BY RAM KIKAMA
At approximately 5:00 p.m., while travelling on a hired motorcycle from the mountainous areas of Mahango Sub-county in Kasese District, where I had attended a friend’s family party, an unexpected conversation began to unfold.
As we navigated a narrow, winding road descending from the Rwenzori Mountains towards Kasese town, the motorcycle rider Mr Makundi Bandika (Not real name) began discussing the availability of wildlife meat with me and another passenger.
At first, the conversation appeared ordinary. However, one statement immediately caught my attention.
“I need to hurry so I can pick my thing before it gets finished. You know people rush for it,” Mr. Bwambale said in the local language, suggesting that the product was in high demand.
Mr Bandika added that customers sometimes pay in advance before the meat arrived from what he referred to as “down.”
In the context of our conversation, I understood “down” to mean the direction of Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of Uganda’s major wildlife conservation areas bordering communities in Kasese District.
The remarks raised questions: Was wildlife meat being sold openly within Kasese Municipality? Where was it coming from? Who was supplying it, and how was it reaching consumers?
The rider spoke of a public market in the municipality where the meat was reportedly available.
What began as an ordinary journey had opened a possible trail into an illicit wildlife trade.
The trail to establish the game meat in a public market
As we approached the Kasese–Fort Portal road, the rider asked whether I was genuinely interested in buying the meat. I said I was, and he continued towards Kasese town.
After dropping off another passenger, we diverted towards Railway Ward and Kanyangeya Cell, along a road connecting neighboring communities to areas bordering Queen Elizabeth National Park.
At one point, Mr Bandika stopped and went into a nearby neighborhood. When he returned, he said the meat had been moved elsewhere but declined to disclose its new location.
We resumed the journey and eventually returned to the Kasese–Fort Portal road, where a public market with wooden stalls stood where the rider entered the market and returned carrying a black polythene bag which he said contained the wildlife meat.
Mr Bandika explained that the available package was the last one and that he could not sell it to me because it was for his family supper. Although I had offered to pay 10,000 Ugandan shillings, I did not obtain the meat during that initial encounter. He however returned me the money.
He promised to secure another quantity for me sometime in the future and gave me his telephone number so that we could maintain contact.
At that moment our encounter led me to a lead, but it did not establish the identity of the meat’s source or confirm the species from which it had been obtained. The identity of the seller also remained unknown.
Three weeks later, I called the rider again to establish whether the meat was still available at the same market.
Mr Bandika said he was taking a client in Kyarumba Sub-county and would only return to Kasese town in the evening. However, he maintained that the meat was usually available at the same location we initially visited together.
When I called again at about 4:30 p.m., he initially did not answer my repeated calls. He later returned the call, explaining that he could not accompany me to the market but offering to share the seller’s telephone number.
I contacted the woman using Words-Jargons I had picked up during my earlier conversations with the rider. Presenting myself as a possible customer, I asked whether the meat was available.
She confirmed that it was available, while arguing that demand was high and urging me to arrive in at least 20 minutes before it was sold out.
Her response provided a fresh lead for further verification.
An undercover visit confirms a sale
With an undercover camera operator accompanying me, I hired two motorcycles and travelled towards the reported market.
We used the route through Kasese town towards Kanyangeya and Kyondo cells, areas familiar to me from the earlier visits. The camera operator recorded the journey and our subsequent encounter at the market.
Before entering into the market, via her number, I talked to the woman so she would direct me to the specific stall where she was selling the meat.
At this point she now tells me she had temporarily left the market and directed me to another woman who, she said, was selling the meat on her behalf.
After searching for the stall, I found a woman seated behind a raised wooden structure covered by a makeshift roof of weathered iron sheets. A nylon bag lay beside her, from which she retrieved portions of meat and packed them into black polythene bags for customers.
During the observation, several people approached the stall in beats, one after the other.
I engaged the seller in a brief conversation and paid 10,000 Ugandan shillings for a quantity of meat. The seller portioned it manually rather than using a weighing scale.
The transaction established that meat was being sold at the location and provided evidence of the sale. However, the meat was not subjected to laboratory testing or other independent species-identification procedures during the encounter. Its precise origin and whether it came from a protected wild animal therefore remained unverified.
