INTERNATIONAL
ACTION against the
Chiang Mai Night Safari Zoo Project
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intl. Alliance against
the Kenya / Thailand wildlife deal
15.000
signatures were already handed over to the Kenya President as well as to
the Thai Government - please
continue to support the struggle !
Latest Updates!
14.12.2005 - today !
| 14.12.2005
Groups sue over Thai game deal
15.12.2005
Decisive step ahead against Kenya/Thai wildlife deal
17.12.2005
Maasai Stage Protest Over
Thai Wildlife Gift
20.12.2005
KENYA WILDLIFE WILL HAVE
PEACE
21.12.2005
Court
halts animal sale to Thailand
22.12.2005
Kalembe
gets court order halting Thai wildlife deal
24.12.2005
Blows
traded over animals deal
10.01.2006
Letter to the
Editor of the East African Standard, Nairobi |
Update: 10.01.2006
Animal
Trade
Letter to the Editor of the
East African Standard, Nairobi
(published only in the print edition of 10. Jan. 2006)
Dear Sir,
I was surprised to read Dr
Loefler's article re trade in wildlife, especially as he is a former
chairman of the East African Wildlife Society.
I do agree that there are
some zoos in the world that are excellent, but they are few and
even the "excellent" ones have grey areas where some species
are concerned.
Captive bred animals can
adapt well to a life in a zoo when they have known no other and they are allowed
to indulge to some extent in their natural behaviour patterns, but wild
trapped animals are different. Wild animals natural survival
instincts tell them strongly to beware of man. The stress they go
through during trapping, crating and being unable to flee from the
proximity of man is enormous and should not be undertaken lightly
and without good reason. Many animals die either during capture and
transportation, or if they survive live very short unhappy lives in
captivity.
I cannot agree with Dr
Loefler that trade in wildlife increases their value and provides
incentives for conservation. I have seen giraffes standing in pens in
zoos looking listless and dejected, an orang utang in a small cage
drinking its own urine much to the disgust of the people staring at
it (they do not do that in their natural habitats), and other animals
"just there", as my sons who grew up seeing animals in their
natural habitat in Kenya, remarked when I took them to see a zoo in
UK. To the majority of people zoos are an amusing day out nothing
more. And scientific research can only be of real value in an animal's
natural surroundings.
It is fashionable these days
to critisise groups that speak up for animals' rights and
welfare and who try to protect them from the excesses of mankind,
perhaps because the truth of what they say makes people
uncomfortable. It is true that some fanatics in the animal rights scene
have gone overboard and to some extent take away from the credibility of
serious animal welfare groups. However in our "only humans and
profit matters" materialistic world, animals as sentient beings
need a voice to protect them.
The private "zoo"
in question in Thailand is in fact a fun park and from information
gathered the animals will be under spotlights all night with lots of
people staring at them. A nightmare for the poor beasts.
Wild animals belong in
the wild. In zoos they lose their dignity and lustre. The attraction of
game parks is animals in their natural surroundings living their
natural lives, not just being able to say "I have seen a buffalo".
Talking about exporting
wildlife to zoos and how it has benefited Kenya does not ring true.
In fact wildlife films are what have brought most tourists to Kenya
not animals in zoos. We should respect the wild animals and protect them
as a valuable national heritage - and leave them alone. The
planet is not only for humans.
Jean Gilchrist,
Director of Animal Welfare,
KSPCA.
Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals
(N.B. Dr. Imre Loeffler tried to bring the trophy hunters of Safari Club
International through the East African Wildlife Society back to Kenya).
Update: 24.12.2005
ECOTERRA Intl. was
interviewed before for the BBC Thai Service, broadcasting into the most
remote village in Thailand. We openly could speak our mind and believe
that not only the Thai journalist-lady, who led the interview, got the
message clearly but actually she and most of her listeners understood
and became sympatic to the struggle.
We are very happy that our friends in Thailand stand as strong as the
core group of the Coalition against the Thai Wildlife Deal in Kenya. The
incident on Thai TV (see below) was reported widely in the Thai and
Kenya media.
That Plodrasop, the henchman of PM Thaksin, who got blood on his hands
not only from wild animals, became physically aggressive against our
Thai friends and wildlife defenders, does not make us wonder. He has no
words any more. We wonder only when finally HRH the King of Thailand
puts some leach on this roge fellow and his master.
Blows
traded over animals deal
DAILY
NATION
Story by RICHARD CHESOS and Agencies
Publication Date: 12/24/2005
The controversy over the
planned shipping of Kenya's wildlife to Thailand has spilled over to the
benefiting country.
A television debate on the
plan to move 175 animals to a zoo in northern Thailand ended in blows
when proponents attacked animal welfare activists, officials said
yesterday.
