Ugandan courtrooms A Congolese parrot trafficker was sentenced to seven years in prison.

 For trafficking African grey parrots, a Congolese national was sentenced to seven years in prison.

In April, he was apprehended in western Uganda by a joint operation of the police, army, and Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Conservationists applauded the man's arrest and swift prosecution as sending a message that wildlife trafficking will be taken seriously by authorities.

Conservationists, on the other hand, warn that gaps in legislation in Uganda and the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to facilitate the illegal wildlife trade.

Bob Mbaya Kabongo was sentenced to seven years in prison on May 12 by a judge in Uganda's specialized court for wildlife crimes for smuggling 122 African grey parrots into the country from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Conservation organizations, as well as the Uganda Wildlife Authority, have applauded his arrest and prompt prosecution and sentencing.

Mbaya was apprehended with the African greys (Psittacus erithacus) on April 14 in Kisoro District, western Uganda. The Congolese national was apprehended as part of a joint operation by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the army, and the police.

Mbaya pleaded guilty in court to illegally importing wildlife into Uganda and unlawful possession of protected species in violation of Uganda's wildlife act.

Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu read out his sentence, saying that "a custodial sentence will send a message to other foreigners that Uganda is not a hub of abusing Wildlife creatures."

"I think what is important is that the law has taken its course, and we have seen justice being dispensed by the judicial officers," said Bashir Hangi, UWA's communications manager. Of course, we hope for harsher penalties in the future, but for now, we thank and applaud them."

Some of the African grey parrots seized in Kisoro District, Uganda. Image courtesy UWEC.

Conservation organizations from outside Uganda applauded Mbaya's successful prosecution.

"It is a stern warning to any would-be trafficker that if you think you're going to set fire to your house because you're going to run to a neighbor's house, the same thing awaits you," said Adams Cassinga, founder and CEO of ConservCongo, an NGO that works to protect biodiversity in the DRC, who claims that up to 90% of wildlife products illegally traded in Uganda originated across the border. Mbaya's arrest and conviction, he said, sent a strong message to wildlife traffickers.

"There is nowhere for them to hide any longer." We'll look for them, and if they jump [out of] one trap, they'll fall into the next, until wildlife trafficking becomes a thing of the past."

Rowan Martin, the World Parrot Trust's Africa Conservation Programme director based in London, agreed. "A sentence of this length establishes a significant precedent and should serve as a strong deterrent."

He stated that several steps must be taken to better protect threatened species from illegal trafficking, beginning with strengthening legislation in several countries where wild African grey parrots can still be legally trapped. This is the case in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, though exporting parrots is prohibited.

"Second," Martin added, "enforcement agencies and judiciaries must focus on dismantling trade networks, with efforts directed at the exporters and importers who make the lion's share of the trade profits."

According to Edith Kabesiime, campaign manager for the NGO World Animal Protection, the intercepted birds could still end up in people's homes because Ugandan regulations still allow people to keep African grey parrots and other species as pets.

"While we applaud this court decision, we must recognize that it only addresses the symptoms." We must address the demand side of the parrot trade by making owning wild animals as pets illegal and socially unacceptable."