Diamond warriors in colonial Namibia diamond smuggling, migrant workers and development in Owamboland

Abstract

Whilst the ‘natural resource curse’ theory has been an enduring theory in the study of the relationship between natural resources endowment and economic development, the economics approach to this theory, which privileges the economic explanation focusing on the Dutch disease and revenue volatility, has been dominant. The political economy approach has proven to be more useful not only in political science but also in the study of the African political economy and developing countries such as Namibia where the political conditions played an influential role than the Dutch disease and revenue volatility. At the theoretical level, this study aligns and pursued the political economy approach to the ‘natural resource curse’ research and provides further explanations from a decolonial perspective. The decolonial explanations are useful for it is evident that the ‘natural resource curse’, as is the case with other Eurocentric theories, does not dwell on the agency and subjectivity of the natives, in this case those involved in the illegal diamond trade. Because of the political conditions in colonial Namibia, the political economy explanations such as rent-seeking, agency and moral cosmopolitanism are insufficient in explaining the relationship between the natives and Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM) in colonial Namibia in general and the role of illegal diamonds in the development of Owamboland in particular. As such, decolonial insights such as alternative epistemology, indigenous resurgence and alternative conceptualization of development are used to provide understanding of the political economy of illegal diamonds in Owamboland. Using a mixed method, the study was exposed to a rich data set ranging from inter views, archival records, court records and secondary data. This allowed for cross pollination and verification of the data thus improving the validity and reliability of the data and findings. The study found, across all four data sets, comprehensive evidence confirming illegal diamond operations at CDM involving the Aawambo workers and the Portuguese masterminds. It is found that illegal diamonds contributed in the development of Owamboland in colonial Namibia. It is also found that prominent business personalities credited for the development of Owamboland, referred to in the study as the ‘Diamond Princes’, were involved in the underground diamond economy in Owamboland. Illegal diamonds led to increased purchasing power, widespread mercantilism and provided several economic opportunities for the natives in Owamboland including the transformation of Owamboland rural economy. The evidence further suggests that Namibia’s liberation movement and the progenitor of the present-day ruling party, SWAPO, was a direct and indirect beneficiary of the illegal diamond economy rents during the fight against apartheid colonialism. CDM, which maintained a symbiotic relationship with the colonial state and implemented its policies, stands accused of and associated with the death and disappearance of CDM workers who remain unaccounted for to date. In summary, the study responds to a clarion call for decolonial and Afrocentric perspectives on African development. Its end result is a compound that brings together several aspects of Namibian political economy to advance the case of the role of illegal diamonds in the development of Owamboland. Given that the study took place in ‘unchartered territory’, its greatest contribution, beyond decolonial and Afrocentric pleas, is that of ‘ground-breaking’ research for there has been no record of research, at this level, that looked at the role of illegal diamonds in the development of Owamboland in colonial Namibia.