By Polycarp Machira
12th January 2014
January 6th night this year will
remain memorable for Richard Temu (36), a wildlife officer at Uguge Reserves as
he closely failed to achieve what his heart likes most.
The youthful officer, just two weeks
before that night, managed to seize a submachine gun (SMG) sixty bullets and
four traditional or home-made guns from poachers.
On the fateful night, Richard, who
had in the previous day been requested to lead other wildlife officers in
operation to arrest poachers failed to achieve this, seeing the poachers just
about 150 meters away.
The talented officer broke his left
leg when he went into a deep hole while taking cover, plotting ambush on the
poachers. He was airlifted to Dar es Salaam and admitted at the Muhimbili
Orthopaedic Institute (MOI).
“The whole exercise could not
continue after I had the fracture, and the most painful part was seeing the
poachers disappear slowly into thin air,” Richard told journalists who visited
him Friday.
Narrating the ordeal, he said he was
called to join forces with his colleagues after several gunshots were heard in
the reserve area. He said they woke up at 4 am in preparation for the attack
and by 5 am, they were out for serious exercise.
Richard and five other officers took
four hours to trace the poachers and only managed to get close to them at
around nine o’clock in the morning and a more serious search ensued.
“We followed them keenly for about 40
more minutes and came closer, at a range of about 150 meters and decided to
take cover, knowing that they could be heavily armed,” he said.
The single officer, who just returned
from training in an environmental planning management course at the Institute
of Rural Development Planning (IRDP) in Dodoma in September, is not sure
whether he will get well enough to go back to his job of ten years.
As he awaits operation on his leg
probably on Wednesday, he admits that his job has of late become more dangerous
following rampant poaching.
He said, “I love the job, though it
is very risky and challenging, making it more difficult for any officer who has
had physical impairment to survive there.”
Richard admits that wildlife officers
work in a difficult and challenging environment in an effort to save national
wildlife which is endangered by illegal hunters and trophy seekers.
The Deputy Minister for Natural
Resources and Tourism, Lazaro Nyalandu who visited the ailing officer at MOI’s
private ward promised government commitment to ensure the officer gets good
treatment, wishing him a quick recovery.
He said, “We really feel the pain of
young Tanzanians some of whom are killed and others wounded in the hands of
poachers. The government will not leave a stone unturned in endeavors to stop
the vice.”
This came in just a few minutes after
the deputy minister launched elephant census results for 2013 earlier in the
day. More incidents have been reported since the government suspended an
anti-poaching operation, ‘Tokomeza Ujangili.’
At least 60 elephants have reportedly
been killed in various national parks and game reserves after the suspension of
the operation to eliminate poachers and their ivory trade financiers from
encroaching on the parks.
“Tokomeza Ujangili” culminated
in the sacking of four cabinet ministers after a stormy session in the National
Assembly, with the operation having been suspended at the urging of MPs early
November.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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