Notorious Tanzania ivory trafficker jailed 12 years
Three most wanted poachers have been found guilty and sentenced to 12 years in jail each by the Resident Magistrate's Court in Dodoma, in one of the heaviest penalties aimed at stopping poachers who target endangered species.
The court ordered the three convicts, notably Boniface Methew Malyongo, infamously known as 'The devil has no mercy' or 'Shetani hana huruma' in Kiswahili, to remain behind bars for such period for illegal possession of 118 pieces of elephant tusks worth over 2bn/-.
Apart from ‘Shetani’, who the prosecution described as ‘the King of Ivory’, other convicts are his brother Lucas Malyongo, alias ‘Ruksa Mponze’, alias ‘Shimie’ and Abdallah Ally Chaoga, alias ‘Babu’. The long sought ‘Shetani’ was charged with other accused persons for sabotage crime.
The case was presided over by Resident Magistrate Joseph Fovo, who is Resident Magistrate-in-Charge. The prosecution led by State Attorneys Paul Kadushi and Salimu Msemo, said the poachers committed the offence between January 2009 and October 2015, contrary to the Economic and Organised Crime Control Act, 2002 and the Wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 of 2009.
A total of 11 prosecution witnesses gave evidence to support the charges. The prosecution had also tendered 15 documentary exhibits, including three motor vehicles (Mitsubishi Cantre with Registration Number T. 765 DAC, Honda CRV T 674 ARL and RAV 4 T 922 ATZ.
Mr Msemo had requested the trial magistrate to provide the convicts with a tough penalty to serve as a lesson not only to them but also to whoever else would be tempted to commit similar crimes.
He submitted that elephants are among the endangered species that need heavy security, thus a deserving penalty is needed on those found guilty.
According to him, killing of elephants was disrupting ecological system as it takes years for one elephant to glow long tusks. The trial attorney further requested the court to seize all the cars used as per the Wildlife Conservation Act No 5 of 2009.
The magistrate granted the prosecution’s request, ruling that the three vehicles used in the transportation of the government trophies, are seized and forfeited to the state.
The Anti-Poaching National Task Force arrested ‘Shetani hana Huruma,’ in September, last year, in connection with the crime. He was charged with leading organised crime and unlawful dealing in government trophies.
The prosecution alleges that between January 1, 2009 and October 23, 2015 at diverse places within Dodoma and Dar es Salaam regions, all accused persons jointly and together accepted, transported and sold 118 pieces of elephant tusks valued 1,929,300,000/-, the property of the government.
According to the prosecution, the accused persons had no trophy dealer’s licence or a permit from the Director of Wildlife Conservation.