The scuffle came in the wake
of protests by conservationists in Thailand opposed to the proposal to
import the animals from Kenya to the Chiang Mai Night Safari Zoo.
Their counterparts in Kenya
have also opposed the deal.
On Tuesday, the High Court
stopped the deal until a case by two wildlife conservation groups was
heard.
Mr Justice Joseph Nyamu said
the memorandum of understanding signed by ministers from the two
countries might not amount to a treaty.
The controversial deal was
sealed on November 9 by Tourism and Wildlife minister Morris Dzoro and
Thailand's Natural Resources and Environment minister Yongyut Tiyapairat.
President Kibaki and Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra witnessed the signing of the deal at
State House, Nairobi.
The wildlife debate was
technically stopped in Kenya after the CBO Consortium and the Kenya
Society for the Protection and Care of Animals moved to court last week.
However, in Thailand, as
soon as the broadcast of the heated debate aired on Thursday night ended,
two men rushed at two activists and punched them in the face, said Mr
Nikom Putra, one of the conservationists.
The fracas lasted several
minutes before studio workers could get the situation under control.
Mr Putra said he planned to
lodge a complaint with police.
Studio workers, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said the zoo head, Prodprasob Surasawadee rose
from his chair, pointing at the faces of the two conservationists and
asking: "What do you want?"
Earlier, Kenya had said it
would give the animals to Thailand as a gift to strengthen relations,
but conservationists voiced concern about how the animals would be
affected by the move.
Local and international
conservationists have also accused the Kenya government of shipping the
animals abroad for money, something it has denied.
Among the animals set for
export include buffaloes, giraffes, hippos, flamingoes, dik diks,
impalas, warthogs, hyenas, antelopes, zebras and marabou storks.
Many Kenya-based
conservationists have opposed the export of the wild animals, saying it
is wrong for the country to sell its national heritage.
However, Thai ambassador to
Kenya Akrasid Amatayakul said recently the deal would be effected only
after it was approved by an international convention.
Activists
'assaulted by Plodprasop aides'
Tempers flare at TV
debate on Night Safari
BANGKOK POST
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/24Dec2005_news10.php
POST REPORTERS
Two conservationists yesterday complained they were assaulted by aides
of Plodprasop Suraswadi, assistant to the minister of natural resources
and the environment on Thursday night. Chaiyaphan Prapasawat, of the
Love Chiang Mai Network, and Nikhom Puttha, of Wildlife Fund Thailand,
said the incident took place after they had a heated debate with Mr
Plodprasop over the controversial Night Safari project during a popular
television programme, Tueng Look Tueng Khon, on Channel 9.
Mr Plodprasop attended the TV programme in his capacity as director of
Night Safari. The debate focussed on the export of wildlife from Kenya
which was eventually suspended by a Kenyan court.
As the programme was about to end, Mr Chaiyaphan read a poem, which
imitated zoo animals wailing in distress at the night-time zoo. The
activist said Mr Plodprasop was apparently offended by the poem, earlier
published in Khao Sod newspaper.
As soon as the lights were dimmed, Mr Plodprasop and his aides stormed
towards the two activists who were still seated. Mr Chaiyaphan said some
of the aides scolded him and pushed him in the chest. Others dragged Mr
Nikhom from his seat.
Before the fracas escalated, cameramen and TV crew stepped in and
separated the two sides.
Mr Chaiyaphan said he and Mr Nikhom would be lodging a complaint with
police yesterday evening. It was unclear if Mr Plodprasop was being
implicated in the complaint.
The conservationist said he punched one of the men in self-defence.
''It appeared Mr Plodprasop wanted to assault me himself but his son
stopped him from doing so. Why do we have an assistant to a minister
with such violent behaviour?,'' said Mr Chaiyaphan.
The TV crew confirmed the assault, which was tape-recorded.
The crew also noted the number of Mr Plodprasop's aides was abnormally
high at more than 10.
Mr Plodprasop could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Mr Nikhom, meanwhile, urged senior state officials to show maturity when
facing enquiries from the public. He said the public had every right to
learn what the state was doing, adding the Night Safari project, in
particular, was questionable in many respects.
Meanwhile, the Love Chiang Mai Network condemned Mr Plodprasop and his
aides for their gangland-style behaviour. It also called on the TV crew
who witnessed the incident to hand over their tape to authorities for
further investigation.
The Love Chiang Mai Network would also file a complaint with the
Administrative Court, asking it to suspend the project until its
environmental impact was thoroughly studied.
Thai PM
accused of giving projects to cronies
Bangkok Post
ANUCHA CHAROENPO
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/24Dec2005_news02.php
People close to the Thaksin Shinawatra government have been winning
development projects in dubious manners in the prime minister's native
province of Chiang Mai, media firebrand Sondhi Limthongkul said during
his Muang Thai Rai Sapda (Thailand Weekly) talk show at Lumpini park
yesterday. Mr Sondhi continued his stinging attack on the Thaksin
government during his talk show, the 13th since his programme was
removed from state-owned Channel 9 television.
