ICP
Asks Akon Of
Diamond Mine
Purchase, He
Replies on
Reform,
Yumkella
Running
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May
20 -- When the
UN's
“Sustainable
Energy For
All” endeavor
held a public
press
conference
during its
nearly four
day event on
May 20,
prominent on
the podium was
musician and
business
figure Akon,
talking about
African
villages
buying solar
power systems
from his
enterprise,
with a $1
billion line
of credit, on
the payment
plan.
Inner City
Press asked
Akon about
having also
bought a
diamond mine
-- was that
also a social
enterprise?
Akon answered
in that
direction,
saying he
bought the
mine in order
to challenge
or clean up
the industry,
citing blood
diamonds. Video here and embedded below.
The answer is
an evolution
from what Akon
said about the
mine, and
blood
diamonds, back
in 2007:
"I
don't even
believe in
conflict
diamonds.
That's just a
movie. Think
about it.
Ain't nobody
thought about
nothing about
no conflict
diamonds until
the movie came
out. Where was
all that shit
before the
movie? That's
the problem
with people -
they believe
everything
they read or
see on TV.
It's no
different from
The Blair
Witch Project.
Everybody
thought that
was real. That
campaign and
marketing was
incredible.
After that,
they're
getting
Oscars. Unless
you go to
Sierra Leone
and see what's
going down,
don't believe
everything
you're reading
or see on TV.
Trust me."
There was a
Sierra Leone
connection at
the press
conference:
SE4ALL chief
Kandeh
Yumkella, whom
Inner City
Press asked
about the
organization's
involvement in
the campaign
to end gas
flaring by
2030. Yumkella
answered
excitedly
about Shell
and Total and
ENI and
Statoil
signing on.
To a question
on Sierra
Leone, IRENA's
Adnan Amin
said while the
question was
about
President
Koroma, there
was another
Sierra Leonean
in the room,
but he'd only
talk about one
president at a
time.
On
March 15 of
this year,
Yumkella wrote
to UN staff:
“A few
months ago I
informed the
Secretary-General
that I would
like to step
down as his
Special
Representative
and CEO of
Sustainable
Energy for All
as of July
2015. He has
now graciously
accepted my
request and
the
announcement
will be made
soon.
“It has not
been an easy
decision to
end my 19-year
career serving
humanity under
the auspices
of the UN
system,
including as
Director
General of
UNIDO. But I
believe it is
now time for
me to go home
to serve my
people in
Sierra Leone."
, 
