Sierra Leone's First Lady Joins Diamond Protest
March 17, 25
(IDEX Online) - The first lady of Sierra Leone has joined protests against owners of the Koidu diamond mine, supporting strike action and demanding pay rises and improved working conditions.
Fatima Maada Bio, wife of president Julius Maada Bio, publicly highlighted the demands of workers and posted a message on her official X (formerly Twitter) account.
"As a proud daughter of the soil, I joined my brothers and sisters working at the Koidu Limited Mining Company in Kono Town to peacefully protest," she wrote.
"Our collective action aimed to urge Koidu Limited to enhance working conditions and provide better services for all employees."
She said among the key demands were recognition of the union, living allowances, a 30 per cent salary increment, overtime compensation, the provision of incentives, access to safe drinking water, and freedom of financial choice.
"This protest is a call to action for the company to improve the working conditions and provide better services. We believe that these demands are reasonable and essential for maintaining the well-being and dignity of workers."
Workers at the mine have long complained about low wages, poor working conditions, and alleged racism, and protests have, in the past, turned violent.
Koidu, a subsidiary of the Octea Diamond Group, was the first to begin commercial diamond operations after the country's 11-year civil war in 2003.
In a statement on what it described as the "illegal strike action" last week, Koidu Limited said: "Our absolute priority remains the safety and wellbeing of our employees and the community. We maintain our position of zero tolerance to any violence, intimidation or incitement thereof. The government of Sierra Leone has offered the full support of its security forces."
The company said it wanted to engage in direct negotiations as soon as possible to address all of these concerns, but could only do so if the industrial action is called off immediately.
"Failure to work within the laws of Sierra Leone, as well as the continuing of incitement of actions to obstruct workers from returning to work (particularly violence), is likely to result in the withdrawal of all staff from the mine on the grounds of safety.
"This will result in the ceasing of all operations; an existential threat to the mine itself."
Pic shows Fatima Maada Bio, center, at the protest, courtesy Fatima Maada Bio.