Movement for Justice and Development. Youth training programmes funded by the World Bank and theInternational Red Crosshave only been partially successful, he added. “With no skills and no other possibility to find work, the mine is an easy way to get rich,” said Lansana, adding: “Diamond mining is just more attractive and lucrative than woodwork or farming. The children enrolled inclasses ended up selling their textbooks before returning to the pit.” “Our aim is that no children should work in the pits. However, this is hard to control as wehave no means to follow up on the [government] ban [on children working in mines],” said Sahr Tamba, a director at the Ministry of Mines.

In Sierra Leone now Diamond lure children out of school.

SIERRA LEONE: Diamonds lure children out of school KOIDU, 6 December 2012 (IRIN) - Sierra Leone’s diamonds fuelled the 1991-2002 civil war, and are now boosting economic growth, but at the sametime they are keeping thousands of children out of school. At a mine resembling a lunar landscape outsideKoidu town in Kono Region - the diamond mining heartland in northeastern Sierra Leone - thousands of young men dig and shovel gravel in search of the precious stone. “I had to support my family so I dropped out of school. When I could not find a job in my home town I came here,” said 21-year-old Mumuni Diallo, who arrived in the mining fields when he was 17. “I am very tired. I havebeen digging this pit formonths, but so far I have found nothing. Still, in mining, every day is a new possibility,” said Diallo,explaining that he was lured by tales of peoplestriking riches. About 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed . Twenty-year-old Alhadji Gborie, who left his home town of Lungi near the capital Freetown for the miningfields, blames the government for failing to provide jobs. “There is too much talkfrom the president. Let him come here and work for a day to see how it is,” said Gborie, standing in a thigh-deep, muddy water hole. On 17 November SierraLeoneans re-elected President Ernest Bai Koroma for a second term of office, helped by the fact that the country has seen extensive infrastructure improvement and economic growth in the past five years. Driven by exports of gold, diamonds and ironore, the country’s economy will grow by up to 21.3 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, but this wealth has yet to filter down to most ordinary SierraLeoneans. “In many families, children are becoming the breadwinners,” Esate Konteh, from a local NGO in Kono Region, told IRIN. “When the civil war ended in 2002, many families had lost one ortwo parents. Some of them had their limbs amputated and could not work or were not eligible for employment.” Children are paid 10,000-20,000 leones (US$3-6) a day and 40,000 leones if they find diamonds. In Kenema, to the east of the capital, and Koidu around 3,000 children are estimated to be working in the mines, but there are no officialfigures and the numbermight be much higher, Konteh said. Youths work either in mines, open pits or riverbeds. Marginalized youth “If you work in the pit you don’t go to school. These youth have been marginalized in society from a very young age. Some of theboys were forced to take up arms during the civil war. When they returned home they were met by burntdown houses. Some of them have lost all their family members… This makes it even harder for them to find work and almost none of them returned to school,” said Denis Lansana of local NGO Network Movement for Justice and Development. Youth training programmes funded by the World Bank and theInternational Red Crosshave only been partially successful, he added. “With no skills and no other possibility to find work, the mine is an easy way to get rich,” said Lansana, adding: “Diamond mining is just more attractive and lucrative than woodwork or farming. The children enrolled inclasses ended up selling their textbooks before returning to the pit.” “Our aim is that no children should work in the pits. However, this is hard to control as wehave no means to follow up on the [government] ban [on children working in mines],” said Sahr Tamba, a director at the Ministry of Mines.

President koroma must be given the freedom to what he thinks that is better for the country's development

