By Davis Buyondo
Southwestern Uganda
At least every month, a network of treasure hunters and dealers in traditional medicines and concoctions in two East African countries – Uganda and Tanzania, poach and smuggle wildlife products across the border in a more sophisticated and well coordinated manner.
The products ranging from python skins, pangolin scales, tortoise shells, primate skulls, squirrel skins, powdered baboon bones to crested crane feathers, beaks, claws and its eggs, are smuggled through deep forest trails and other porous or unregulated entry points.
Demand for these animal parts, believed to cure ailments or unlock fortunes, has spawned a thriving underground trade that quietly funnels millions of dollars across porous borders.
Well, most of this illicit trade largely feeds the traditional medicine market. However, this is not just an environmental crime, but a practice that invisibly affects the economy of the two countries.
According to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Uganda loses more than UGX2 trillion (US$550 million) to poaching, and illegal wildlife trade every year.
This remains a key component of Illicit Finance Flows (IFF) that fuels corruption, money laundering, organised crime, trade misinvoicing, and tax evasion, that profoundly drain the country’s budget, and hamper wildlife and weaken conservation efforts.
The tax body highlights that this trade takes place within a shadow economy that stretches across the porous borders of Kyotera, Rakai, and Isingiro districts threatens regional biodiversity. This has severely hindered the two country’s ability to collect enough taxes, protect endangered wildlife species, and regulate traditional medicine markets.
Hiding In Plain Sight
In Rakai district’s Kamuli trading centre, two brothers, William Mwesigwa and Daudi Lumala, are among the many cross-border dealers operating in the shadows. They run a modest enterprise transporting wildlife products using an old pickup truck and a tricycle, locally known as a Tuktuk.
Mwesigwa says the stock goes through porous communities in Kibanda and Ntantamuchi sub-counties in Rakai, as well as Kyakatuuma, Kibaati , and Mutukula in Kyotera, before entering Tanzania. Their supplies come from hunters who are paid based on the type and quantity of animals and birds they deliver.
“We ply safe routes to access our customers in Tanzania. The quantities we carry depend on the demand and orders from our contacts in Tanzania,” Mwesigwa said. The brothers also collect unique items from Tanzania to sell to clients back in Uganda.
“We make at least two round trips every quarter and get between UGX2,000,000 (USD544.53) and UGX3,000,000 (USD816.80),” he explained.
Cultural ties between the border communities exacerbate the situation. The residents share similar traditional beliefs, especially concerning the healing powers of animal parts. Lumala, a dealer and traditional healer himself, notes that demand is only increasing.
“Some wildlife species cure so many problems such as infertility, strengthen relationships, and mental illness while others are used for cleansing to take away misfortunes,” he said.
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This invisible trade accounts for the quiet yet persistent poaching in Uganda’s Marabigambo and Sango Bay forest reserves, as well as the Kabanga, Kisoko, and Kibanda forests in Rakai, along with the Minziiro forest in Tanzania.
The 2021 report by UK’s defence and security think tank, the Royal United Services Institute, titled “Illegal Wildlife Trade in Uganda: Tracking Progress on ‘Following the Money,” states that wildlife trafficking constitutes an illicit financial flow because it generates unregulated, untaxed income that often crosses borders undetected, bypassing formal financial systems.
The profits from these illegal transactions are rarely declared or monitored, and they frequently fund other forms of organised crime.
In Uganda, traders and smugglers in the wildlife black market operate in cash-heavy, informal economies, with proceeds often laundered through legitimate businesses or smuggled across borders to avoid taxes and scrutiny.
These activities deprive governments of critical revenue, distort trade statistics, and undermine economic governance.
A reformed smuggler, Ivan Ndawula, shared insight into the scale of the operation. He once sold snakes, tortoises, monkeys, and pythons sourced from Minziiro and Marabigambo forests to dealers and traditional healers on both sides of the border.
“We created new trails deep in the forests leading to Tanzania and back to Uganda. Authorities did not know or still can’t find most of these routes,” he said, adding that bribes to local officials often ensured a clear path.
