Vincent Tumuhirwe, a farmer and Robert Ariyo a boda boda rider – who are both from Kanungu district, western Uganda were on Thursday sentenced by chief magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu following their conviction last week on five charges last including entering a protected area without permission, hunting wild animals in a wildlife conservation area without permission, killing wild animals and protected wildlife species in a wildlife conservation area without permission.
Kamasanyu said the prosecution adduced evidence from 13 witnesses who proved beyond reasonable doubt that between March 17 and 19, 2021, the convicts illegally entered Habugombwa Kob Mating Ground Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth national park in Kanungu district, hunted and killed by poisoning six climbing lions and ten white vultures. Ariyo and Tumuhirwe were found in possession of four heads of lions, fifteen legs of lions, one tail of a lion, and a three-litre jerrican of lion fats without a valid wildlife use right.
The said illegal activities occurred within a radius of 5.4 kilometres inside the national park where the lions were found decomposing with some of their body parts missing, in the protected area. While sentencing them, Kamasanyu indicated that such crimes are becoming rampant in the country, saying that in 2018, eleven lions were killed and their killers have not been found to date.
She added that it was terrible and gross for the two men to hunt and kill the innocent lions from a protected place where they are expected to be safe and most especially in a country like Uganda where it is known that lions are not edible. Accordingly, she noted that the killing was not justifiable and the news about the incident was not only disturbing to Uganda but also to the world at large mostly to the tourists who have been contributing largely to the economy by visiting the park which is the only one in the country with lions.
Kamasanyu further ruled that the pride of the lions was curtailed, having only one lioness left amidst four male lions saying it will be difficult for them to grow and multiply. According to Kamasanyu this kind of character shows how dangerous the convicts are and how they are most likely to be cruel to humans as well.
“I heard that you have children but because of your character, you have the high potential of raising murderers,” said Kamasanyu.
As such, she sentenced the convicts to five years in jail on the first four charges and handed them eight years, seven months on the fifth offence of killing wild animals and protected wildlife species in a conversation area without permission. The sentences will be served concurrently. Kamasanyu had imposed a punishment of 10 years in jail but she deducted the time the convicts have spent on remand.
Last week, state attorney Joan Keko asked for a maximum punishment of life imprisonment sentence, saying that the lions which alone contributed hundreds of millions of shillings in form of tourist attractions were brutally and mercilessly killed. On their part, the convicts had pleaded for a lenient sentence arguing that they are family men with children to look after and that they are first-time offenders, all of which the court has considered before it arrived at its decision.