Kampala — A court in Uganda has given a lifetime prison sentence to a man convicted of illegally trafficking wildlife products, but the verdict leaves wildlife officials and human rights activists at odds over whether it fits the crime.
On Thursday, Oct. 20, the Ugandan Standards, Utilities, and Wildlife Court sentenced Pascal Ochiba to life in prison for illegal possession of wildlife products, including two pieces of elephant ivory weighing a total of 9.55 kilograms.
It is the country's highest punishment ever for wildlife violations.
Ochiba had previously been arrested in 2017 for possessing four pieces of ivory and the skin of an Okapi. In that case, he was sentenced to eighteen months in jail for both counts, which he served concurrently.
Bashir Hangi, the spokesman for the Uganda Wildlife Authority, called Ochiba's sentencing fair: "It was befitting. It was deserving. But because it was his business, he couldn't stop the business. That's why we revised the law, to make the sentence a little bit biting. And we hope that the judiciary will continue making such heavy punishments even on other offenders."
Livingstone Sewanyana, the executive director for the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, disagrees. "Life in prison should be a punishment which those who ordinarily would be sentenced to death should serve," Sewanyana said. He urged the court to reconsider.
The difference in sentencing stems from Uganda's 2019 Wildlife Act. Under the new legislation, violators can face a fine of $5,200, life imprisonment, or both. It does not provide any flexibility in sentencing if the product in question comes from an endangered species, such as elephants.
Africa's elephant populations have been devastated in recent decades by poachers killing the animals for their tusks, which remain in high demand in Asia despite international restrictions on the ivory trade.
Uganda has historically been known as trading hub for wildlife and its products in East Africa, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, due to the country's porous borders, light penalties, and limited capacity to combat wildlife crime.