The stall stood in a relatively isolated area, a short distance from the banks of River Nyamwamba.
The circumstances raised further questions about the extent of the trade, the identity of the suppliers, the species involved and whether wildlife had been illegally killed inside the neighboring national park.
In the Uganda Authority Wildlife Authority (UWA) Annual report 2026, the capacity of UWA law enforcement teams was between financial year 2021/2022 and financial year 2022/2023 strengthened with various trainings in different disciplines related to intelligence, investigations, command and control and provided with equipment including;20 Norico pistols, model NP34 and 20 holsters, 100 handcuff and 2 canine dogs to facilitate them execute operations.
The report adds that operations teams conducted a total of 188823 patrols, inclusive of extended patrols, base/say or routine patrols, ambushes, marine patrols, spot checks, cordon and search, road surveillance, joint patrols with other security agencies, problem animal controls responses, wildlife monitoring, intelligence and rake patrols across the country to combat illegal activities within and outside the protected areas. This is higher by 43% compared to 13142 patrols conducted the previous financial year.
The UWA 2026 Annual report indicates that UWA operation efforts resulted into the in the arrest of 2,145 suspects involved in different illegal activities and the recovery of 10,190 assorted poaching wildlife and wildlife products and 30,578 assorted poaching and trafficking implements inclusive of 17 guns, 13 magazines and 174 ammunitions recovered from MFCA,QECA,MECA,BMCA,Gorilla Nest and KVCA.
Communities caught between conservation and survival
While the suspected trade raises concerns about wildlife protection, residents living near Queen Elizabeth National Park face their own challenges arising from human-wildlife conflict.
Mr Alfred Bwambale, a local resident in Nyamwamba division of Kasese Municipality contends that he sometimes sees individuals cross to the Queen Elizabeth National Park, most of whom he believes go to collect firewood but do not rule out hunters who enter the reserved area to get meat.
The local resident says he could not confirm the game meat, however, saying sometimes they buy meat reportedly from the park revealing that on the market stalls there is one from “behind” while the other is for the normal meat.
Mr Bwambale says it’s hard to differentiate between domestic animal meat and game meat, however arguing that he only notices the difference while the meal is at the dining table. He identifies the deference by the taste. Believing that sometimes, the sellers of game meat mix it up with other meat types argue that they opt for game meat because it is cheap compared to normal meat.
“I have never seen inspectors or even enforcement and defense officers in the market, so you just buy what you have got, there is normal meat and the other one. I once bought it, I think this guy saw it, but I only understand the type of meat when I am eating, adding that poverty forces them to go for the cheap meat, which in some statements referred to “Nanga meat,” his statement says in part.
He says Uganda wild life (UWA) officials have occasionally engaged the community members in meetings where they discuss matters concerning conservation.
Mr Moses Katuramu, the Local Council I chairperson of Kyondo Cell in Scheme Ward, Kasese Municipality, said wild animals, particularly elephants, frequently enter neighboring communities and destroy residents’ gardens.
According to Katuramu, the invasions have caused losses for farming households whose livelihoods depend on their gardens.
He also described the social strain associated with protecting crops from roaming wildlife, saying some men spend considerable time guarding their gardens against animals.
The area chairperson suggested that these pressures have affect family life.
Asked whether he knew of people involved in illegal hunting, Katuramu said he had heard reports of individuals crossing into Queen Elizabeth National Park to obtain wildlife meat.
He maintained that he did not have verified information identifying those individuals as residents of his area.
“I have also heard about those people crossing to the park for meat, but they are not residents here. I just hear people talk about them,” Katuramu said adding that some people might engage in hunting because it was a practice passed down through their fore fathers who were traditionally Hunters.
He appealed to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to consider whether controlled access could be provided on designated days for communities to collect firewood and reeds arguing that this could deter community members from attempting to intrude the reserved land for hunting or collection of materials to support their faming activities.
Katuramu recalled that three individuals were arrested in his area in 2022 for allegedly entering the national park illegally. He said they were subsequently taken to court, convicted and imprisoned for three years before being released recently.
