By Ezaruku Draku Franklin

The Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court sitting in Kampala has convicted and sentenced a Ugandan ivory dealer to life imprisonment. Pascal Ochiba, a resident of Namuwongo zone in Kampala City was sentenced on Thursday October 20,2022 for unlawful possession of protected species.

Court documents indicate that Ochiba was arrested on January 18, 2022 in Namuwongo zone, Kampala after being found in possession of two pieces of elephant ivory weighing 9.55 kilograms without a wildlife use right.

Further scrutiny of court records indicate that Ochiba was first arrested on July 4, 2017, from the same area after being found with four pieces of ivory a dry skin of an Okapi without a valid use right and was sentenced to eighteen months in jail for both counts which he served concurrently.

Gladys Kamasanyu, the Chief Magistrate of the Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court while sentencing him, said Ociba is a habitual wildlife trafficker who does not deserve the leniency of the law and that he is a threat to wildlife conservation.

She said offences of unlawful possession of protected species are rampant and there is need to curb them down. Uganda is home to the world’s most known wildlife ranging from iconic mammals like elephants to small ones like pangolins that need to be protected.

“Ochiba is habitual offender having been charged in 2017 with two counts of unlawful possession of protected species and convicted by the same court. Leaving you in circulation increases the risk of killing of endangered species and you deserves a sentence that will contribute to making the world a safer place for wildlife and humans. I hereby sentence you to life imprisonment,” she declared.

Sam Mwandha, the Executive Director of Uganda Wildlife Authority described the sentence as a landmark achievement in the fight against illegal wildlife trade.

“We are happy to see the maximum sentence being handed to a wildlife offender. This is a landmark achievement in our war on illegal wildlife trade in Uganda. We must do our best in our times to protect our wildlife otherwise history will judge us harshly”, he said.

Illegal wildlife trafficking in Uganda

Uganda is known to be a global hub for illegal wildlife trafficking because of its porous borders with the neighbouring countries. Entebbe International Airport has on various occasions been flagged off as conduit for illegal wildlife trafficking to Asian countries, particularly to China and Hong Kong.

 According to the Report of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, Uganda loses an average of $509m in illicit outflows per year, while Africa is estimated to lose more than $50bn a year in illicit financial flows.

Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is the fourth-largest illicit activity worldwide, generating $7 – 23bn per year.

Reports from Uganda Conservation Foundation indicates that’s little is known about these illicit money flows in source and transit areas like Uganda and that a lot of factors come into play, namely lack of political will, lack of transparency, the dependence of Africa on natural resource extraction—a particularly vulnerable loophole for illicit financial flows (IFF), corruption, weak national and regional capacities. It says all these impede efforts to curb illicit financial flows.

Data from the Wildlife Conservation Society indicates that between 2010 and 2017, Uganda registered an upsurge in wildlife product trafficking and approximately 9961.45kg of ivory, 17.75kg of rhino horn and 1,374.7kg of pangolin scales were confiscated in the country.

Majority of the wildlife species are trafficked through the country from the neighbouring countries to their final destinations in Asia.