Jamil Sahid Mohamed - Association With Siaka Stevens

Association With Siaka Stevens

Mohamed found a kindred spirit in President Siaka Stevens who was equally keen to exploit Sierra Leone's gold and diamonds resource for personal gain. . In Sierra Leone's post-colonial era, Siaka Stevens association with Jamil Sayid Mohamed would have a dramatic effect on government policy. Both of them would, for a time, count themselves among Africa’s wealthiest men.

The alliance of Stevens and Mohamed was one of convenience. Stevens had access but as a head of state he was prohibited from engaging in commerce.

And so Mohamed became a beneficiary of the kleptocracy established by President Siaka Stevens. His stewardship of the president's personal finances made him the second most powerful man in Sierra Leone. Together they plunged the economy of the fledgling nation in to a state of economic chaos. Mohamed encouraged Stevens to ally himself with the Lebanese merchant community who controlled a portion of the official diamond trade and also ran the majority of the unofficial diamond trade. Stevens supported illegal diamond smuggling so much so that on November 3, 1969, $3.4 million dollars worth of the Sierra Leonean government's monthly production of diamonds vanished, allegedly at the order of Stevens and Mohamed.

The president granted Mohamed's National Trading Company a monopoly to import more than eighty-seven commodities. And Steven's turned a blind eye as Mohamed become the foremost smuggler of the country's rare gems and minerals, raking in over $ 30 million dollars. Mohamed was christened the "Diamond King".

By 1971 the President had nationalized the De Beers monopoly. Mohamed who had already managed to acquire 12% of the concession. By 1984 Mohamed bought the remaining shares from De Beers.

Tommy Taylor-Morgan, the Minister of Finance, warned that Sierra Leone was losing in excess of US$160 million of diamond income annually to diamond smuggling. Corruption and smuggling reached such a level that official diamond production dropped significantly.

In 1985 national currency, the Leone was devalue by nearly 60 per cent and foreign exchange became scarce. Between 1968 to 1985 Stevens and Mohamed successfully depleted the finances of Sierra Leone until they had rendered one of the world's biggest producers of diamonds and gold the poorest country on earth.

In December 1987 Stevens was in London recovering from a stroke. He was to later learn that Jamil had not kept his side of the bargain in all the years they have been associated. In fact the house Stevens was living in, in West London was supposed to have been bought for him by Jamil Said. It turned out this was not the case. It was reported that he told Stevens, he had not put his name on the house to protect him. Stevens reminded him that this was two years after he had resigned from office. Stevens was reported to have confided in his grandson living with him at the house as follows: "that man has used me". "God go pay him"