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Abstract
The inability of most resource-rich countries in sub-Saharan Africa to benefit from their natural resource endowments has continued to confound observers. Although a growing scholarship has covered this problem, scholars have not focused on explaining the architecture of legal regimes that are instrumental in understanding the policies and approaches states employ in governing their resource endowments. Drawing upon participant observation in the field, this article presents a case study of how actors and stakeholders interacted during deliberations leading to the enactment of legislation governing the minerals sector in Sierra Leone in 2009, and the sources and outcomes of conflicting interests or complimentary pressures on the process. The findings show several courses of action that help explain why, and how, developing countries such as Sierra Leone sometimes fail to maximise revenue generation from their mineral wealth.
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to all those who consented to personal interviews and others who provided media and archival sources in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The article has benefited greatly from comments by two anonymous reviewers, and from comments on an earlier version that was presented at the Annual Spring Symposium of the Institute of African Development at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, USA on 30 April 2011. I am grateful to all the symposium participants for their suggestions and to Hans Bergmann at Quinnipiac University for generous summer research support. All errors and viewpoints are entirely mine.
Note on Contributor
Fodei Batty is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He previously taught at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York as a visiting Assistant Professor. Dr Batty is a recipient of several awards such as the Jennings Randolph Peace Fellowship from the US Institute of Peace and the Gretchen Walsh Book Donation award from the African Studies Association. His primary interests are in sub-Saharan Africa in which he studies ethnic political behaviour, natural resource management, democratisation and development, among other research interests.
Notes
1. The controversial passage of the bill received extensive coverage in the media. For some examples, see the Freetown-based Awareness Times editions of 17 and 18 November 2009, available online <http://www.awarenesstimes.com/>. Members of the SLPP walked out of parliament in protest because they felt legislative procedures were violated by the ruling All People's Congress (APC) party in order to force the bill through parliament without much debate over the controversial portions of the proposed royalty provisions.
2. This could be unfair since Botswana's diamond production is entirely Kimberlite and firmly under government control, whereas a greater percentage of Sierra Leone's diamonds is alluvial and state oversight is tenuous.
3. The Africa Progress Report is released annually by the Africa Progress Panel headed by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. Copies of their reports can be downloaded from the organisation's website <http://www.africaprogresspanel.org/en/publications/africa-progress-report-2013/> (accessed 22 September 2013).
4. See McCool (Citation1990) for a useful discussion of the sub-government theory of policy-making.
5. Similar improvements were reported in Angola and other conflict zones in Central Africa following their entry into the Kimberley Process. In early 2011, civil society activists in West Africa began pushing for a review of the Kimberley Process arguing the programme was losing its intended effect.
6. The problem is widespread in the sector. Cluff Diamonds Ltd and Koidu Holdings Ltd are just two examples of companies that have violated their prospecting licenses to commence mining or mine for minerals that they have not been approved to mine.
7. See Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2013, for the full report documenting the range of corruption in Sierra Leone <http://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/pub/global_corruption_barometer_2013> (accessed 22 September 2013).
8. The SLPP walked out of parliament again on 12 July 2011 in protest over similar events surrounding the controversial tabling of a bill intended to govern the future petroleum industry. As with the MMA, the bill was passed without their vote.
9. Confidential interviews with three SLPP members of parliament, Freetown, 14 July 2010.
10. Interview with Morlai Kamara, civil society activist, Freetown, 17 March 2009.
11. Confidential interviews with three SLPP members of parliament, Freetown, 14 July 2010.
12. Confidential interviews with Fallah Ensah-Ndayma, civil society activist, Freetown, 17 March 2009.
13. Standard Times 9 March 2008, 9 December 2010, Freetown, available online <http://www.standardtimespress.net>.
14. Confidential interview with two paramount chiefs, Freetown, 27 March 2009.
15. Confidential interview with two executives of mining companies, Freetown, 19 March 2009.
16. In a curious coincidence, the World Bank signed two loan approvals, IDA46610 and IDA47750, for Sierra Leone totalling US$17-million on 24 November 2009, a week after ratification of the MMA 2009. See the World Bank <http://go.worldbank.org/PKBS4V7I90> (accessed 3 June 2011).
17. Confidential interview with Fallah Ensah-Ndayma, civil society activist, Freetown, 17 March 2009.