Tanzanian Association Oslo

Govt must act now to bust

ivory smuggling racket

EDITOR DAR ES SALAAM LAST week Same East Member of Parliament Anne Kilango Malecela minced no words when she categorically stated in the House that rampant corruption in Government was the root cause of the unabated smuggling of ivory from the country, and went on to call for a parliamentary probe to unearth the smuggling network.

The outspoken legislator made specific reference to the illegal shipment of two containers full of ivory from the port of Dar es Salaam to Vietnam last March, and accused the ministry responsible for natural resources and tourism of ’laxity and failure’ to protect the country’s natural resources.

According to Ms Kilango, the Vietnam incident was just the tip of the iceberg, since the smuggling of ivory from Tanzania appears to have become a rampant problem, as the looting of our natural resources has been going on for the past 40 years or so. We totally agree with the legislator that the Government has not done enough to bust the ivory smuggling racket as the nation continues to lose its vast wealth in natural resources.

When this newspaper broke the story on the smuggling of elephant tusks to Vietnam early this year, senior officials in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism surprisingly said they were not even aware of the incident. But, on their part, Vietnamese officials are understood to have received information about the consignment when it was initially loaded aboard a ship in Dar es Salaam.

It is even more shocking to learn that some ministry officials were involved in smuggling of tonnes of elephant tusks worth billions of shillings in Vietnam and Phillippines. This is a serious situation which calls for a zealous government action. New policy initiatives and close ministerial supervision are needed to show that the plight of elephants, which are at great risk, is our concern.

The ministry should make it mandatory to address the issue of ivory smuggling by deliberating on ways of saving our species which are already on the verge of extinction. As a signatory to the Lusaka Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora which came into force on December 10, 1996, Tanzania must act immediately to curb smuggling of elephant tusks.?

Whenever reports of smuggling of elephant tusks emerge the Government, in collaboration with the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, should launch a thorough international criminal investigation so as to nab suspected dealers.?

Despite last week’s welcome news of the arrest of a suspected trafficker of Government trophies, including elephant tusks, at the Mwalimu Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, the illegal wildlife trade continues to thrive in defiance of the country’s generally weak protection laws. These need to be strengthened and better enforced as a matter of urgency. It is our hope that the Minister for Natural Rersources and Tourism, Shamsa Mwangunga, will deliver on the promise of working closely with police in an effort to check this illicit trade.

Courtsey of This Day (Tanzania)