He told an audience of about 40,000 people that some 40 state projects,
worth about 20 billion baht altogether, had been launched in Chiang Mai
in the past four years and most of them went to people close to the
government.
Citing as an example the concession to operate a restaurant at Night
Safari Zoo, Mr Sondhi said the 30-year contract went to Deputy Transport
Minister Phumtham Wechayachai. He asked why the government did not
publicise the bidding contest.
Referring to Mr Thaksin, he said: ''You were born in San Kamphaeng
district only. You are not the owner of Thailand. You cannot do whatever
you want without telling anyone else.''
He pointed out that the person who won the lion's share of state
projects in Chiang Mai was Khanaen Boonsupha, the owner of Chiang Mai
Construction Co and father-in-law of Prime Minister's Office Minister
Newin Chidchob.
The projects awarded to Mr Khanaen were worth about 1.18 billion baht
altogether, he said. Many were road projects including one leading to
Chiang Mai international airport.
Chiang Mai Construction won the project to build Highway 121 leading to
Chiang Mai's 700th Anniversary Stadium at 106.9 million baht, only one
million baht shy of the median price of 107.9 million baht. Another
contract was a 490m underpass in the Poi Luang area. The company won it
with a quote of 379.6 million baht, only 300,000 baht below the median
price.
The firm also won a contract to build a road from Chiang Mai to Lamphun
with a quote of 179.6 million baht. The median price was 179.7 million
baht.
Mr Sondhi also accused Mr Thaksin of being irresponsible in his capacity
as the prime minister, regarding flood problems in the South.
He said the southern provinces were flooded long before Mr Thaksin
decided to visit affected locals. His Majesty the King had sent 3,000
bags of necessities to help flood victims in the South, while the ruling
Thai Rak Thai party sent nothing.
He also accused Mr Thaksin of allowing extra-judicial killings to take
place in the restive far South, and failing to fulfill his pledge to end
violence in the region.
Mr Sondhi urged all anti-Thaksin people to show up at his next talk show
on Jan 13 to sign a letter demanding Mr Thaksin step down as prime
minister.
He also accused Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya of having foreknowledge
of the 1997 baht flotation and pointing out that Shin Corp, which used
to employ Mr Thanong, had managed to protect its foreign exchange just
in time.
Update: 22.12.2005
Ministry
served court orders barring Thai deal
KENYA TIMES
22. 12. 2005
By Vincent Musumba
TOURISM and
Wildlife assistant Minister Kalembe Ndile was yesterday served with a
court injunction halting the intended translocation of 175 wild animals
to Thailand.
Ndile was
served by lawyer Ojwang’ Agina of Agina and Company Advocates and
National CBO Council chairman, Tom Aosa.
The event took
place at the ministry’s Utalii House offices at 3 pm.
An anxious
Ndile said the matter would be forwarded to the Attorney-General for
advice.
However, he was
reluctant to stamp the court order papers.
Said Ndile:
“We will not hurry to make a decision because of the impending case.
The papers are in good hands.”
National CBO
Council chair, Tom Aosa described the court order as ‘the best
end-year gift to all Kenyans and a reason to celebrate Christmas.’
“By obtaining
the order we have achieved a tremendous leap towards achieving the goal
of halting this insult to our delicate biodiversity. We won’t allow
our animals to be mistreated”, he noted.
He promised not
to relent until justice is done and added that the court’s decision
was a clear indication that someone was listening to them.
The order stays
for sixty days, during which period the government cannot move or export
the animals.
The
translocation was supposed to take place immediately after the signing
of the memorandum.
A ruling on
Tuesday by High Court judge Justice Joseph Nyamu ordered that the
application be certified as urgent.
Kalembe
gets court order halting Thai wildlife deal
Daily
Nation
Story by NATION Correspondent
Publication Date: 12/22/2005
Assistant minister Kalembe
Ndile has been served with a court order halting the export 175 wild
animals to Thailand.
The deal has been put on
hold until a case by two wildlife conservation groups, the National CBO
Consortium and the Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals,
is heard.
A Nairobi-based advocate, Mr
Ojwang Agina, served the order on Mr Ndile at his Utalii House office at
3 pm yesterday.
Mr Agina, who was
accompanied by the consortium's chairman, Mr Tom Aosa, had first walked
into the ministry's spokesman's office where he was told that Tourism
and Wildlife minister Morris Dzoro was not in and could therefore not be
served with the order.
The two then walked into Mr
Ndile's office where Mr Agina served the Wildlife assistant minister
with the order.
