Three Arrested Over Baby Buffalo
Chris Ocowun
28 September 2010


Kampala — THREE men who had concealed ivory weighing about 34kg and a five-month-old buffalo calf in a private car were yesterday arrested at the Karuma-Pakwach road junction by officials of the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

The suspects said they bought the ivory from Agung village in Nwoya district at sh2m.

They, however, did not disclose the source of the calf which they had stuffed in the boot of their car- a Toyota Corona.

According to the World Conservation Union, elephants are likely to get extinct if they are not protected. Locally, a kilo of ivory goes for sh120,000. The value in the Middle East is about $600.

According to the Karuma wildlife reserve assistant warden, Genesis Okello, the arrest followed a tip-off from concerned residents.

He identified the suspects as Joshua Mukiibi from Nateete in Kampala, Walter Kinyera of Awoo village in Karuma and Godfrey Ajimu of Lapono village in Anaka sub-county.

Mukiibi said he sells cow horns to button manufacturers.

He also said he sells the ivory in Kampala at sh80,000 per kilogramme.

Kinyera is a timber dealer at Karuma trading centre; but Ajimu disowned the two men, saying he just boarded the car from Agung centre.

Okello narrated that at about 10:00am they pitched camp at Karuma-Pakwach junction to wait for the suspects but when they came they tried to drive through.


"We arrested them at about midnight. They had a weighing scale and hack-saw for cutting the ivory into pieces. They wanted to compromise us with a sh5m-bribe but we stood our ground."

According to Okello, the three men claimed that they knocked the buffalo calf as they were driving and decided to put it in the car boot.

"Unfortunately, the poor calf died today (Tuesday) in the morning. It was weak and could not stand," Okello added.

He said the three will be charged with illegal trafficking of ivory and being in possession of wildlife (buffalo).

He noted that this was the second case of suspected elephant poaching in one month, following the first in which two elephants were killed in Toro-Semliki wildlife reserve.