We commend the Uganda Wildlife Court for a landmark sentence of life imprisonment given to an ivory trader. Mr. Ochiba Pascal alias Ismail aged 62 years was on 20th October 2022 sentenced to spend the whole of his remaining time in prison after he was found guilty of unlawful possession of ivory at Namuwongo in Kampala Central, Kampala district. Mr. Ochiba is a repeat offender having been convicted by the same court of unlawful possession of ivory and a dry okapi skin in 2017. He was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment in 2017, a sentence he did not learn from.

The sentence of life imprisonment given to Mr. Ochiba is the very first life imprisonment sentence passed by court in Uganda in wildlife cases. While sentencing Mr. Ochiba, the Chief magistrate of the court emphasized that it was necessary to keep Mr. Ochiba away in order to make the world a safer place for humans and wildlife.