By Charles Wyndham    .

I must be the only person who did not know that my chum Boney was on the board or whatever of the WDC, so when I read that he had resigned I was not sure if I should have been shocked.

That Boney resigned over the KP process or to be precise its total inadequacy stating in his press release that the trade should not trust Kimberley Process Certificates or rely on the World Diamond Council system of warranties, was even more of a shock.

Yes a shock, because I agree with him.

I have always been at best agnostic on the KP process, one which, as far as I could see, has in the past been hijacked by various interests.

My view has been that probably it is or was better than nothing and the focus on Sierra Leone initially did have a beneficial impact.

But as so often and so sadly is the case the mice, or should I say worms, have got at it and when confronted with its next biggest issue, Zimbabwe, the slipping and sliding has reached ludicrous levels.

The funny thing is that much of the driving force for the KP process, from the evangelical fervour of various NGO’s, was to protect vulnerable African countries.

The outrageous defence of good old Bob in Zim by a host of African countries, no matter how much he disregards human life or the rule of law, only demonstrates that whatever is said the African countries themselves are totally disinterested in the consequences of blatant corruption and abuse of diamonds or anything else he can lay his hands on.

So I suppose the WDC stand in this light is not that surprising, they only want to do business, business as usual.

The curious position is that here I am agreeing with Boney, but Boney cannot agree that his list in its own way is, in my opinion, just as questionable as what he claims is the attitude of the WDC.

I certainly would not ‘trust’ Boney’s list, even though it is clearly very useful for many or most in the industry.

I recall with some amusement the accusations by Boney about the evil De Beers monopoly, but he, himself, has been running a much more successful monopoly... Chapeau!

Again in the GIA scandal his stance was, if I recall correctly, one of righteous silence or whatever, it certainly was not one of unequivocal condemnation of that lamentable affair; but then Boney had the monopoly to ship goods to the GIA.

Yes, the KP process is deeply flawed, as witnessed by the resignation of Ian Smillie in frustration at its shortcomings.
Yes it is correct that Boney should resign.

However, why was he on the WDC in the first place and why is this theatrical and threatening behaviour appropriate given his own track record?