Listen to him! Duma Boko, President of Botswana, standing in Las Vegas a few days ago, talking about diamonds, not like a miner counting carats, but like a poet whispering love sonnets to his nation’s soul.
While other African leaders treat their countries like ATMs — or worse, personal piggy banks — Boko speaks of diamonds carrying “the dignity of labour, the pride of a nation, and the promise of a better tomorrow”.
Shining light in the continent
Look around our beloved continent. How many presidents strut and preen, draped in ill-gotten gold, while their people queue for water? And how many preach “development” while their Swiss accounts bulge and their villages rot? How many see resources — oil, minerals, diamonds — as nothing but shiny trinkets to be traded for palaces, private jets, and perpetual power?
They are the vultures, picking at the carcass of their own nations. Their “love” for the people is as real as a three-rand note. As deep as a puddle after a Highveld thunderstorm. Gone with the first sign of sunshine on their offshore accounts.
Then stands Boko. Not just talking, but testifying. He doesn’t just see Botswana’s diamonds as revenue streams; he sees them as nation-builders.
“They’ve brought clean water, power, and infrastructure… classrooms to children, and hospitals to all citizens.”
Diamonds built Botswana! Not just skyscrapers in Gaborone, mind you, but the very foundation of their stability. The oldest, most stable democracy on the African continent.”
And he, leading the opposition, won power “not through bloodshed, but through ballots”.
Diamonds funded democracy! What a concept! While others use resources to buy bullets to silence dissent, Botswana used theirs to buy ballot boxes.
Fierce, protective love
His passion isn’t the manufactured fury of a demagogue blaming colonial ghosts for today’s looting. It’s the fierce, protective love of a father for his children’s future. He rallies against lab-grown stones not just as an economic threat but as a cultural and spiritual betrayal.
“Love — real love — cannot be grown in a lab.”
He sees the soul being ripped out of the stone, the meaning replaced by mass-produced meaninglessness.
“Burnt at 2 000 degrees in cold, fired factories, often in exploitative conditions… Sold with inflated margins to a misinformed public. That is not innovation; it is imitation.”
This isn’t a trade minister protecting market share; this is a custodian defending a heritage. A human story “of survival”. Tracing back centuries, even used as lifelines “for freedom… for life” during the Holocaust.
Why does he stand out like a flawless diamond in a bucket of coal?
Tangible results
Boko’s passion stems from tangible results. He points to hospitals, schools, and stability. Diamonds transformed into development you can see and touch. Other leaders point to… themselves, usually. Or phantom projects swallowed by the void of corruption. His love is evidenced, not just proclaimed.
He champions “natural, ethical, and transparent diamonds” that uplift communities. He dares to call out the “greed and misinformation” poisoning the industry.
Contrast this with leaders whose mining sectors operate in shadow, enriching the elite while communities choke on dust. Boko positions Botswana as the ethical alternative. A stance requiring genuine commitment, not just PR spin.
He doesn’t just sell rocks; he sells meaning, legacy, and love. He understands the symbolic power of diamonds and fights to preserve it against the tide of soulless replication.
Other leaders see resources as things to be dug up and sold. Boko sees them as vessels of national identity and human connection.
He embodies the stability diamonds helped build. Winning power peacefully through opposition validates the system the resource revenue fostered. He stands as proof that resource wealth and democracy can coexist in Africa. A powerful rebuke to the autocratic kleptocrats.
But it’s more than just policy. It’s the fire in his delivery. The “exhortation — a global call to reconnect.”
The demand to “champion the true essence”. The call to arms: “Fight back — not with fear, but with truth; not with spin, but with story.”
Stands out among continent’s peers
This isn’t the dry technocrat-speak of a finance minister or the empty bombast of a dictator. It’s the fervent plea of a man who truly believes in the transformative power and profound meaning of what his land yields for his people and the world.
President Boko stands out. In a landscape scarred by greed, short-sightedness, and the brutal exploitation of both people and resources, he shines. Not with the cold, hard glare of a dictator’s jewel-encrusted medal. But with the warm, brilliant fire of genuine love for his people, fierce pride in his nation’s journey, and an unshakeable belief in the ethical, meaningful legacy Botswana’s diamonds represent.
He’s not just a president, he’s a passionate custodian. He’s reminding a jaded world — and a failing continent — that resources, when stewarded with heart and integrity, can indeed build nations and embody love. Now that’s a leader worth his weight in ethically sourced carats.
