By Omony Denis
A total of 1,228 wildlife offenders arrested from Murchison Falls National Park between the financial years 2021/2022 and 2023/2024 have been convicted by courts for various wildlife-related crimes. They include 313 in the financial year 2021/2022, 399 in the financial year 2022/2023 and 516 in the financial 2023/2024.
Data further showed that 88 are still in custody in the same period, 812 bonded, 189 remanded and 28 bailed.
Movadi Turyatemba, in charge of the Karuamah Ranger Post, noted that besides pursuing legal action against wildlife offenders, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has intensified community sensitization on the dangers of poaching.
The United Nations Environment Programme has reported a rise in poaching within Murchison Falls National Park, with 23,000 snares collected between 2014 and 2019.
Uganda loses an estimated $20 million (about Shs77 billion) annually to illegal wildlife trade and trafficking
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities now plans to procure an aircraft to tackle wildlife crime across the all the 13 conservation area in the country.
