UGANDA REVENUE AUTHORITY IMPOUNDS 152 TORTOISES VALUED AT SHS2.5B

Some of the tortoises impounded by URA being displayed at the authority head office in Nakawa on May 17, 2016. PHOTO BY STEPHEN WANDERA 
By Mark Keith Muhumuza
Kampala. The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) on Monday impounded 152 tortoises from the Eastern Uganda district of Mbale.
The tortoises were displayed to the media on Tuesday at a media conference, with URA officials revealing that they had been concealed in sacks.
“We got intelligence information that there were some suspicious goods loaded on a car. On the car, we found tortoises concealed in sacks. If the people had proper documentation, why did they have to conceal them in sacks?” Ms Agnes Nabwire, the assistant commissioner enforcement at URA told reporters on Tuesday as she handed over the tortoises to Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
Ms Nabwire added that there are laws that protect the movement of wildlife and that the smugglers did not have any documentation authorizing them to transport the reptiles.
The suspects are reported to have claimed that the tortoises were being transported to a local sanctuary in Mbale for breeding.
Mr Josey Muhangi, the Public Relations Manager, UWA noted that each tortoise was valued at $5000 (Shs16.7m) on the black market in Asia.
However, according to Havocscope an online directory of black market information, a tortoise in Malaysia alone can be valued upwards of $10,000 (Shs33.2m).
“We suspect that they were being transported to the black market either in Kampala or be exported. They are highly valuable in Asian and Chinese communities for food and the shells can be crushed into powder for medicinal purposes,” he said. He added that there are currently no permits for to export tortoises but revealed there were permits for people to rear them in their homes.
“It is not possible that one person was given a permit to rear 152 tortoises. We are going to make sure these people are prosecuted for the illegal movement of wildlife,” he adds.
The tortoises are to be returned to Nakapiririt where the smugglers are alleged to have picked them from.
According to UWA officials, during the rainy season the tortoises often roam around on flat lands like Karamoja, which makes it easy for them to be picked.
Utility
Uganda has had several cases of wildlife smuggling with the most common one being ivory tusks from elephants. In 2015, UWA courted controversy when it awarded an export permit for pangolin scales valued at Shs11b.

CREDIT: MONITOR