Rubber-stamp document
Mr Agina requested Mr Ndile
to rubber-stamp it as proof that he had received it. To which Mr Kalembe
retorted: "I don't need to rubber-stamp the document since these
journalists are recording the event...They are my witnesses that I have
received it".
Mr Agina then drew Mr
Ndile's attention to a penal notice in the order which stated that if Mr
Dzoro disobeyed the order, then he would be held in contempt of court
and action would be taken against him. The lawyer said he was pleased to
meet Mr Ndile and wished him a merry Christmas .
The order was granted by
Judge Joseph Nyamu on Tuesday after saying he was satisfied that the
memorandum of understanding between Kenya and Thailand might not amount
to a treaty. Courts cannot review treaties unless the provisions are
incorporated in Kenyan laws or passed as Acts of Parliament.
Mr Dzoro and Thai Natural
Resources and Environment minister Yongyut Tiyapairat signed the animal
transfer deal on November 9.
Update: 21.12.2005
Thai
wildlife deal stopped
KENYA TIMES
21. 12. 2005
By John Osoro
THE High Court
yesterday barred the government from translocating 175 animals to the
Kingdom of Thailand.
The court put
on hold the intended translocation pending the hearing of an application
by a group of wildlife conservationists.
Justice Joseph
Nyamu said the applicants had raised “an arguable case that needs to
be heard” before the action by the concerned ministry commence.
The judge
agreed with the applicants’ submissions that the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) entered into between the Ministry of Tourism and
Wildlife and its Thailand counterpart cannot be translated into a treaty.
He said the MoU
does not make any references to any of the international laws in its
guideline for implementation.
Justice Nyamu
granted the leave period for 60 days, which would be extended depending
on the defendants’ wish in their defence.
Unless the
issues raised by the conservationists groups are heard inter partes and
determined, the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife shall remain barred
from implementing the said MoU.
The lobby group
says in their application that the MoU signed by the parties violated
the laws of environmental and conservation management.
The applicants
- Self Help Community Based Organisation (CBO) and Kenya Society for the
Protection of Care for Animals - says that the Minister for Tourism and
Wildlife and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) had no powers to enter into an
agreement with the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment of the
Kingdom of Thailand over the translocation of the animals.
The
conservationists, say the defendants, had breached the Wildlife
Conservation Act.
Court
halts Thai wildlife export deal
Standard,
Nairobi
21. 12. 2005
By Judy Ogutu
The High Court has halted
the controversial export of animals to Thailand.
Justice Joseph Nyamu issued
temporary orders suspending the deal, signed at State House, Nairobi, on
November 9. President Kibaki and Thailand Prime minister Thaksin
Shanawatra’s signed a deal under which 175 wild animals were to be
shipped to the Asian country.
The then Foreign Affairs
minister Ali Chirau Mwakwere signed the Memorandum of Understanding on
behalf of Kenya and his Thailand counterpart Dr Kantathi Suphamongkhon
on behalf of his country.
Nyamu’s order will be
operational for 60 days and the court reserves the discretion to extend
it. He also gave the Kenya Society for the Protection and Care for
Animals and two lobbies the go-ahead to seek orders prohibiting the
Minister for Tourism and Wildlife from shipping the animals to the Asian
country.
The animals include giraffes,
flamingoes, hippos, zebras, warthogs, dik-diks, impalas, buffaloes,
gazelles, hyenas and jackals.
Nairobi CBO Consortium and
Thomas Ondiba Aosa were also given the green light to seek for orders
quashing the decision to export the assorted game.
When the matter came up
first, Justice Nyamu said the MoU signed between the two countries was a
treaty. He postponed the hearing to give all parties an opportunity to
satisfy the court whether the MoU was a treaty.
The minister and the Kenya
Wildlife Services, an interested party, did not attend the hearing on
Tuesday, forcing the court to proceed without them. The applicants,
through their lawyer, Mbugua Mureithi argued that the MoU was not a
treaty.
A treaty, he added, was an
international agreement between states and was governed by international
law.
"The object of the
treaty is to create binding relations between the parties to it. The MoU
is non-binding. The scope of co-operation is subjected to laws of the
respective countries in accordance with regulations in force,"
Mureithi said.
The deal, he added, was an
arrangement for mutual development assistance.
Nyamu said the applicants
had, on prima facie basis, satisfied the court that the agreement
between the two nations might not be a treaty.
The three filed the suit on
December 14, saying the minister had commenced steps to identify,
capture and move the assorted wildlife animals pursuant to the MoU where
the minister undertook to move the animals for custody in zoos in
Thailand.
While giving the orders, the
judge also directed them to file and serve the application as prescribed.
He warned that failure to do so, the order would lapse.
