“THE CHALLENGES ARE ENORMOUS….BUT LET US DON’T ALLOW CORPORATE ENTITIES WITH DUBIOUS CHARACTERS TO CAPTURE THE STATE” – ABU BRIMA

The Executive Director of the Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), Mr. Abu A. Brima, has pleaded with the people of Sierra Leone not to allow corporate entities with questionable characters to capture the state, as that would spell doom with devastating consequences.

Cross-section of participants at the launching

He made this plea at the launching of two research reports on livelihood options of youth miners and the operations of the African Minerals Limited at the British Council Hall, Tower Hill, Freetown, on Tuesday 7 September 2010.

The two reports launched were titled: One day I will do something else-Realizing the Potential of Sierra Leonean Youth and Dancing with the Chameleon-Mining Communities in Sierra Leone and the many faces of Frank Timis.

Reviewing the reports, Brima said the purpose of the two studies was to share information with the general citizenry about the plight of young people involved in artisanal mining and the general operations of African Minerals Limited, as well as the man behind the company, Mr. Frank Timis, whose controversial past was enough for the Government of Sierra Leone to deal with him with extreme caution.

“Timis now concentrates mainly on his iron ore mines in Feregbenya, in Tonkolili, northern Sierra Leone – he bills it as the largest iron ore deposit in Africa. Such claims have been proven unreliable – adding to Timis’ myth.

“Proper rules are routinely ignored by Timis. In November 2009, for example, his company, Regal Petroleum, where he was Chief Executive, was fined £600,000 by the London Stock Exchange for ‘systematic’ breaches of rules, the biggest-ever fine levied by the exchange.

“Timis has now set up another company, African Petroleum, and is said to be negotiating with the Sierra Leone Government for the offshore oil find in Pujehun district,” parts of the report read.

Timis himself admitted on his website of having a controversial past, a past that made the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2007 to declare him wholly unfit to act as a director, officer or major shareholder of a listed company after it was discovered he had not declared two previous convictions for heroin possession.

“Three times (Timis) was arrested and fined for possession of heroin. Frank paid his fines and has always declared in submissions to companies and stock markets throughout the world that he is a man with a past,” the report states.

It’s in the light of the above that the Executive Director of NMJD cautioned the Government and people of Sierra Leone not to complacently believe hook, line and sinker everything that African Minerals Limited and Frank Timis tell them.

He emphasized the need for Sierra Leoneans to start questioning the way and manner the Government was entering into agreements with corporate mining companies, as well as to dig deeper to unearth the true colours of these companies and their owners.

“We know that Sierra Leoneans do not have the culture of asking questions and demanding explanations from their leaders for their actions or inaction. But I think this should stop.

“It is high time we started probing into the backgrounds of corporate mining companies and their shareholders coming to invest in the country to know whether they’re the investors the country really needs,” he said.

Brima further reiterated the concerns raised in the report about the frequency with which Frank Timis changed the names and shareholdings of his companies, as well as the many companies he used as fronts to carry out his business activities.

“The company operated with a number of fronts, all holding prospecting and exploration licenses in Sierra Leone, presumably for tax and other nefarious purposes.

“Among them were Fatkad Mining Company Limited, Kangaroo Mining Company Limited and Morlans Mining Company Limited.

“Directors and other officers of the Sierra Leone Diamond Company (another of Frank Timis’ companies) also have beneficial interests in North West Diamond and Gold, which, like SLDC, was registered in Bermuda; and in 2005, the SLDC acquired North West’s 10,000 km exploration licenses in Sierra Leone.

“Of course, this tangle of corporate names and interests creates some confusion; and of course Frank Timis was all along controlling all of these interests,” the report states.

High table: (l-r) Kassam Abess (one of the researchers), Abu A. Brima (Executive Director, NMJD), Hon Cherinor Bah (Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Mineral Resources), Ngolo Katta (Coordintor, Centre for the Coordination of Youth Activities – chairman of the launching ceremony)

Commenting on the report on African Minerals Limited, a senior official of the company, Mr. Mustapha Kamara, said their initial reaction was to dismiss the report outright, as it undermined the development efforts of the Government of Sierra Leone.

