Chinsali Subordinate Court has convicted and sentenced a poacher to seven years with hard labour for illegal possession of ivory.
Dickson Mbeye (39), a resident of Kankhomba village in Chief Chibale’s area was handed over the jail term with hard labour following his arrest for illegal possession of 47 kilos of ivory suspected to have been harvested from an elephant poached in Musalangu game management area.
In a statement issued by Ministry of Tourism and Arts Public Relations Officer Sikabilo Kalembwe, Mbeye was facing one count of Unlawful Possession of Prescribed Trophy namely, elephant ivory contrary to section 130 (2) of the Wildlife Act No. 14 of 2015 (ZWA 2015).
Mr Kalembwe stated that the arrest was made following a tip-off from concerned members of the public to the officers from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife.
He further stated that when passing sentence, the Court bemoaned the increase in wildlife related cases, which are depleting the natural resources as wildlife is being destroyed.
He noted that the Court stated that due to poaching, government is losing out on revenue that could be generated through sustainable ventures like tourism.
“Elephants are an important resource that attracts local and foreign tourists to Zambia’s national parks. In addition, elephants play an important role in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystems in which they live,” further stated Mr Kalembwe.
The Public Relations Officer indicates that his Ministry wishes to warn members of the public that want to engage in illicit activities of wildlife that they will face the law as government continues to step up conservation efforts in the country.
Mr Kalembwe highlighted that the Ministry of Tourism and Arts’ Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) has in the last five years observed a stable to reduced elephant poaching in key elephant ranges.
Investigate their markets!!! Who goes to buy from them. As long as demand exists. Illegal game off take thrives.
A couple of days ago Chitotela was lobbying for permission to sale ivory stockpiles. We have one person arrested today for 7 years, we add his 47kg to the stockpile.
We not fighting the vice if these items are not destroyed!
Chitotela, an interesting man, gets pushed from works, goes to what we assume is a quiet ministry, sales national park for mining, sales live animals, and now even looking at the dead ones.
We thank you for this. Poachers are a scum on earth. At least this criminal accepts his wrong doing and is not fighting the sentence. The worst are those criminals who even after being convicted still continue to refuse they have done anything wrong. The likes of kambwili
Meanwhile foreigners with suit cases full of money to bribe the corrupt government can land anytime any day on airstrips in the middle of remote areas in Zambia and take with them as much ivory trunks as their private planes can carry, Poor Zambian trying to find means to feed his family because he cannot find employment gets 7 years imprisonment with hard labour, What a Shame!
Indeed, the biggest poachers are in the government, they are the scum of the earth.
Arresting poor Ivory poachers is merely scratching the surface …you need to follow the money to Lusaka then to Beijing or Thailand…you need well funded investigative wings working with Interpol and CITES. You honestly think a poor poacher would go poaching elephants when he has not got a market where is he going to store his contraband and move it around.
What about the Zebras, Impalas and Bangweulu Lechwes at the residences of every PF Minister? Is that not poaching? What are Tourists going to see when PF Minister’s have shared everything? For those in doubt, check Lusambo’s residence in CHAMBA VALLEY LUSAKA. Is it in order for Lusaka city to encourage the keeping of wild animals in Residential areas?
The majority of ivory ends up with the Chinese criminal gangs.