In the darkness, motorcycle engines roar through the forests as boda boda riders emerge from narrow paths and speed through the bushes. It is an increasingly familiar sight, as boda bodas have become part of a new tactic through which they ferry loads of charcoal bit by bit.
Instead of waiting for trucks to enter the 6,089-hectare Zoka Central Forest, or the 384-sq km Mt Kei Central Forest Reserve and collect large consignments of charcoal from West Nile, dealers are increasingly using boda boda riders to ferry smaller quantities from the deep bushes to roadside collection points.
The strategy is that they now divide a large consignment into smaller loads, use motorcycles that can negotiate narrow forest paths, and move the charcoal at night when communities, environmental advocacy groups and security personnel are in slumber.
This is making the lucrative illegal charcoal trade harder to detect. The dealers are using the psychology that a motorcycle carrying three or four sacks may not attract as much attention as a truck loaded with hundreds of bags.
When dozens of motorcycles make repeated trips in a day, the volumes quickly become substantial. Inside the forests, there are unmanned trails from all directions.
For years, the conventional picture of the charcoal trade was straightforward: charcoal burners produced the bags of charcoal in remote areas, traders ferried them in trucks and the merchandise was transported in bulk to urban markets.
But now, this model has shifted after several advocacy groups and security officials taking tough measures in safeguarding the forests from extinction.
The night shift
For boda boda riders involved in the trade, night provides an added advantage. As the the Monitor sought to investigate the racket of illegal charcoal trade, it was unearthed that most of the boda boda cyclists are ready to engage in the transportation because they are desperate for money for survival.
One of the boda boda riders, who declined to be named for fear of reprisal from his colleagues and charcoal dealers, said on the night of (September 12), he alone transported 15 bags of charcoal.
‘I made five trips that night from 8.00pm to 2.00am because there were no roadblocks and the road was clear. I was paid Shs15,000 per trip and this is good money compared to what I make during the day. That one night, I made Shs 75,000,’ he said.
Asked about engaging in the business which has endangered several species of trees in the Mt Kei Forest Reserve, he said: ‘Right now I am looking at making money because I have a family to feed and to pay school fees. But I know, trees attract rainfall and make the environment cool. But the money paid to us is lucrative.’
Speaking to the Monitor last weekend, an environmental advocate in Yumbe District, Mr Cox Banduga, of Save the Shea Nut Foundation, described the scale of the illegal charcoal motorcycle transportation as a major challenge to conservation efforts.
‘Every morning until late in the night, you see motorcycles carrying three to four sacks of charcoal. And at night, the number of motorcycles increases. When you are inside, you hear them pass at terrific speeds,’ he said.
Mr Banduga said two weeks ago, he counted about 30 motorcycles that pass via Midigo. ‘…this is only one route. Imagine areas of Kerwa, Romogi and Ariwa where there are numerous paths. Can you imagine how many motorcycles are being used in this racket?’
One motorcycle may carry only three or four sacks, 10 of them making several journeys can move dozens of bags without the need for a single large truck to enter the forest.
According to Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) 2021 report on black gold, the annual turnover of the charcoal trade in Kampala is estimated to be well over $182m (about Shs700b).
Why bodas are successful
Darkness makes surveillance more difficult, particularly along the network of footpaths and minor roads that criss-cross forest communities.
A rider enters the bush, assembles the charcoal and delivers it to a predetermined location without necessarily travelling along the major roads where security checkpoints are rigorous.
A testimony by a motorcycle rider corroborates that of Joseph, another boda boda rider, who previously transported charcoal from Zoka Central Forest, who told the Monitor in June that he had ever engaged in the charcoal transportation for the dealers.
‘I often transported bags of charcoal from Zoka forest at night to a location where I was directed to take them,’ he said.
Joseph said he was paid Shs20,000 per trip before he abandoned the business after realising the environmental consequences.
His account also explains another important feature of the trade: it is a racket. The motorcycle operator is often a link in a much longer chain involving charcoal burners, middlemen, dealers, collection point operators and eventually buyers in distant urban markets or countries.
A three months investigation by the Monitor revealed that the charcoal dealer may never enter the forest, but he is connected to local communities. They communicate on phone. The boda bodas keep surveilling which route is safe or unsafe.
They rarely use smart-phones, they use the conventional phones, commonly known as kabiriti, because they can store power for long and are efficient in tapping networks. They are also difficult to track by security.
Some of the motorcycles are owned by charcoal burners, rented or operated by third-parties hired for transportation. They use several undetected paths they established. This makes enforcement challenging.
