By Karamoh Kabba
A lad in a bright orange safety jacket pulled up on a motorbike, very close to the sidewalk; “u dae go?” He asked calmly. “Yes, na Sahr Coba ee garage,” I replied.
I had left my vehicle at Sahr’s mechanic shop, a very popular local fitter always in search of experienced workers because, once his apprentices become comfortable with the job, they end up at Koidu Limited for better wages and benefits.
As a nervous pillion, I commended the young man for his careful navigation up the last steep incline along Post Office Road leading to Gbensseh Ngorbu Street at a T-junction, for a breath of fresh air experience, different from the many urgent and unsafe riders here in Koidu- New Sembehun City.
I inquired if motorbike riding was his profession. He responded negatively and elaborated that he had purchased the motorbike to commute to work. He further explained that “circumstances changed when we staged an industrial action against Koidu Limited, my employer, resulting in my inability to provide for my family in less than two months since the strike action started.”
He is among the many new entrants into the challenging motorbike riding industry in Kono. About a thousand workers, mostly young, have been unemployed since the industrial action began in March 2025.
Indeed, Koidu Limited has been facing significant existential threat to its survival by the ensuing industrial action at its diamond mine in Kono District, Sierra Leone. The dispute began in March over demands for wage increases, salary conversion rate discrepancy, better employment conditions and reinstatement of dismissed workers.
There is confusion over the wage conversion rate dispute. Koidu Limited claims a government review has updated wage practices, removing the peg to an outdated exchange rate. However, many employees and government labor officials argue that no formal review justifies using a rate other than the official exchange rate set by the Bank of Sierra Leone.
The issue revolves around a discrepancy between the exchange rate stipulated in the payment contract and the prevailing official rate. According to the agreement signed in 2013, Koidu Limited was obligated to pay workers in US dollars or local currency at a rate pegged to the dollar. At that time, the agreed conversion was approximately 6.50 Leones to one US dollar. However, despite the Central Bank’s current rate of about 22 Leones per dollar, the company has continued to use its internal figure of 6.50 Leones for wage conversions.
The truth between Koidu Limited and the Government remains unclear as neither party has provided supporting documents for their claims. Efforts to obtain information from both the company and government have been unsuccessful.
In summary, Koidu Limited states that “a government review has altered the method of calculating the exchange rate for employee payments,” while the government asserts that “the official rate determined by the Bank of Sierra Leone should be used.” The issue remains unresolved, with labor representatives advocating for wages to be recalculated according to the official exchange rate to ensure equity.
Meanwhile, the company has labeled the strike action as “illegal” under Sierra Leone’s Industrial Relations and Trade Union Act 2023, citing “concerns over procedure, violence and intimidation.” In response, the Government of Sierra Leone has deployed security support to ensure safety during the unrest triggered by the strike action.
Nevertheless, Koidu Limited has expressed willingness to negotiate but insists that “discussions can only proceed if the strike action is called off and workers return to their duties.” Efforts to resolve the crisis, including Koidu Limited’s proposal to “review salaries and introduce a diamond price-based bonus scheme”, have involved various interest groups including top officials and civil society operatives. At face value, the demand is far from tenable despite the company’s “diamond price-based bonus scheme” offer, especially with the involvement of these external forces.
Due to the unresolved nature of the strike action, Koidu Limited suspended mine operations on March 25, 2025, placing it under “care and maintenance” and stating that “employees face threats and intimidation when attempting to return to work.”
The strike action was particularly intensified by the dirt of information about corruption the First Lady Madam Fatima Maada Bio brought into the equation in her involvement, turning it into a demonstration.
Compounding the already complex build-up of interest parties in the strike action, the first lady held a rally accusing the company of corruption and calling President Maada Bio’s ministers as “dogs”. The company on its own part has issued a generic but firm denial of any allegations of corruption, stating that “all diamonds mined are accounted for under government supervision.”
It could be observed that the unresolved industrial action has not only intensified labor-management tensions but has also had a significant economic impact. The company claims that “the industrial action has led to estimated production losses between $6 million and $8 million over nearly five weeks.”
Whereas this loss may directly impact the company’s short term bottom-line revenue and profitability, prolonged disruptions in production can escalate costs and shrink profit margins for the company as well as cause hardship for the workers, the community, and the government. Already, like hundreds of wage workers out there, my cheerful motor biker has put his Koidu Limited safety jacket and work motorbike to work for him to put food on the table for his family.
According to the 2010 Koidu Limited mining agreement, the Mines and Minerals Act initially set community development funds (CDF) at a mere 0.01 percent.
However, the Act has since been revised to reflect an increase to 1 percent, applicable only to new companies entering agreements after the revision. Nevertheless, local authorities successfully negotiated Koidu Limited’s CDF contribution to 0.025 percent. This negotiation was necessary because the Koidu Limited mining agreement was signed and ratified in Parliament prior to the Act’s revision.
The agreed-upon 0.025 percent CDF, exceeding the initial 0.01 percent, is contributing significantly to infrastructural, healthcare, and educational development in Tankoro chiefdom, Koidu New Sembehun city, and Kono district.
For example, here are some development projects that have either been completed or are works in progress: The Tankoro Native Administrative (TNA) center, the Sahr R. Fillie Faboe Complex, the Thomas Saquee Resource Center, the Kimbadu Town Barrie, the Kimbadu Market, Kania Market Complex, Kissibona Women Resource Center, ten border posts in Kono District, the Kimbadu Clinic, the New Annex facility and maternity wards at Koidu government hospital, Wallayhun Border Clinic, assistance to many schools in various ways, as well as scholarship scheme for vocational and tertiary students.