Court
halts animal sale to Thailand
DAILY
NATION, Nairobi
Story by JILLO KADIDA
Publication Date: 12/21/2005
The High Court yesterday
stopped the deal to export 175 wild animals to Thailand until a case by
two wildlife conservation groups is heard.
Granting the order, Judge
Joseph Nyamu said he was satisfied the memorandum of understanding
between Kenya and Thailand might not amount to a treaty.
The 60-day order arose from
an application by the National CBO Consortium and the Kenya Society for
the Protection and Care of Animals, who demanded a stop to relocating
assorted animals to Thai zoos in line with a reported deal between
ministers of the two countries.
When the case was filed last
week, the judge declined to order a stop, saying the court was not keen
on interfering with a treaty.
The court could not review
treaties between countries, unless the provisions are incorporated in
Kenyan laws or passed as Acts of Parliament, he ruled.
The controversial deal was
sealed on November 9 by Tourism and Wildlife minister Morris Dzoro and
Thai Natural Resources and Environment minister Yongyut Tiyapairat.
And despite protests by
local and international wildlife conservationists – who said the
transfer would violate the animals' welfare – it was signed at State
House, Nairobi, as President Kibaki and Thai prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra watched.
Lawyer Mbugua Mureithi told
the court that wildlife conservation and management was legally under
the Kenya Wildlife Service, and that the minister was required only to
give general or special directions to KWS. "The national heritage
should not be left to the disposal of one person or one arm of
government," he argued.
The deal was signed without
consulting the KWS, Parliament, other interested organs and the public,
he said, adding that identifying and capturing the animals had begun.
Yesterday Mr Justice Nyamu
noted that the issues raised by the applicants were of national
importance.
After hearing both parties,
the judge said the applicants had argued points which defined treaties,
and had argued that only KWS was authorised to say whether the animals
can be exported.
Update: 20.12.2005
Breaking
News:
German
Text / Text in Deutsch
KENYA WILDLIFE WILL
HAVE PEACE
by Correspondents
WTN - 20. December 2005 - 11h00 - Nairobi -
The steadfast core group
of the Kenya Coalition and the International Alliance Against the
Kenya/Thailand Wildlife Deal achieved a major breakthrough this morning
at the High Court in Nairobi / Kenya:
The court ruled, that the Kenyan Minister of Tourism and Wildlife, who
signed the deal to export 175 wild animals from the free wildlands of
Kenya into a fun-fair and zoo facility in Thailand, as well as the Kenya
Wildlife Service, who would have to do the job, can not lay their hands
on the wildlife and can not capture or export any wildlife to Thailand.
Likewise any other capture or export by owners of private wildlands or
ranches would be illegal.
The coming festive season will not see capture-gangs combing the world
famous wildlands of Kenya with their splendid savannas and woodlands and
unique wildlife populations for easy prey. The peaceful nature will not
be disturbed by helicopters with darting vets on board. And the
defenders of wildlife also can stay in peace - at least for the near
future.
.... continued
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Update: 17.12.2005
Maasai
Stage Protest Over Thai Wildlife Gift
The
East African Standard (Nairobi)
December
17, 2005
Posted to the web December 16, 2005
Wanjiru
Macharia, Nairobi
More than
500 members of the Maasai community yesterday held a demonstration in
Narok to protest the Government's decision to export 175 wild animals to
Thailand.
They said
they were the gatekeepers of the wild animals since they had lived with
and protected them since time immemorial and asked the government to
consult the concerned communities before proceeding with the scheme.
Waving
twigs and chanting anti-Government slogans, the group said the State
should not take any animals from Narok District for the deal.
The
chairman of the Narok Communities pressure group, Mr Moses Nkoriompai,
said the Government had ran out of ideas on how to make money and had
turned to selling off the national heritage.
He said
the Government was reneging on its policies on wildlife conservation,
and warned that exporting game would damage Kenya's reputation and lead
to a decline in tourist numbers.
Addressing
the demonstrators at Oloontoto Primary School in Rereshwa near the
Maasai Mara Game Park, Nkoriompai said exporting the animals would be
biopiracy.
Reading a
memorandum signed by 15,000 residents of Narok District, the chairman
said it was wrong to shut up a free-range animal in a zoo.
He said
the process of capturing wild animals, caging them and transporting them
over long distances was a procedure that should only be undertaken when
absolutely necessary.
He said
the process could result in excessive stress to the animals and even
death.
Sidney
Quntai, the chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Conservation and Management
Network, said the notion that there were excess animals in the country
was wrong.
He said
the wild animal population has been falling over the years due to
illegal bush meat trade, encroachment on parks and reserves and excision
of forests.
According
to a report by the Department of Resource Survey and Remote Sensing in
2004, Kenya's wildlife population declined by 40 to 60 per cent between
1977 and 1994, said Quntai.
