In a stunning development, it has emerged that part of the 3 tonne ivory haul seized in Thailand earlier this week included pieces of ivory that were previously in the custody of the Kenyan police as evidence. Pattaymail.com, a Thai news outlet, quoted Gen Dapong Rattanasuwan, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, saying authorities had previously seized some of the ivory and sent it back to Kenya as evidence.
Gen Dapong Rattanasuwan, Thai Minister of Natural Resources, is the one who stated many of the tusks were seized before, and sent back.
— Grant (@GrantBrooke) April 29, 2015
“Most of them were the tusks earlier seized and sent back to their origins in Africa whereas some were those having been kept as evidence in some countries,”
reported Pattaymail.com about the ivory that was seized in a container sent from Kenya headed to Laos. The news has shocked many Kenyans because it suggests that corrupt networks in the Kenya police service are involved in the ivory trade.
From one thai media outlet, many of the tusks seized had already been seized once, sent back to Kenya as evidence, only to be shipped again.
— Grant (@GrantBrooke) April 29, 2015
#ThisIsKenya … #corruption galore! SMH … Who cares? Not your corrupt government… https://t.co/JLWnNJQJ6A — coldtusker (@coldtusker) April 29, 2015
Some Kenyans are suggesting that it’s perhaps due to the embarrassing nature of the revelations that Kenyan authorities and the mainstream media are mum on the matter.
@GrantBrooke The official Silence around Kenya’s own investigation into who pulled the trigger on this smoking gun is ominous. — mzungundege (@mzungundege) April 29, 2015
Explains the media’s silence. https://t.co/qeWTWGqmyj
— The Chonyi god (@Santus04) April 29, 2015
Noted Kenyan conservationist Dr. Paula Kahumbu says the silence wont do. She is pressing for authorities to investigate and put an end to the corrupt networks that make Kenya a haven for black market ivory traffickers and dealers.
It could have been a container full of bombs, grenade,s guns, drugs, children..if a container of #ivory can pass Msa https://t.co/iNuZLbgicl
— Dr. Paula Kahumbu (@paulakahumbu) April 29, 2015
Who was in charge of the port? Who manned the scanners, who signed off THAT container #Ivory, heads must roll https://t.co/iNuZLbgicl
— Dr. Paula Kahumbu (@paulakahumbu) April 29, 2015
The container labelled ‘Tea from Kenya’ had tusks >2 m long, they were matriarchs & big tuskers, >200 elephants died. @UKenyatta Sum1 knows
— Dr. Paula Kahumbu (@paulakahumbu) April 29, 2015
President Uhuru Kenyatta in early March set fire to 15 tonnes of ivory to send the message that the country is serious about ending poaching. However the developments in Thailand show that, as with so much else in Kenya, poaching is rooted in the corrupt fabric of the Kenyan system and can only be eliminated if the president fights the war on graft with the sincerity of purpose and single-mindedness it deserves.