SPECIAL REPORT | WILD LIFE CONSERVATION | Ronald Musoke Five years on, there are more unanswered questions as to why this case collapsed. Many ask why this case was taken to the Anti-Corruption Court instead of the specialist Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court. Why is it that even when the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), which alongside the Uganda Revenue Authority (the plaintiffs in the case) objected to the Vietnamese men getting bail, the Anti-Corruption Court Grade One Magistrate, Sarah Namusobya Mutebi, went ahead to grant the suspects bail well-knowing they could flee as they had no permanent residence in Uganda.
Some ask why their sureties have never been apprehended. Over the four months of investigating this case, has directed these questions to people who work with government agencies which were at the centre of the prosecution of the case which pitted the state of Uganda against the Vietnamese men; Nguyen Son Dong, alongside three others. Some of these questions have been met with either bored or resigned laughter.
Sometimes the questions have been answered back with questions. “That case was dismissed by court; why are you still interested in it?” one official said. Another said simply that they were no longer interested in the case.
It is inconceivable that some government officials would struggle to understand that this case involved the killing of at least 300 elephants and 90 Giant pangolins and the contraband was worth millions of dollars. It was to.
