Paula Kahumbu shared a link. 7 hours ago To all those who signed the letter to IG Kimaiyo - THANK YOU! World Elephant Day was celebrated around the world yesterday with pageantry, music, song and dance, events and activities and everyone is wearing “grey”. My day could hardly be described as “fun”. Sat for nearly 9 hours with my team in a government waiting room at the office of the Chief of Police to deliver a letter. Inspector General David Kimaiyo had granted me an appointment at 7 am in the morning and I left home at 5.30am to be there on time. This was no ordinary letter, this was an offer to raise funds to help in the arrest of suspected ivory kingpin, Feizal Ali Mohamed who has been a fugitive since June 11th. The Warrant for his arrest was issued in a Mombasa court in relation to his involvement in a massive 2.1 ton seizure of ivory on 5th of June. Hungry and cold but every hour that passed in that chilly room made me more determined. I bore the responsibility of delivering on a promise Id made to 400 people who co-signed the letter. Clearly David Kimaiyo was not happy about seeing me. After eight and a half hours of waiting, the brusque Inspector General, greeted me by saying that he could not meet me after all since he was rushing to a press conference and was already late. He invited us to wait for for yet another hour while he went for that meeting. We politely declined, instead, and in the space of about three minutes I handed him the letter and explained why this meeting was so important. Kimaiyo did not have time to listen, glanced at the letter and assured me that nobody was more concerned about the poaching situation than the police. He said they were doing everything possible to protect them. I had to stop him mid-sentence to tell him that we were not there to talk about the poaching, we were there to talk about Feizal Ali Mohamed a notorious suspected ivory trafficker. I reminded him that Kenya holds the dubious position of being number 1 in the world for transiting of ivory. In one long breath I told him that this represents corruption, organized crime and transnational crimes which is all threatening our national security. Mr Kimaiyo stared at me with a confused expression, this conversation was clearly not what he was expecting. After a moment he simply said “Goodbye”, turned and walked to the door. For a moment I stood there confused that our offer to help him the police crack down on organized crime had landed on deaf ears. Just days earlier on the phone, Mr Kimaiyo said he was very happy about this offer to run WANTED advertisements in the media plus raise funds for a reward to catch Feizal. The person that I met, cold, harsh and disrespectful, did not match the image I had formed during the phone conversation a few days earlier. I left the police headquarters shaking my head. Words fail me, and Im not proud of the emotions that were coursing through my mind. Hundreds of responses on my Facebook time line and on twitter reflected the anger and disappointment from my fellow Kenyans, especially those who had signed the letter. Many people said I was wasting my time trying to get support from Kimaiyo, but regardless of his personal views of me or our HANDS OFF OUR ELEPHANTS campaign, we cannot give up on him. The Inspector General of the Police in Kenya is now in charge of all wildlife security and therefore holds the key to the future of Kenya’s elephants. That Feizal is still a fugitive two months after a warrant for his arrest was issued is ultimately Kimaiyos’ responsibility, and we must therefore hold him to account. My personal feelings aside, I have to keep reminding myself that this is not just about elephants, ivory trafficking is a serious international crime and it involves organized criminal cartels. It threaten Kenya’s economy, security and future aspirations. It is every Kenyans business. Upsetting as the day was I refuse to be browbeaten and believe that our persistence, honesty and integrity will soften Mr. Kimaiyos heart. Next time I hope to be reporting on the outcome of a polite invitation for a proper conversation about how the citizens of Kenya can help save our heritage and one of the worlds most magnificent species. Elephants represent more than our economy, or even our environment. Elephants are central to the identity of Kenyans. The slaughter of elephants to supply a trade in trinkets to people half a world away speaks volumes about our willingness to protect that which is precious to us. Several news items have already appeared dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-2722895/Kenyan-elephant-activist-wants-ivory-arrest.html pottsmerc/general-news/20140812/kenyan-elephant-activist-wants-an-ivory-arrest upi/Science_News/2014/08/12/Conservationists-say-elephants-need-stronger-protections/6181407854971/ Thank you all for your support
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 10:48:02 +0000
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