Contraband ivory has no commercial value

I appreciate the concerns raised by PointBlank readers over the recent burning of ivory. 

First, it should be noted that the five-tonne contraband ivory that was torched by President Kibaki during the African Elephant law Enforcement Day was not Kenyan. It was illegally acquired from Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. It was seized in Singapore in 2002 and brought to Kenya in 2004 by the Lusaka Agreement Task Force for further investigations and disposal as provided for by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) regulations. As a National Implementing body of the Lusaka Agreement, the Kenya Wildlife Service provided storage for the contraband as the investigations were conducted.

The elephant is classified as an endangered species – Appendix I– under the provisions of CITES. The CITES Resolution Conf 9.10 (Rev.CoP15) (e) stipulates:  “Parties dispose of confiscated and accumulated dead specimens of Appendix-I species, including parts and derivatives, only for bona fide scientific / educational, enforcement or identification purposes, and that Parties save in storage or destroy specimens whose disposal for these purposes is not practicable”.

These specimens qualified to be treated as such as they were contraband confiscated from traffickers and would not be available for trade under any circumstances or for other uses. Consequently through the disposal, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force was fulfilling these provisions in addition to the approval made in October 2008 through decisions of the 9th Lusaka Agreement Governing Council meeting in Uganda as well as the resolutions of the consultative meeting held in May 2010 between the three affected states that agreed on the mode of disposal including enunciating that the disposal process be carried out in Kenya. In this regard, Kenya played a facilitative role in the process. 

Given the fact that the contraband ivory cannot be traded since it has no commercial value under CITES regulations, the question of Kenya selling it doesn’t arise. This should not be confused with the Kenyan Government stockpiles that are safely kept under KWS custody.

Meanwhile, Kenya remains steadfast in safeguarding its wildlife populations against wildlife crime and will continue being an active member of the Lusaka Agreement as we collectively strive to curtail illegal wildlife trade.

—Mr Julius Kipng’etich, Director, KWS