I had sent this through to our client mailing list in case anyone wanted to donate towards Ngwenya's family, the support so far has been phenomenal. Several of our client's suggested I post this on AR. If anyone would like to contribute towards his family then please email me at neilduckworth@mokore.com and Gary at garyduckworth@mokore.com.

As most are aware we have been heavily involved for the past 16 years building up a wonderful concession Coutada 9 in Mozambique. When we started there it was an area that had been ravaged by 20 years of civil war leaving it with very little wildlife left. This said it was a massive area with lots of potential and each year we have worked extremely hard to bring it back to life with very aggressive anti-poaching efforts combined with opening over a thousand kilometers of new roads and developing surface water for the game through drilling 22 wells and building 12 dams/reservoirs.
This all has been no small feat and Ngwenya who was our bull dozer driver, tractor driver, head of anti-poaching and overall go-to guy was a very big part of the rebuilding process and it is with deep regret to report that he was killed Friday the 9th of February whilst trying to apprehend a group of elephant poachers.



Coutada 9 has a resident population of about 350-400 elephants and like with all the other wildlife we have fought an uphill battle from day one to protect them. Unfortunately, with elephant poachers there is the added risk in that they are armed normally with an AK-47! Over the years our anti-poaching scouts have had several run ins with these guys and we were determined to catch them. We believe it to be a group of 4 guys who have been responsible for most of the elephant poaching in Coutada 9. With the Coutada being so large (nearly 1 million acres) it has been very difficult to catch up to this group as the normally come in, hit one or two elephants in remote locations, cut the ivory out then retreat for 1-2 months then come back in making it challenging to catch them.



On Friday 9th February, Ngwenya got information that one of our anti-poaching sticks based up in the north had found fresh tracks of these poachers trailing a wounded elephant. Ngwenya went immediately to our local police station and collected 3 police officers to go with him on the follow up. Unfortunately, due to the distances involved he got onto the tracks fairly late in the day to start following. They caught up to the poachers at last light where they had set up to cook and spend the night. The poachers refused to surrender and a shoot-out ensued. With it being dark it was difficult conditions to see what exactly was going on and unfortunately Ngwenya, who was the brave one at the front, took a bullet through his arm and into his stomach. Whilst he was trying to make it back to the vehicle several miles away he passed away. In the contact they managed to kill one poacher and badly wound another.
Ngwenya’s passing is a massive loss to Mokore, Coutada 9, wildlife conservation and most of all, to his wife and four children. His big smile and determination to really make a difference will be truly missed. We are trying to raise funds for his family to help put his kids through school so please if anyone would like to donate some money towards his family please could you let us know.
He also requested in one of his last messages he saved on his phone that we try and help his wife complete the house they were building.
Donations of any amount would be greatly appreciated by Mokore and obviously, by his wife and children.

A great man, who achieved so much.

RIP Ngwenya.

Neil,

This is very tragic and sorry for your loss. The protection of wild Africa is becoming increasing dangerous as the game rich concessions are now being targeted.

This is really sad news.
I had the pleasure of hunting ele with him in 2015.
He had a very amicable and warm personality.

I will offer a small reward-the best I can afford to anyone who captures the poacher who killed Ngwenya.

Neil,
I had seen this on Jordan's Facebook page, glad to see it here. I have dispatched an email to you and Gary. Let us know how we can help.

John & Dawn

Neil

Donation sent

I know it is probably impossible to replace him but do you have the C9 APU back up and running?

Thanks for everything you do.

Mitch

RIP Ngwenya...God speed.

Neil,

Please PM me with how I can make a donation.

RIP Ngwenya.

.

As I said to Gary, will happily donate when we meet in Harare in a couple of weeks. Tragic. And clearly shows that anti poaching is a life and death undertaking. So sad.

.

So sorry to Ngwenya family,friends and the Ducks. Tragic indeed.

Folks,

If you'd like to donate to help Ngwenya's family and you'd like an immediate response on where to send the donation PM me and I'll get the address off to you. It's stateside so it is very easy.

Mark

Thank you to all those that have kindly donated towards helping Ngwenya's family. We have now set up a GoFundme account for his family so if anyone else would like to donate funds then please could you follow the below link.

https://www.gofundme.com/nguen...n&utm_campaign=upd_n


Thank you in advance for the support.

Thanks Mr Duckworth for posting this;

I can't imagine how painful the loss for his family, as well as your people.

It conjures the human spirit to confront and fight evil.

Evil knows no boundaries, color, creed, or race.

However, we must recognize our common humanity, amongst all people those who still live that.

Ngwenya reminded me of the African Americans I grew up with, in the Cajun prairie of southwest Louisiana.
Honorable, dedicated men and women.

From many, Lee Fontenot, Phillip White, Mrs Aileen, Freddie Taylor, I learn to hunt, work hard, cook, and love life as the good Lord has given us.

I hope and pray his wife and family will find the strength to continue his legacy.

Please accept my sympathy and condolences, Neil, and pass them along to friends and family.

Talk is cheap. Ngwenya gave his all.

I have donated via gofundme, and urge others to do so, or by other avenues.

I am humbled and hope my donation will help Ngwenya's family.

Here is a short clip of NGWENYA in back of the cruiser on our hunt.He is the one telling the villagers that we just shot our elephant.He is the first person you see on the clip.
I hope people can send even a small amount.

NGWENYA

Thanks for posting. He will be missed.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
Here is a short clip of NGWENYA in back of the cruiser on our hunt.He is the one telling the villagers that we shot our elephant.He is the first person you see on the clip.
I hope people can send even a small amount.

NGWENYA

All I'm getting is an audio clip which is interesting anyway as I hear Swahili words in his dialogue.