In Part 1 of the series, I used the metaphor of the goalkeeper to demonstrate my point that ”.. …the President must be given the free handto choose the people he believes will help him achieve results.” I stressed the important need for the President to work with people hetrusts and who are ready to cooperate fuly with him to helphim achieve his agenda. I posited that the goalkeeper“has to be comfortable with hisdefenders around him and the backs must be serving the best interest ofthe team’s playing style for the goalieto do a great job between the posts” and for his team to succeed .I said that there must be greater understanding between the goalkeepers and his defenders because the goalkeeper has to know what his defenders will do inany given situation for him to make informed decisions to commit himself to attempt a save or remain between theposts waiting for the opposing attackers to strike. I did not mean that the President can only be a goalkeeper. It was just one metaphor among the many one could use to dissect the roles the President has to play. Indeed, the President is all-round team player . He can be adefender , keeping his goalmouth secure from raidingopponents. He can be a midfield playermasterminding and directing attacks onthe opponents’ goal like Paul Scholes does so magnificently for Manchester United or Frank Lampard so efficiently for Chelsea. The President can also be a striker ( A centre forward in the mold of our eternally famous King Kama Dumbuya) whose role is to receive passes andscore goals or dribble himself and notch the required goals . The metaphors can go on and on and on and on. But the central message in Part 1 must not be missed —That “This issue of demanding that President Ernest Koroma appoint certain classes, categories or ages or educational levels of people willbe counter-productive if such appointments are not well tailored to cohere with what makes the President comfortable to perform well and what will serve the best interest of thenation.” I did not in any wayimply that PresidentErnest Koroma should not include youths, women and other groups in his cabinet. My friend,Mr. Sheku Sheriff of the SEGBWEMA BLOGSPOT therefore got it all wrong when he interpreted my position in these words : “In other words those calling for the president toinclude youths, women and diversity in his new government were wrong, as in Kabbs Kanu’s opinion, the President should only work with people he trusts, regardless of age, sex or background,as by doing so he will work better in the interest of “thecountry”. I think you got me all wrong, Mr. Sheriff. And you got me wrong just at a timeI was thanking God for you for being one of the many journalists who understood the dilemma that has gripped the nation after the elections — the dog-fight for government appointments among journalists , which is forcing some to adopt a dog-eat-dog philosophy to attack appointees helping to promote the government in the media , thinking that , by so doing, they will be called and givengovernment appointments. Or these appointees will be removed andtheir jobs handed to these desperate men . It took a smart man like you to notice it and bring it to the attention of your readers . Many people have forwarded your article to me, titled ,THE QUEST FOR PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS IN SIERRA LEONE HAS BECOME SUBLIME . Though I disagree with your portrayal of Sylvia Blyden, Titus Boye-Thompson and others in that article, I think you correcty mirrored the dilemma government appointees under attack from the madman are going through. However, you got me wrong on the advise that the President be allowed to appoint whom he wants to work with .

President koroma must be given the freedom to what he thinks that is better for the country's development

In Part 1 of the series, I used the metaphor of the goalkeeper to demonstrate my point that ”.. …the President must be given the free handto choose the people he believes will help him achieve results.” I stressed the important need for the President to work with people hetrusts and who are ready to cooperate fuly with him to helphim achieve his agenda. I posited that the goalkeeper“has to be comfortable with hisdefenders around him and the backs must be serving the best interest ofthe team’s playing style for the goalieto do a great job between the posts” and for his team to succeed .I said that there must be greater understanding between the goalkeepers and his defenders because the goalkeeper has to know what his defenders will do inany given situation for him to make informed decisions to commit himself to attempt a save or remain between theposts waiting for the opposing attackers to strike. I did not mean that the President can only be a goalkeeper. It was just one metaphor among the many one could use to dissect the roles the President has to play. Indeed, the President is all-round team player . He can be adefender , keeping his goalmouth secure from raidingopponents. He can be a midfield playermasterminding and directing attacks onthe opponents’ goal like Paul Scholes does so magnificently for Manchester United or Frank Lampard so efficiently for Chelsea. The President can also be a striker ( A centre forward in the mold of our eternally famous King Kama Dumbuya) whose role is to receive passes andscore goals or dribble himself and notch the required goals . The metaphors can go on and on and on and on. But the central message in Part 1 must not be missed —That “This issue of demanding that President Ernest Koroma appoint certain classes, categories or ages or educational levels of people willbe counter-productive if such appointments are not well tailored to cohere with what makes the President comfortable to perform well and what will serve the best interest of thenation.” I did not in any wayimply that PresidentErnest Koroma should not include youths, women and other groups in his cabinet. My friend,Mr. Sheku Sheriff of the SEGBWEMA BLOGSPOT therefore got it all wrong when he interpreted my position in these words : “In other words those calling for the president toinclude youths, women and diversity in his new government were wrong, as in Kabbs Kanu’s opinion, the President should only work with people he trusts, regardless of age, sex or background,as by doing so he will work better in the interest of “thecountry”. I think you got me all wrong, Mr. Sheriff. And you got me wrong just at a timeI was thanking God for you for being one of the many journalists who understood the dilemma that has gripped the nation after the elections — the dog-fight for government appointments among journalists , which is forcing some to adopt a dog-eat-dog philosophy to attack appointees helping to promote the government in the media , thinking that , by so doing, they will be called and givengovernment appointments. Or these appointees will be removed andtheir jobs handed to these desperate men . It took a smart man like you to notice it and bring it to the attention of your readers . Many people have forwarded your article to me, titled ,THE QUEST FOR PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS IN SIERRA LEONE HAS BECOME SUBLIME . Though I disagree with your portrayal of Sylvia Blyden, Titus Boye-Thompson and others in that article, I think you correcty mirrored the dilemma government appointees under attack from the madman are going through. However, you got me wrong on the advise that the President be allowed to appoint whom he wants to work with .