Authorities can impound a motorcycle carrying three sacks, but that does not necessarily lead them to the person who financed the cutting of trees or owns the wider charcoal business.
This means simply arresting riders may have limited impact. If the dealer remains unidentified, another rider can quickly replace the arrested transporter.
Environmental campaigners like Mr Mustafa Gerima of Save the Shea Nut Foundation, said enforcement must, therefore, move beyond roadside interception.
‘Mt Kei is now the hotbed for charcoal production. You may see a motorcycle carrying three-four bags of charcoal and you may not stop him. But if you follow them, you discover there is a truck waiting for that load in a bush,’ Mr Gerima.
He said environmental campaigners have been facing intimidation and threats on their lives from unknown callers.
‘The dealers and perpetrators have branded us as ‘opposition’. But we should not relent on protecting the lives of these trees and environment,’ Mr Gerima said.
Recently, the 4th Infantry Division Commander, Maj Gen Wilberforce Sserunkuma, ordered that the confiscated charcoal be distributed to members of the local community for household energy use.
Maj Gen Sserunkuma said the security forces would strengthen efforts to protect the northern region’s dwindling forest cover, stressing that environmental conservation requires active participation of local communities.
The military has said the measure is intended to ensure confiscated charcoal benefits communities rather than returning to traders.
Did Executive Order fail?
In May 2023, the President issued Executive Order No. 3 banning large-scale commercial charcoal production and trade in northern Uganda. The directive was aimed at curbing the rampant deforestation that has severely affected the region and exacerbated the effects of climate change.
The communications specialist with Friends of Zoka in Adjumani, Mr John Unzima, said: ‘These dealings are being done under the nose of the Executive Order because it stipulates what commercial charcoal production is. The cartel of charcoal trade is beyond the boda boda riders.’
‘Who is paying the riders? Where are the charcoal sacks being collected? Where are they finally going? Yet we have both community and security intelligence in place? So, the network is too thick to penetrate,’ he added.
Ms Joyo Lekuru, a resident of Kerwa Sub-county in Yumbe District, said: ‘Mt Kei is filled with people from all parts of Uganda and other countries. You do not understand what they are doing here. But when you inquire, you will realise some of them are engaged in charcoal trade.’
She said the fight against illegal charcoal trade is not succeeding because the communities are easily enticed by money.
‘Environmentalists, leaders and media have pushed for conservation of the environment but they are being let down by the communities that cut and burn charcoal. Some of them even provide intelligence for the dealers because they are paid,’ Ms Lekuru said.
Deeper perspective of the trail
Across the circles, there are suggestions that security forces and Ministry of Water and Environment invest in satellite imagery and carry out periodic aerial surveillance to identify new charcoal-burning sites, fresh clearings and rapidly changing forest cover.
In June, the Director of Civic Advisory Hub, Mr Yona Wanjala, said there was a need to identify charcoal-burning hotspots, major collection centres, suspected dealers and financiers, the transportation patterns and destinations of bulk consignments.
‘These people do not operate in isolation. They penetrate security circles. It is sad that we are losing nature to people who want to be rich at the expense of the natural resources. They do not care if they leave Adjumani, Yumbe or the entire northern Uganda bare,’ he said.
He added that it is a black market trade because there is a ready market for the product.
The motorcycles are only visible part of the network. To save the trees, authorities should follow the charcoal paths from the forests to the person making the profit.
Ministry’s take on conservation plans
The Assistant Commissioner Forestry in charge Assessment and Monitoring at the Ministry of Water and Environment, Mr Bob Kazungu, explained that Zoka is among the eight central forest reserves considered under the management planning process for boundary opening to ease tracking and management.
He said the other seven reserves are located in Moyo and Adjumani, including some that straddle the boundaries of the two districts, while others are entirely within Moyo. According to him, an assessment done in 2022, put the forest destruction at 10 percent.
‘We have a management plan that would involve the relevant forestry departments, particularly those responsible for forest operations, law enforcement and protection,’ he said.
Mr Kazungu said the 2022 assessment also highlighted the unique tree species found in Zoka, including a particular strain that is considered highly resilient to changing weather conditions and diseases.
During community baraza meetings on September 9 in Yumbe and Adjumani, it was noted that the fight against illegal charcoal transportation would require more than roadblocks. Security agencies need to map the routes, identify collection points, trace the financiers, monitor repeat transporters and follow consignments to their final buyers.