Ndawula pointed out that enforcement tends to focus on high-profile species, such as hippos, leopards, buffaloes, and crested cranes, leaving smaller yet high-demand animals, like tortoises, snakes, and monkeys, to vanish unnoticed.
“It is very complex because you will even find Ugandans poaching in Tanzania and smuggling high-demand wildlife products not found in Uganda,” he added.
The demand from traditional healers significantly sustains this trade. Kayinga Kiggundu, head of the Masaka Traditional Healers’ Association, confirmed the use of wild animals in traditional medicine.
“Pangolin scales are used in treating an enlarged spleen, monkey skins are believed to solve spiritual problems, while fur from a giant rat brings good fortune and improved crop yields,” he explained.
Kiggundu said that while the association discourages poaching, the growing demand has led unscrupulous individuals to exploit wildlife for profit. “Our forefathers hunted cautiously and sparingly, but today’s generation has taken it to extremes,” he added.
Francis Emero Luswata, another traditional healer and Operations Commander for Traditional Healers and Herbalists in Uganda, confirmed that crested cranes are being hunted for ritual use.
“Some traditional healers hire hunters to trap cranes and gather eggs. These are used in rituals and herbal treatments and sold to clients in both Uganda and Tanzania,” Luswata said.
He warned that some border community practitioners have introduced harmful beliefs that conflict with accepted traditional healing principles.
“It’s tricky to crack down on this network without a special fund to support whistle-blowers in identifying and reporting culprits,” he said.
Traditional Healers
Kayinga Kiggundu, a prominent herbalist and head of Masaka Traditional Healers’ Association, says that traditionally, both domestic and wild animals have played a significant role in manufacturing medicine or themselves being used as medicines and concoctions to treat a number of ailments and heal spiritual problems.
“For instance, pangolin scales are used in treating an enlarged spleen, locally called ‘Ekikubuko’, monkey skins believed to solve spiritual problems, while fur from s giant rat is believed to bring good fortunes and improved crop yields,” Kiggundu explains.
As leaders, Kiggundu says, they discourage poaching as leaders, so many unscrupulous people continue hunting the animals down due to the growing demand for wildlife products. “Our forefathers hunted cautiously and sparingly, but today’s generation has taken it to extremes, destroying both wildlife for selfish gains,” he adds.
Francis Emero Luswata, another traditional healer and Operations Commander for Traditional Healers and Herbalists in Uganda, confirmed the rampant wildlife bird hunting, particularly crested cranes, linking it to some traditional beliefs, which he dismissed as false and mere superstitions.
According to Luswata, some traditional healers hire hunters to trap crested cranes and gather their eggs from different breeding habitats. They then use these in rituals and herbal administration and also sell them to clients within Uganda and neighbouring countries.
He further reveals that many traditional practitioners mostly along the border communities have introduced strange beliefs that go against the established principles that guide traditional healers in Uganda.
“It’s tricky to crack-down on this sophisticated network without a special fund to support whistle-blowers in identifying and reporting culprits,” he adds.
In June 2024, the Uganda Government embarked on plans to regulate traditional medicine production following increasing demand among the citizens. Through the National Drug Authority, the government intends to eliminate untested medicines that may be a health risk to the people.
Environment police, Tourism Officers
According to Twaha Kasirye, the Masaka Regional Police Spokesperson, they have not arrested or prosecuted any poacher or wildlife trafficker since the year (2025).
But the former Masaka Regional Environmental Protection Police Commander Taban Chiriga shared similar concerns saying the traffickers and poachers are very sophisticated in their operations.
During his tenure, he encountered various challenges in monitoring and curbing environmental crimes along the Uganda-Tanzania border. “Law enforcement lacks financial resources, monitoring tools, vehicles, technology, and personnel,” he said.
Chiriga acknowledged that corruption among government and security officials has also undermined enforcement. “Some unscrupulous officers turn a blind eye on the offenders and allow them to go without being prosecuted,” he said.
Despite multiple security units stationed at the border, including the Border Internal Security Organisation (BISO), External Security Organisation (ESO), Military Intelligence (MI), and Crime Intelligence (CI), coordination between Uganda and Tanzania remains limited.
