Few to benefit from ivory sale, says MP

The Citizen
By Alvar Mwakyusa , The Citizen
03 July 2010

The Opposition bench yesterday accused the government of having a hidden agenda  in asking for a permission from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) to sell a stockpile of elephant tusks. 

Tanzania, which is amongst 176 countries that have ratified the convention, had early this year sought a permission from Cites to sell a stockpile of 89.8 tonnes of elephant tusks to raise about Sh20 billion required for beefing up conservation.  The request was, however, turned down during the 15th Cites conference held in March this year in Doha, Qatar. 

“Conspiracy to legalise trade of elephant tusks and their products surrounds the request," the Opposition shadow minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ms Magdalena Sakaya, noted in Parliament, adding:  “The Opposition camp believes the request is a ploy intended to deceive Tanzanians. It actually targets to benefit poachers and traders in trophies and allied products.” 
The Special Seats lawmaker on Civic United Front (CUF) ticket said statistics released by Elephant Trade Information System indicated that there was rampant trophy trade in Tanzania.  Out of 27 tonnes of elephant tusks impounded worldwide in 2007, according to the statistics of the organisation, 11 tonnes were from Tanzania, she said, adding that the country also was the source of other 12 out of 24 tonnes impounded last year. 

She said findings of a research jointly conducted by a US-based organisation, Environmental Organisation Agency, and  Journalists' Environment association of Tanzania (Jet) indicated that poaching and trophy business was a syndicate belonging to some local and foreign businessmen.  Some high ranking government officials and  technocrats from the Wildlife Division in the ministry, according to the shadow minister, were actively involved in the syndicate. 

Ms Sakaya wanted the government to explain on measures so far taken against technocrats, who were making colossal profits out of poaching.   “The Opposition camp wants the minister to tell the Parliament the number of cases so far reported to the police force and legal action taken against the culprits,” she queried.  She observed that rampant poaching was threatening existence of wildlife animals in the 54,600-square kilometre Selous Game Reserve. 

Tanzania, according to available statistics, had a population of  110,000 elephants to date against  300,000 elephants registered in 1970s, she said.   Owing to the dwindling population of the jumbos, trophy trade was banned in Tanzania in 1989 when only about 55,000 elephants remained. This led to the Tanzanian elephants to be classified in Cites Appendix 1. 

Kongwa MP, who is also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Land, Natural Resources and Environment, Mr Job Ndugai, said while debating the budget estimates of the ministry that the government ought to ask for a permission to sell the elephant tusks stockpile without degrading the country's Cites status from Appendix 1 to 11. 

“I have now come to realise the reason behind our neighbours' strong opposition to the government's request during the Doha conference… downgrading the Cites appendix would mean legalising ivory trade,” he said, adding: 

“As a conservationist I am also against elephant hunting… Kenya feared that if the trade was allowed, elephants migrating from Amboseli across the boarder to Tanzania would have been poached as well.” 

The National Assembly deputy Speaker, Ms Anna Makinda, wondered Mr Ndugai's failure to timely advise the government. “In your capacity as the chairman of a committee responsible for the ministry, you were supposed to have advised the government so,” the deputy Speaker said. 
Presenting her ministry's budget in the august House earlier, the Natural Resources and Tourism minister, Ms Shamsha Mwangunga, said the government was striving to, among others, improve patrols in reserves countrywide. 

“We will in collaboration with other state organs improve inspections at boarder points to control tusks, which are in transit to other countries. We are also planning to improve a census system and to have proper statistics of elephants in the country,” the cabinet minister said. 

She requested the House to approve the ministry's expenditure of Sh65.5 billion on its recurrent and development activities this fiscal year.  While Sh55.3 billion would be for recurrent expenditure, Sh10.1 billion would be spent on development activities. 

Article at:  http://thecitizen.co.tz/news/4-national-news/2775-few-to-benefit-from-ivory-sale-says-mp.html