Meanwhile, Koidu Limited contributes 12 percent of the nation’s total export value. The strike has compounded broader national economic concerns. For instance, the mining sector’s export contribution has dwindled dramatically from 8.8 percent to 2.3 percent reflecting vulnerability of the national economy. Such a steep decline in exports underscores concerns about investor confidence and the long-term sustainability of mining revenues in Sierra Leone.
The broader economic impact stretches beyond just the company’s losses. Labor unrest in a sector as pivotal as diamond mining poses risks to overall national economic stability, investor sentiment, and even governmental fiscal planning. Given how intertwined mining operations are with national export earnings and regional economic health, prolonged industrial actions like this one can ripple across the economy, affecting multiple stakeholders.
To have a good feel of how the community will be impacted, I visited PC Paul Ngaba Saquee, the paramount chief of Tankoro, host to Koidu Limited mining concession. He was less than enthusiastic to talk about the matter but asked that I find out how the community is being impacted by Koidu Limited operations.
“I just hope that the poor workers’ strike action for better wages and improved work conditions will be separated from the ensuing web of disagreement amongst players so that the company can resume and my people can return to earning their livelihood.”
The paramount chief’s hope of separating genuine actions by workers in want of better wages and good work conditions from other interest parties can be observed in the fact that many of the ring leaders of the industrial action are not employees of Koidu Limited.
For example, the secretary of the workers’ union, Sulaiman Mansaray, is not an employee. According to Koidu Limited, Sulaiman had been sacked for an unrelated matter. But because he’s politically connected, his actions arbitrarily insist on the worker’s union. Like Sulaiman, there are many jobless elements who have been active on radio shows and social media fanning the flame of discord between Koidu Limited and its workforce.
Their actions may not be too far-fetched from that of Madam Fatima Maada Bio’s actions. She staged rallies and appeared on social media quite a few times, actions that have not been helpful to the negotiation process. What is more, her underlings in the strike action dubiously utilised bags of rice she sent to assist demonstrators to collect signatures from workers and showcased it as evidence of mass resignation of workers from Koidu Limited to prove a point.
Previous industrial actions against Koidu Limited for better wages and good working conditions occurred in 2007, leading to a worker’s death and several dismissals. And in 2014, young workers organized themselves into a similar industrial action led by Mohamed Bandagbara, a politically influential youth then.
It was that political influence that emboldened him to lead his colleagues to the minister of mines and minerals resources. Whence he introduced himself to the minister as the youth league leader of the governing All People’s Congress (APC) party then, the minister told him that “government will not shut down a national source of revenue because of a youth league leader.”
“Whereas we will engage and meet the demands of the workers, I will ensure that you in particular return to politics and handle the youth league in Kono. You will pick your dismissal letter from me when the company writes one.”
Mohamed was fired, and the strike ended.
Much respect is due to those who wish to lend a helping hand to the process of advocating for better wages and good working conditions for workers. But escalating the situation into a stalemate is a whole different story. At the end of the day, the workers, their dependents and the community are always going to be at the brunt of the stalemate.
Evidently, this woman at Kania market complains that “the fish I buy from Gbense market reefer container is always going bad lately because of poor sales.” When asked why? She shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know.”
She doesn’t know that most of her customers are families of Koidu Limited workers who haven’t been paid since the company went into “care and maintenance”. It’s best to avoid GTBank at the end of the month when it’s crowded with Koidu Limited employees. Today, though, I saw only a few customers there, without the usual end-of-month crowd.
And it is why the needs for advocacy in Kono District are abound. Whereas Koidu Limited is bound to listen to the genuine demands of its employees, there is enough room for much more activism in the diamond industry in Kono.
Large-scale, small-scale, and artisanal mining activities have coexisted in Kono since diamonds were discovered in the 1930s. Profit sharing has been a common practice in artisanal mining, that provided livelihood and a better future for many elderly individuals today. Many of the buildings in Koidu New Sembehun city have been constructed from diamond proceeds in the artisanal sector.
There is debate over the mining act’s 3 percent and 15 percent (special stones) royalties for diamonds. Critics argue that the country gains little since it is not an investor. Previously, the government raised its shares to 51percent, but this failed due to excessive control and inability to meet technical and financial obligations.
That was then, but now, some people are advocating for profit sharing again. This will mean that government may buy about 20 percent shares without managerial and technical functions to leverage on profit now that the profitability of Koidu limited has been established.
Investors in the artisanal sector have introduced a new cunning initiative called “Kosovo,” separate from the investor tributary agreement outlined in the artisanal mining regulations. Young workers not affiliated with Koidu Limited do not receive profit sharing for their backbreaking daily wage work in the sector. The investor carts away with all the proceeds.
Kosovo is pegged at NLE60 daily wage, which is less than $3 a day. Not only that this money is less than enough to feed their families, there is a risk of ending up with very sorrowful and pathetic old age population in the future who will not be able to continue “Kosovo” and would have wasted their lives doing backbreaking work for less than $3 a day, with no retirement benefit, no pension or NASSIT, no nothing.
President Maada Bio, like Chief Saquee, seeks to resolve industrial unrest in Kono District. He stressed the government’s commitment to lawful dispute resolution: “No one will replace or bypass our democratic authority. We are working with all stakeholders for a sustainable and just solution.”
Meanwhile, Madam Fatima Maada Bio and others are bent on working to maintain the current stalemate situation at the expense of poor workers. I hope that my motorbike rider will resume work and that my fish seller will achieve her usual sales in the Kania market soon.
