GHANA: Locals react to allegations that their country is a conduit for "conflict diamonds".

Most people are quick to spring to their country's defence and Ghanaians are no different. A diamond watchdog seeking to stamp out trade in "conflict diamonds" threatened to expel Ghana on Tuesday (November 7) over allegations it was certifying gems coming from war-ravaged Ivory Coast. The Kimberly Process's annual meeting of 46 governments and the European Union in Botswana, organised to weed out the illicit gem trade that fuels civil wars, gave the west African nation three months to stop the flow of black market diamonds. If thrown out, Ghana would not be able to certify its diamonds and would have to reapply to rejoin the group. Ghanaian officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Diamond exporters and jewellers in the capital Accra were being equally tight-lipped when asked to comment on the allegations. But ordinary citizens were keen to give their opinions on the issue, citing Ghana's own mineral wealth and its generosity in assisting neighbouring countries during their civil conflicts. "I don't think it is true that diamonds are being smuggled from our neighbouring country to Ghana, looking at the resources that is available to us as a nation, by God's grace or God's whatever we are really endowed with a lot of riches, mineral resources, Ghana is very rich with this resources," said Harry Thompson, a resident of Accra. "Personally, I don't think its true, as much as I don't work with the appropriate agencies I don't want to believe, looking at the history of Ghana, as nations that we receive refugees we take care of, looking at Liberia and all those countries we help in terms of that, and looking at the key role past and present leaders have played in ensuring that there is peace in such countries, I don't thing our leaders will like to get themselves involve in such an act of smuggling diamond or cocoa or any other thing from neighbouring country because there is war over there," said Selorm Amevor, another Accra resident. The effort to close the loopholes that make the illicit trade possible come ahead of a potential wave of negative publicity next month, when a new Hollywood movie "Blood Diamond" starring Leonardo DiCaprio will be released. Ivory Coast is a focus of the meeting since it is the last source of black-market diamonds being smuggled out by rebels following earlier civil wars in Angola, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which were partly fuelled by gems. Up to 200,000 carats of rough diamonds, worth $23 million, a year from the north of Ivory Coast are smuggled, mostly into Ghana, where they are certified as legitimate despite a United Nations embargo, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) say. Ghana will not have to halt its diamond exports during the interim period, a measure urged by the NGOs. The western African nation also will be given technical help to boost monitoring during the probation period, delegates said. Botswana, the world's biggest producer of high-quality diamonds and current chair of the Kimberley Process, won praise for pressuring Ghana to comply with the restrictions. The certification scheme by the Kimberley Process -- under which governments monitor exports -- has helped cut the amount of conflict diamonds to less than 1 percent from as high as 15 percent 10 years ago, NGOs say. The diamond industry says conflict diamonds never accounted for more than around 4 percent of total world production of raw diamonds, worth around $12 billion a year.

ITN Source | November 17, 2006

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