Julius Musanya, Rakai’s District Tourism Officer, noted that limited funding and logistical support continue to hinder efforts against wildlife trafficking. “We also lack formal collaborations with stakeholders like local leaders,” he said.
Musanya emphasised that many in border communities view wildlife trafficking not as a crime but as a traditional and economic activity. This cultural perception complicates law enforcement and conservation efforts.
UWA response
Bashir Hangi, the Head – Communication and Public Relations at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), acknowledged the rampant trafficking is rampant in Uganda.
According to Hangi, some traditional healers and illegal dealers always possess wildlife parts like pangolin scales, monkey and python skins, and other species.
“They (traditional healers) claim they used them for medicinal or spiritual purposes,” he explains, adding that these activities are not just unlawful under the Uganda Wildlife Act, 2019, but they largely threaten precious and invaluable species that are already at risk of extinction.
“However, our intelligence and law enforcement teams in collaboration with partner agencies like police, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), National Environment Management Authority and others, have on many occasions intercepted illicit trade activities in border communities,” he says.
Apart from undermining the country’s conservation efforts, Hangi adds that trafficking of wildlife animals disrupts the ecosystem.
“As tourist destination, Uganda’s greatly affected by wildlife trafficking since it tarnishes the country’s reputation yet the tourism sector contributes significantly to the country’s revenue,” he states.
The officer further reveals that the most targeted animals are pangolin, pythons, crested cranes, African Grey parrots, infant chimpanzees, and monkeys.
In 2024, Uganda’s tourism sector generated revenue worth UGX4.81 trillion ($1.28 billion ) in revenue, up from UGX3.895 trillion ($1.025 billion) earned in 2023. However, to sustain this steady growth, UWA has intensified surveillance and regular patrols in known trafficking hotspots, to crackdown on traffickers.
“Apart from deploying canine units at strategic border points, we have also strengthened intelligence-sharing with our counterparts in Tanzania in addition to engaging cultural and traditional leaders, including herbalists, in an effort to promote conservation-friendly practices,” he states.
According to the Uganda Wildlife Act 2019, a person convicted of crimes related to wildlife species that are classified as extinct, or critically endangered, faces the highest penalty of a UGX20-billion (about US$5,5-million) fine or life imprisonment, or both.
UWA Performance Report
According to the UWA Annual Physical Performance Report for the 2022/2023 Financial Year, the authority registered a 35.2% increase in the arrest of suspects and a 27.7% increase in the recovery of poaching implements. This compares to 1,586 suspects arrested and 23,939 implements recovered in the FY2021/2022, respectively.
Meanwhile, there was an 11% reduction in the recovery of assorted wildlife and wildlife products compared to the 11,448 recovered in FY2021/2022. The report further states that several interventions, including law enforcement operations, intelligence and investigative activities, and prosecution of suspects, were implemented.
This is 43% higher compared to the 13142 patrols conducted in the previous FY. The operational efforts resulted in the arrest of 2,145 suspects involved in various illegal activities and the recovery of 10,190 assorted wildlife and wildlife products, along with 30,578 poaching and trafficking implements, including 17 guns, 13 magazines, and 174 rounds of ammunition recovered.
According to the Uganda Wildlife Act, a person convicted of trafficking species classified as extinct or critically endangered faces a fine of up to UGX20 billion (approximately US$5.5 million) or life imprisonment, or both.
According to Wild Aid Africa, Uganda has been an African hub for transnational illegal wildlife trafficking, serving as a source, consolidation and transit point. Both Tanzania and Uganda have engaged in collaborative intelligence-gathering missions to dismantle transnational poaching networks operating across their shared border.
In Tanzania, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) has coordinated several transnational investigations on wildlife trafficking. On October 28, 2016, Tanzanian authorities seized six tons of pangolin scales originating from Uganda. At least 10 people were arrested including the main suspect-Gakou Fodie, a Malian national.
A Tanzanian border official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the challenge of unknown porous border points that traffickers exploit in both countries. “We are trying our best, but you cannot be in every place,” he stated.
“The project received support from the Thomson Reuters Foundation as part of its global work aiming to strengthen free, fair and informed societies”.
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