He said
the massive decline is estimated to be higher due to increased human
populations and activities in the animal areas.
"Kenya's
wildlife has evolved in our environment for hundreds of thousands of
years and it is dangerous to take the animals to alien lands where they
are likely to be susceptible to fatal diseases," he said.
Quntai
said the Government should encourage tourism in the country to fight
poverty instead of promoting its growth elsewhere.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200512160518.html
Update: 15.12.2005
Decisive
step ahead against Kenya/Thai wildlife deal
- Kenyans, incl. two
Kenyan organizations, went to court to stop the dreadful wildlife deal
with a Thai fun-fair zoo -
WTN - correspondents - Nairobi /
Bangkok - 14.12.2005
"Enough is enough!", said
Kenyans, and have now applied to the courts in Nairobi, Kenya to end the
dreadful saga about the ill-conceived wildlife deal with a Thai zoo,
which is based on a simple and not legally binding Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between two ministers. Such a declaration of intent,
however, can not be misinterpreted as an international treaty between
the two states, as some might try to suggest in order to derail the
process against the deal or to helplessly safe the face of government
officials.
A treaty is a legally binding agreement under international
law concluded by subjects of international law, namely states.
A treaty is for example the long-running treaty for British soldiers to
train in Kenya, which is just now in a stage, where a majority of Kenyan
parliamentarians question if Kenya should prolong it.
A memorandum of
understanding (MoU) is a legal document describing an agreement
between parties. It is a more formal alternative to a gentlemen's
agreement, but less formal than a contract.
Examples of simple MoUs -
like the Kenya/Thailand deal - include e.g.the Oil
for Food program, for which Iraq
signed a MoU in 1996,
and which has seen a senior UN official being suspended for corruption
as well as the son of UN Secretary General Kofi A. Annan being
implicated, and which has therefore undergone many changes to the
original text. The recently signed Kenya/Thailand MoU therefore can
likewise easily be amended or relieved of certain parts - like the now
contested wildlife deal contained therein.
The Kenya Society for the
Protection and Care of Animals (KSPCA) and the Council of Community
Based Organizations (CBO Council), both representing the majority of
Kenyan citizens who are against the capture of free ranging wild animals
from the Kenya wildlands and their deportation into the man-made
confinement within a disputed Thai fun-fair facility, must be applauded
for this step, because they actually also contribute in terms of control
of damage to the reputation of both countries. But as further this issue
is pushed by certain government officials in the service of either side
of the deal, as more economic and face loss is created.
The constant and desperate pushing by the Thai Ambassador to Kenya,
however, to get the Kenyan governance moving in terms of capturing now
175 wild animals for the Thai night zoo in Chiang Mai against the will
of the Kenyan people is contradicting what Thai Senator Senator Pensak
Chagsuchinda (Howitz) stated publicly during her visit to the country.
The Senator, who was accompanied by Senator Niboon Shamshoum on a fact
finding mission, had proclaimed profoundly that it was not in the
interest of the Thai Government to insist on getting wildlife delivered
from Kenya.
The senators admitted that their Prime Minister was looking for animals
for that private facility in Chianmai, in which he has personal stakes,
but they declared that, if the Kenyan people were not in agreement, they
would not force the "donation" and would advise the Thai
senate to restrict their PM in his dealings of such kind. Apparently the
opposite of what was laid out by the senators is true and therefore the
persistent pressure by the Thai official shows nothing less than the
disrespect of the will of the Kenyan people. That certainly is not a
good base for the proclaimed "friendship" between the two so
different states and their people.
That the Kenyan people are ready to stand up for their wildlife has been
not only clearly shown by the numerous protest rallies of various
peoples in the country and the present legal challenge but even through
a TV documentary delivering the numerous arguments of the wildlife
conservation groups, which was aired by Reuters also into the far
corners of Thailand and therefore made it known to the Thai people
themselves. Even though the Thai senators did not succeed to have their
PM reprimanded by the senate so far, the Thai organizations are urged to
step up their side of the protest and to support the head of the Thai
senate's environmental committee, Kaewsan Atipho, who want their house
to become clean and to scrap the wildlife deal.
The wanted friendship between the people of both countries involved is
also not changed with fake "letters to the editor",
publicizing in local newspapers the opinion of staged pro-deal
supporters allegedly writing from China or elsewhere. All the
manipulation will only worsen the rift between the people of Kenya and
Thailand and bring more supporters to the internationally called for
boycott of Thailand's wares and services.
In order to show their real friendship with the people of Kenya, the
Thai governance should have since long stopped to pressurize the
Government of Kenya for these animals from the wild, not at least
because the Kenyans actually have different and more severe problems at
this time after a referendum rejected the proposed new constitution and
a deep rift between governance and people's will.
The Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service, who had received during the
last 10 days twice delegations from the international and the national
consortia of organizations, who stand and protest against that deal, had
in addition to the numerous legal, ethic, economic, and moral arguments
against the proposal outlined in the MoU, to hear eye-witness reports
from people who actually had visited the Thai zoos and reported that
animals are kept there under the most horrible conditions. One witness
spoke of the worst zoo ever she visited anywhere in her
entire life and that in Thailand she saw even a majestic tiger, who was
not only just kept in a tiny cage, where he couldn't turn, but in
addition was chained inside that cell.
The arguments against that shabby Kenya/Thai wildlife-deal are numerous
and the background of the whole story are at least dubious, as one can
study on the website of an international wildlife protection
organization:
http://www.ecoterra-international.org/sites/anti-chiangmai-night-zoo-1.htm
If the Thais really wanted to show true friendship to the Kenyans, they
would abstain from insisting on the wildlife-deal outlined in that
memorandum, which hangs like the sword of Damocles over the wild animals
of Kenya in their free wildlands. The Thai government representatives
could concentrate on actually helping Kenya without such shady deals and
without that they force poor local organizations to engage in costly and
time consuming campaigns and legal battles to restrain those who believe
they could get benefits out of Kenyan wildlife, captured from the
wild and confined to a life behind bars or early death due to neglect
and distress during the shipment as well as inside Thailand.
And if the Thai people really would care about the plight of Kenyans and
their state they would by all means stop their government officials to
engage in such shameful exercises and force them to offer true help
without selfish and greedy agendas. Kenyans therefore hope that their
true soul-mates in Thailand will now likewise turn up the heat and force
the Thai officials to come clean.
Kenyans stand as one people against the capture of even one animal from
the wildlands of Africa and its transfer into that night-zoo in
Thailand, like they stand against the capture and transport of any
African girl into a brothel in Bangkok. The abduction of wild animals
from Kenya to Thailand also must be seen in the context of bio-piracy
and openly violates the Biodiversity Convention, which actually is a
treaty to which both countries are signatories.
Kenyans feel that it would be the biggest shame to allow such also
because 19 men on official duty to defend Kenyan wildlife were felled by
the merciless bullets of unscrupulous wildlife killers and murderers
since 1990 alone and many more in the years before. The death of these
honourable men would have been meaningless and useless, if what they
defended on behalf of all Kenyans and the natural world heritage at
large, could just be signed away today.
Kenyans do also not support the shady deals of some politicians on both
sides either, who seem to have an additional, hidden agenda in their
co-operation and they speak out against those Kenyan parliamentarians,
who just want to buy for Kenya a seat at the UN Security Council and try
for this task to gain the support of foreign civil servants by
intransparent measures like "pleasing" Thai officials with the
signing away of Kenyan wildlife into a private zoo in Chiangmai. And
neither do they support the apparent private business-relationships of
officials like Thai PM Thaksin, who in his business life is a mobile
phone and communications tycoon, with former Kenyan Communications
Minister Raphael Tuju, who was now even promoted as Minister of Foreign
Affairs by the embattled NARC government of Kenya's President Kibaki.
But while in Thailand even His Royal Highness The King of Thailand
Bhumibol Adulyadej has granted leave to his citizens to criticize Thai
Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, already death-threats are issued in
Kenya to people, who only defend their natural heritage and stand
against the cruel export of wildlife from their homelands into an
appalling zoo-facility in Thailand, which triggered an international
call to boycott Thailand over this.
The boycott of Thailand - that is for sure - and maybe in future also
Kenya has gained now another boost.
© WTN 2005
Groups contest
Thai wildlife deal
Kenya Times
15. 12. 2005
By John Osoro
WILDLIFE
conservationists yesterday moved to court seeking to stop the government
from translocating 175 animals to the Kingdom of Thailand.
The lobby
groups want a memorandum of understanding entered into between the
government of Kenya and Thailand stayed until their application is heard
and determined.
The applicants
— Self-Help Community Based Organisation (CBO) and Kenya Society for
the Protection of Care for Animals — say that the Minister for Tourism
and Wildlife and Kenya Wildlife Service had no powers to enter into an
agreement with the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment of the
Kingdom of Thailand over the translocation of the animals.
The
conservationists say in their suit papers that the defendants had
breached the Wildlife Conservation Act by allowing to donate and
translocate the wildlife to a foreign country.
The plaintiffs
in their application filed under a certificate of urgency say the
respondents undertook to offer the animals without following the laid
down procedures as contained in the Environmental Management and
Coordination Act, 1999.
The Act
provides that the government of Kenya ought to have assessed the impact
caused by the translocation on the biological diversity on the parks and
other areas where the animals might be removed to.
They say that
the respondents ought to have submitted such report to National
Environmental Management Authority as required under the Act.
