By Baluku Alex
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces-UPDF has impounded 4 trucks at Uganda congo border Ferring immature fish.
The spokesperson of the UPDF’s Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) Deo Sentiba has revealed that the FPU on Sunday intercepted 4 trucks at the Uganda Congo border in Kasese distdict of Western Uganda transporting immature fish to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“The trucks were impounded on the border proceeding to Congo but as by law we had to request the truck drivers to open the trucks and find out the real content of the cargo to find out if they are practicing illegal fishing. After we stopped them they abandoned the vehicles and took off” he said.
Mr Sentiba said the trucks were moving from Kenya through Uganda destined for the DRC.
“We want the fish numbers to keep accumulating so that even our grand children can benefit from the fishing industry in the future. We organised with the fisheries ministry to bring the vehicles to Entebbe at the directorate, the vehicles had seals which means they were not meant to ferry the fish which they were carrying in Uganda” he said.
The trucks are currently parked at the Fisheries Directorate offices in Entebbe.
Mr Sentiba said on Wednesday that they held a meeting with officials from URA who agreed to take the seal codes to find out whether it’s them who fixed the seals after which they will inform them if they are theirs or they are forgeries.
“We have decided to organsie for a court order allow us open and find out what is in the trucks, if they are illegalities we are going to ally with sister security agencies to look for the owners of the trucks, arrest them and take them to the courts of law to be charged” he said.
