Court accepts Pangolin scales dealer UWA partnership
Mar 24, 2015
Court has accepted a bid by pangolin scales dealer Smith Ewa Maku to partner Uganda Wildlife Authority(UWA) in a battle against environmental lobby group Greenwatch.
By Andante Okanya
Court has accepted a bid by pangolin scales dealer Smith Ewa Maku to partner Uganda Wildlife Authority(UWA) in a battle against environmental lobby group Greenwatch.
On Monday, Justice Elizabeth Musoke of the civil division of the High Court in Kampala, granted the bid. The case arose this year on January 23, when the lobby group sued UWA over purported illegal trade in endangered wild life.
Subsequently, on February 23, Maku petitioned court, asserting that his economic rights are under threat, because the case excludes him as a defendant.
In her ruling, the judge said she had weighed the arguments of the lawyers, and found it significant that Maku be part of the case, to enable him express his rights.
"I have considered submissions of both parties. The applicant(Maku) will be allowed to file statement as an interested party," Musoke ruled.
The ruling was delivered in the presence of Maku and his lawyers Richard Kabazzi and Anthony Kaweesi, and lawyers Ali Luzinda(UWA) and Samantha Atukunda (Greenwatch).
On March 9, Maku's lawyer Richard Kabazzi, submitted that he has a constitutional right to be heard, since court's verdict will have an impact on his (Maku's) investment.
According to documents contained in the main case, Maku's company Smico Skin Craft Industries Limited was on July 4 last year, granted licence to export the scales.
However, the export licence expired on January 22, and Maku has since applied for another export licence.
The 7,310 kilogrammes (about seven tonnes) of pangolin scales, is valued at $4.2m(sh11b).It is part of stock owned by Maku, bought from UWA stores.
The pangolin, similarly referred to as a scaly anteater, have large, protective keratin scales covering their skin.
The scales are used for making medicines and bangles The biggest market in Asia, is found in China. Occasionally, they are used as a substitute for ivory.
Maku factfile
Other than being an investor, he is a consultant in wildlife trophies. In 1968, Maku was trained by Jonas Bros of Seattle, USA. He formed Smico in 1973.
He is a taxidermist, furrier and artisan by profession. Maku was a former employee of the defunct Uganda Wildlife Development Corporation Hunting department in the 1970s
A taxidermist is an expert in the art of preparing and preserving the skins of animals and of stuffing and mounting them in lifelike form. A furrier is a person who sells or makes repairs, alters, or cleans fur garments.
Section 29 of the UWA Act cap 200provides for six classes of wildlife user rights(licence) Class A is for hunting, B for wildlife farming, C for wildlife ranching, D for trade in wildlife and wildlife products.
Class E is for using wildlife for education and scientific purposes, while F is for general extraction.
The investor, with a class D licence, maintains that both the Uganda Wildlife Act 2000 and the Uganda Wildlife Policy of 2014, permit wildlife trade.
Under sections 29 and 31 of the act, the UWA executive director is mandated to issue wildlife user rights to any company that makes an application.
Anybody permitted can transact business according to the terms and conditions in the act. Giant pangolins enjoy legal protection.
The population of manis gigantia(giant pangolins) is included in appendix II of CITES, following a decision taken in 1995 by a conference of parties to CITES.
"This means that the parties to CITES consider the population as not now being threatened with extinction. As such, international commercial and non-commercial trade in such is now allowed," Maku says.
Adding: "Business competitors have 'ensalwa virus'(jealousy ) and are trying to sabotage my genuine economic gain."
According to Article IV of CITES, management authority shall only grant an export permit when it is satisfied that the proposed product was obtained in accordance with national laws.
According to court documents, UWA executive director Dr Andrew Seguya, has sworn an affidavit to the effect that the export of pangolin scales was done legally and poses no danger to wildlife population.
The license issued to Maku was for collection of old trophies and not hunting of the live specimen.He notes that UWA's job description is exclusively conservation, while his is preservation.
"Wildlife is to conserve, not to preserve.I purchased these pangolin scales in a transparent legal transaction," Maku contends.
The wildlife protected areas area good habitat for the pangolin where strict protection of the species is being done, a factor that affirms the survival in the wild despite the growing threats on its habitat.
"I am the only surviving taxidermist, an expert in converting wildlife trophies into manufactured articles(value addition)," Maku asserts.
Pangolin in figures
Maku says some statistical figures for pangolins have been mistorted. A giant pangolin weighs 35 kilograms, and not one to 3 kilogrammes as perceived.
By implication, one giant pangolin generates 7 to 10 kilogrammes of scales. Maku
This means that to generate 7,310 kilogrammes of pangolin scales, 1200 pangolins are used and not 21,000 as perceived.
The price of a giant pangolin scales on the Asian open market is between $150-$200.
Justifying his case in business sense, Maku says the fear about the existence of pangolin scales in unfounded, noting that wildlife is a renewable natural resource.
"In our country, and abroad, the media write about conservation issues but never seek the other view and this is always lopsided and unfair," Maku states.
Adding: "There are those who believe in wise and sustainable use of renewable natural resources."
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