Page 46 - An Illusion of Complicity: Terrorism and the Illegal Ivory Trade in East Africa

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ORGANISED CRIME AND corruption in East Africa represents a true collusion of evils. Both
have served to push the illegal ivory trade to its current industrial scale. As Chapter II argues,
Al-Shabaab is highly unlikely to be a major player in this trade; its potential involvement
pales in comparison to these far more pervasive influences.

This chapter addresses the implications of this finding. It examines the prevalence of organised
crime in the region, and the existence of potential overlaps between ivory and other forms of
illicit trafficking. The nuanced picture this provides has implications for the design of counter-
measures. Here, concerted efforts must be made to strengthen law enforcement and ensure
more effective legal frameworks and deterrent. To achieve this, urgent attention must be paid
to the capacity gaps that plague local wildlife and security agencies in their efforts to tackle
sophisticated and complex criminal networks.

The Heart of the Matter

The impact of transnational organised crime and corruption on East Africa is well known.1 Though
long overshadowed by West Africa, the region’s exposure to the expansion of transnational
illicit trade is now widely recognised.2 In particular, research has shown the vulnerability of
Kenya and Tanzania, as countries with significant growth potential, to the corroding expansion
of sophisticated criminal networks. This is enabled by their strategic coastal positions and the
opportunities provided by their major container ports for interaction with foreign markets. It
is further facilitated by their governments’ limited capacity to deter cross-border criminality,
by poverty and weak governance, and by the corruption that frequently accompanies
these weaknesses.3

All this has seen the region grow as a major source of and transit hub for a range of illicit
activities. In particular, these include drugs trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, the
small arms trade, the illicit trade in counterfeit goods, money laundering and the illegal wildlife
trade.4 As increasingly powerful national and transnational criminal networks have grown up

1. UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), ‘Transnational Organized Crime in Eastern Africa: A Threat
Assessment’, September 2013.

2. Peter Gastrow, ‘Termites at Work: A Report on Transnational Organized Crime and State Erosion in
Kenya—Comprehensive Research Findings’, International Peace Institute, 2011, p. 1; Mark Shaw
and Tuesday Reitano, ‘The Evolution of Organised Crime in Africa: Towards a New Response’, ISS
Paper 244, April 2013.

3. Gastrow, ‘Termites at Work’; UNODC, ‘Transnational Organized Crime in Eastern Africa’, p. 3.
4. Gastrow, ‘Termites at Work’, p. 3.