Police on the spot over illegal logging

One of the trucks loaded with logs parked at Laropi Ferry Landing Site in Moyo District on Monday. PHOTO | MARKO TAIBOT

What you need to know:

  • The Deputy Resident District Commissioner of Moyo, Mr Julian Ssekamwa, said the trucks carrying logs were stopped from passing through the district because transportation and harvesting of the endangered Afzelia Africana species was banned by the President in 2017.

Moyo and Adjumani district officials and environmentalists have accused the police of conniving  with timber traders who engage in illegal logging.  

The activists have accused police officers  of releasing suspects and trucks that are impounded for transporting illegal logs and forging travel documents for the traders. 

At the weekend, two trucks loaded with logs suspected to have been procured illegally, estimated to cost more than Shs150 million were blocked from crossing the River Nile at Laropi Ferry Landing Site in Moyo  District.

But the police allegedly later released the trucks saying they acted on orders from above. The drivers of the truck presented documents indicating the logs were coming from South Sudan. Environmental activists insist that the logs were cut from Metu Sub-county in Moyo District.

The head of Friends of Zoka and an environmental activist, Mr William Amanzuru, on Monday said:  “There is an interplay of documentation to try and deceive people that the logs are from South Sudan. Why are the security forces playing double standards by forging and releasing trucks? They are the ones fuelling the deforestation because once the loggers are cleared, they get energised to do lumbering. Illegal loggers should be punished in accordance with the laws,” Mr Amanzuru said.

He added that the illegal human activities that affect the environment in the West Nile Sub-region are illegal lumbering, commercial charcoal burning and the logging of the endangered tree species such as Afzelia Africana and shea-nut trees.

The Deputy Resident District Commissioner of Moyo, Mr Julian Ssekamwa, said the trucks carrying logs were stopped from passing through the district because transportation and harvesting of the endangered Afzelia Africana species was banned by the President in 2017.

“We also acted because the illegal logging at the borders is becoming a source of insecurity. In our recent cross-border meeting with authorities from South Sudan, it was one of the issues we discussed and resolved not to allow inter-border illegal logging,” Mr Ssekamwa said.

He added: “We are verifying their documents to ascertain if they were truly coming from South Sudan as we process files for them to appear in court.”

Responding to the allegations, the Regional Police Commander of North West Nile Region, Mr Denis Okuja, denied any wrongdoing.

He said police are still holding the documents of the loggers pending verification and upon clarification, they will decide on the next course of action. 

“The documents are still with us. We are still cross checking with South Sudan to find out their authenticity. We have checked with the forest department, which says these trucks are supposed to go through Arua. We have not received any bribe to clear the logs,” Mr Okuja said.

He also revealed that some of the police officers accused of receiving bribes will be dealt with using their internal systems.

According to a report released five years ago by National Forest Authority, Uganda’s forests stand at 24 percent of the total land area. Of these, 9,242.08 square kilometres are of tropical rainforest, 350.60 square kilometres are forest plantations and 39,741.02 square kilometres are woodland. 

Of these areas, 30 percent are protected as national parks, wildlife reserves and central forest reserves.

Police unit

The Environmental Protection Police Unit (EPPU) was created in December 2011 to support the Ministry of Water and Environment in enforcing environmental laws and regulations.

There are less than 300 officers divided among the ministry headquarters, National Environment Management Authority (Nema) and National Forestry Authority offices across the country and major central forest reserves.