INVESTIGATIONKaruma Dam Worker Arrested Over Ivory Trafficking

Aviation Police on Wednesday arrested a Chinese national, who works at Karuma Hydro Power station in Kiryandongo District, for allegedly attempting to leave the country with undisclosed quantity of ivory.

According to Kiryandongo District Police Commander Charles Okello, the suspect works with Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, the contractor of the power station.

The suspect has since been transferred from Entebbe to Kiryandongo to ascertain how and from where he obtained the ivory.

The Kiryandongo Resident District Commissioner, Mr Linos Ngompek, said two other Chinese nationals have also been detained for questioning over the matter.

When contacted, Mr Muhammad Lubogo, the Public Relations Officer, Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited, said he is yet to get detailed reports on the arrest of the Chinese national.

More than 35,000 elephants are killed across Africa every year for their tusks.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned the ivory trade in 1989.

But China permits the resale of ivory bought before the 1989 ban and also has a stockpile purchased with CITES approval in 2008, which it releases for sale with certification.

Last year, President Yoweri Museveni ordered a probe into possible collusion between the wildlife agency and two Chinese diplomats over the trafficking of ivory.

The Chinese embassy officials were suspected of helping move ivory from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan, using Uganda as a transit point.

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