Rather than responding to the ignominious past of Frank Timis that was adequately articulated in the report, Kamara focused his comment on chronicling the several development initiatives that his company had supported in their operational areas, especially Sandor chiefdom in Kono district, amounting to hundreds of millions of leones.

“We’re tired of these over-touted lyrics by African Minerals about their contributions to the development of the country. We’ve heard it said times without number; so it’s no longer news to us.

“As a matter of fact, we’re not in total agreement with what they always claim to have done for mining communities. Take the Diamond Area Community Development Fund (DACDF), for example, which they claimed to have contributed huge sums of money to.

“The DACDF money is the bona fide property of the Government and people of Sierra Leone because it comes directly from the three percent export tax that companies pay to the Government. So we see no reason why a company should take credit for anything that is done with that money,” Haji Bah of the Campaign for Just Mining said.

The proceedings of the launching slightly erupted into a near chaos following the abrupt departure of officials of African Minerals and their hirelings after Mustapha Kamara had made his reaction to the report.

Rather than moving out quietly as they entered, they made a lot of noise punctuated with unbearably arrogant statements and threats. They did not stay to listen to what other people would have to say, or to answer to questions that they might ask regarding their operations.

“What we’ve just witnessed is a clear manifestation of the enormous challenges that the citizens of this country are faced with,” Brima said.

It did not come as a surprise, therefore, when in launching the reports, Freetown-based Harvard-trained lawyer, Pa Momoh Mohamed Fofana, said the event should not be a physical fight between CSOs and corporate mining companies; nor should it be a physical fight between the government and CSOs, who, in fact, voted them to power.

“These reports should caution the Government not only about African Minerals Limited and Frank Timis, but also in dealing with other companies wanting to come and invest in Sierra Leone.

“The report may look like an attack on the personality of Frank Timis, but it’s absolutely not, and patriotic Sierra Leoneans should not look at it that way.

“Laws are not only created, but are meant to be implemented to the letter. Time, energy and other vital state resources are used in formulating laws, but they can only be meaningful if they’re implemented.

“Therefore, the Government and anybody else should not do anything that will flout, contradict and over ride the laws of the land, in this case the Mines and Minerals Act of 2009,” lawyer Fofana said.

Hon Chernor Bah making a statement at the launch of the reports

In his statement, deputy minister of Mineral Resources and Political Affairs, Mr. Abdul Ignossi Koroma, lauded the efforts and unwavering commitment of the Network Movement for Justice and Development and other like-minded CSOs towards sanitizing the mining sector in Sierra Leone.

Minister Koroma said the contributions of CSOs headed by NMJD helped the Government of Sierra Leone in no small measure in successfully reviewing legislations and agreements resulting in the promulgation of the Mines and Minerals Act of 2009.

“Positive thinking is very good, particularly for Sierra Leoneans. It helps the citizens to sit together and discuss things that affect the development of the country.

“It’s the right of CSOs to make their concerns known to us. It’s equally our responsibility as a Government to listen to them and take action. We may not totally agree with CSOs all the time, but we do always agree with them on so many things.

“Our role is not to throw away criticisms, but to digest them properly and find the appropriate solutions,” Minister Koroma said.

Earlier, Programme Director of the Mining and Extractives programme, Mrs. Aminata Kelly-Lamin, gave an overview and background to the two studies.

One day I will do something else is the outcome of a study conducted in Kono and Kenema districts involving 600 youths and young people engaged in artisanal mining.

“One of the key findings of the study is that none of the young people working in the mines wants to remain there forever. They’re only there because of the lack of opportunities that will provide them with choices. Their dream is that one day they’ll leave the mines to do something else,” Kelly-Lamin said.

On the second study, Kelly-Lamin said it was aimed at unveiling the many faces of Frank Timis, who is the driver of the operations of the African Minerals Limited.

She said adherence of companies to internationally and nationally accepted norms and standards depended very largely to how genuine, sincere and honest the players behind the companies were.

“The second study is part of a series focusing on mining companies operating in Sierra Leone. The first one focused on the relationship between Koidu Holdings Limited and Affected Property Owners in Tankoro chiefdom in Kono district,” She said.

All these reports can be accessed on: www.nmjd.org