The suit
supported by an affidavit by the CBO Chairman Mr Tom Ondiba Aosa,
further points out that the action by the defendants to donate and
translocate the animals to zoos in the Kingdom of Thailand contravenes
the International Trade in Endangered Species of wildlife.
He said the
agreement was entered without following the procedures that regulate
translocation of such animals from their natural habitat.
When the
applicants appeared before Justice Joseph Nyamu, they sought the
court’s intervention over the purported MoU entered into between
Kenyan Minister for Tourism and his counterpart from Thailand.
The plaintiffs,
through their lawyer Mbugua Mureithi, submitted that procedure was not
followed when the said MoU was signed.
Justice Nyamu,
however, ordered the applicants to serve the application to the
respondents and directed that the matter be heard inter partes on
December 20.
Mr Aosa says
that the defendants ought to have obtained approval from Parliament
before the deal could be entered.
The applicant
further wants the decision entered on November 9, 2005 be stopped until
the suit filed against the respondents is heard and determined.
Lobbies
ask court to stop wild animals deal
Daily
Nation
Story by WAHOME THUKU
Publication Date: 12/15/2005
Two wildlife conservation
lobby groups have moved to court to stop the export of wild animals to
Thailand.
Nairobi CBO Consortium, and
Kenya Society for the Protection and Care for Animals filed an
application at the Nairobi High Court and were allowed to sue the
Government over the deal.
But the court declined to
grant their request to stop relocation of assorted animals to Thai zoos
over an agreement between the two countries.
After hearing the
submissions by their lawyer, Mr Mbugua Mureithi, judge Joseph Nyamu said
the court would not be keen to interfere with a treaty between two
countries.
The court could not review
treaties between countries unless the provisions were incorporated in
the Kenyan laws or passed as Acts of Parliament, he ruled.
The controversial agreement
was sealed on November 9 by Tourism and Wildlife minister Morris Dzoro
and the Thai minister for Natural Resources and Environment Yongyut
Tiyapairat. It was signed despite protests by the local and
international wildlife conservationists, who claimed the transfer would
violate the animals' welfare.
It was signed at State
House, Nairobi, in the presence of President Mwai Kibaki and Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Mr Mbugua told the court
that the conservation and management of the wildlife was legally under
the Kenya Wildlife Service and the minister was only required to give
general or special directions to the KWS director.
"The national heritage
of this country should not be left to the disposal of one person or one
arm of the Government," he argued.
He said the deal was signed
without consulting the KWS, Parliament, other interested organisations
or the public.
The process of identifying
and capturing the animals for export to Thailand had began, the court
heard.
Judge Nyamu noted that the
issues raised by the applicants were of national importance. He asked
them to serve the documents to the minister and the KWS so that the
other parties could go and argue on how the court would treat the
memorandum. The case will be heard on December 20.
Update: 14.12.2005
Groups
sue over Thai game deal
Standard
Wednesday December 14, 2005
By Judy Ogutu and Renson
Mnyamwezi
Controversy surrounding
the decision to export 175 animals to a zoo in Thailand has spilled over
to the courts.
The Kenya Society for the
Protection and Care for Animals and two other organisations have filed a
suit seeking to stop the deal.
The three applicants want
the court to issue an order temporarily stopping the deal reached in a
Memorandum of Understanding between the two Governments on November 9,
2005.
The lobby group, Nairobi
CBO Consortium and Thomas Ondiba Aosa wants the court to give them the
go-ahead to seek for orders prohibiting the Minister of Tourism and
Wildlife from shipping the animals to the Asian country. The Kenya
Wildlife Service was named in the suit as an interested party.
The applicants also want
the court’s permission to quash the decision to export the assorted
animals from Kenya to Thailand.
In an urgent application,
their lawyer Mbugua Mureithi says the minister has commenced steps to
identify, capture and move the animals.
Justice Joseph Nyamu
declined to issue any orders, but directed the parties to serve the suit
papers and appear before him on December 20 for an inter parties hearing.
Meanwhile more than 1,000
residents of Mwatate Division in Taita Taveta District on Wednesday
demonstrated against the intended export of the animals.
Led by Youths for
Conservation Programme official, Joseph Righa, the residents asked
President Kibaki to shelve the programme and consult widely.
‘’Tourism is an
integral part of Kenya’s economy and we must keep our wildlife as
protected heritage for our own benefits,’’ said Mr Wilson Mwangombe,
the Kenya Wildlife and Conservation and Management Network co-ordinator.
http://www.eastandard.net/print/news.php?articleid=33662
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BACKGROUND
INFOMATION
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by Scott Jones
Action Alert:
LATEST ACTION ALERT - 09.11.2005
Updates:
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News and Updates 07.04.2004 - 07.11.2005
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