At the same time, Katuramu credited the government and UWA for installing an electric fence in parts of the community, saying it had helped reduce elephant invasions.
In an interview with this reporter, DR Yousuf Kibaya, the Kasese District veterinary officer outlined several bottlenecks limiting inspection of meat in the public markets, stressing that some meat has been consumed uninspected because of the gap in human resource versus the scope of operation.
Dr Kibaya maintains that differentiating between game meat from domestic animal meat is difficult because it requires scientific and laboratory tests to confirm and differentiate the two, saying this has occasionally frustrated inspection efforts.The District veterinary officer contends that reports of the availability of game meat in public spaces have been reported to his department and that they have tried to sensitize the communities on how they can identify inspected, and certified meat recommended for consumption but sometimes, some people opt for cheap meat which could endanger their lives.
He highlighted the health risks associated with the consumption of uncertified meat, revealing that lead to the spread of zoonotic diseases that are transmissible from wild animals to humans and vice-versa, therefore cautioning residents against consuming such meat. Zoonotic diseases include, among others, Anthrax, Avian influenza and plague.
“Even if you visit some health facilities in Kasese District you will find that there are cases of diseases like brucellosis which are very dangerous. It even affects the reproductive system,” Dr Kibaya reveals however adding that arrangement is under way to finalize a laboratory that would enable scientific tests to ascertain meat types and species.
Following the trail to a public market
As we approached the Kasese–Fort Portal road, the rider asked whether I was genuinely interested in buying the meat. I said I was, and he continued towards Kasese town.
After dropping off another passenger, we diverted towards Railway Ward and Kanyangeya Cell, along a road connecting neighbouring communities to areas bordering Queen Elizabeth National Park.
At one point, the rider stopped and went into a nearby neighbourhood. When he returned, he said the meat had been moved elsewhere but declined to disclose its new location.
We resumed the journey and eventually returned to the Kasese–Fort Portal road, where a public market with wooden stalls stood.
The rider entered the market and returned carrying a black polythene bag, which he said contained the wildlife meat.
He explained that the available package was the last one and that he could not sell it to me because he needed to deliver it to another customer. Although I had offered to pay 10,000 Ugandan shillings, I did not obtain the meat during that initial encounter.
He promised to secure another quantity for me on a subsequent visit and gave me his telephone number so that we could maintain contact.
The encounter provided a lead, but it did not, by itself, establish the identity of the meat’s source or confirm the species from which it had been obtained.
Three weeks later, I called the rider again to establish whether the meat was still available at the same market.
He said he had travelled to Kyarumba Sub-county and would only return to Kasese town in the evening. However, he maintained that the meat was still available at the reported location.
When I called again at approximately 4:00 p.m., he initially did not answer my repeated calls. He later returned the call, explaining that he could not accompany me to the market but offering to share the seller’s telephone number.
I contacted the woman using expressions I had picked up during my earlier conversations with the rider. Presenting myself as a prospective customer, I asked whether the meat was available.
She confirmed that it was, while warning that demand was high and urging me to arrive before it was sold out.
Her response provided a fresh lead for further verification.
An undercover visit confirms a sale, but not the meat’s origin
With an undercover camera operator accompanying me, I hired two motorcycles and travelled towards the reported market.
We used the route through Kasese town towards Kanyangeya and Kyondo cells, areas familiar to me from the earlier visits. The camera operator recorded the journey and our subsequent encounter at the market.
Before entering, I talked to the through a phone woman to establish the precise stall where she was selling the meat.
She told me that she had temporarily left the market and directed me to another woman who, she said, was selling the meat on her behalf.
After searching for the stall, I found a woman seated behind a raised wooden structure covered by a makeshift roof of weathered iron sheets. A nylon bag lay beside her, from which she retrieved portions of meat and packed them into black polythene bags for customers.
During the observation, several people approached the stall in succession.
I engaged the seller in a brief conversation and paid 10,000 Ugandan shillings for a quantity of meat. The seller portioned it manually rather than using a weighing scale.
The transaction established that meat was being sold at the location and provided evidence of the sale. However, the meat was not subjected to laboratory testing or other independent species-identification procedures during the encounter. Its precise origin and whether it came from a protected wild animal therefore remained unverified.
