Two men are now in police custody after having been found transporting wildlife products in the Jetrova area in Tana River county.
The men who have been identified as Kazungu Kapombe Katana and Thuva Chengo Thuva are said to be Kilifi county residents from Adu. They were transporting wildlife carcasses from Jetrova area which is in Ndaru sub-location, Shirikisho location in Tana Delta sub-county to different areas of Kilifi county such as Adu market, Marafa, Marereni and some parts of Malindi which act as potential markets.
According to a Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) warden who sought anonymity, the two poachers were arrested at around 8 am on Thursday while 4 of them managed to escape leaving behind motorcycles that they were using to transport the carcasses.
“The police had staged an ambush and they managed to arrest the poachers one after the other. Four of the poachers managed to escape leaving behind their motorcycles,” the warden said.
The men were presented to the Garsen court on Thursday and charged with two cases.
According to the charge sheet, the arrested men were charged with Transporting 120 dik-dik carcasses weighing approximately 330.8 Kgs, 2 Gerenuks weighing approximately 25.35 kgs, 1 porcupine carcass weighing approximately 3.35 Kgs,1 sand Grouse bird carcass and 1-night jar bird carcass both weighing approximately 0.50Kgs and 6.70kgs Matumbo with three Motorcycle of Registration Number: KMFT 442J Make- Bajaj Boxer BM100-red in color, KMEY 221N Make Bajaj Boxer Bm100-Black in color, KMGA 152M Make –TVS HLX 125-Blue in Color without a permit from the Director General Kenya Wildlife Service.
They were also charged with killing a wildlife species without a permit or other lawful exemption contrary to section 95(a) of the wildlife conservation and management act 2013. They were found to have killed wildlife species namely; 120 dik-diks, 2 gerenuks, 1 porcupine, 1-night jar and 1 sand Grose without a permit or other lawful exemption.
The two poachers pleaded guilty before Senior Resident Magistrate Eugene Melvin Kadima at the Garsen court and are now in police custody at Gamba police station.
The facts reading and sentencing will be on 27/09/2022
