TANZANIA: TANAPA To Use Paramilitary In Parks

Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) has completed training to its officials, as it gets ready to move from civilian to paramilitary system to curb poaching.

The sixth and last phase was closed by the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Professor Jumanne Maghembe, on Saturday that included 27 senior officials and make the number of trained ones 175.

Addressing the participants here after commissioning them, Prof Maghembe said that to support the initiative to go military, President John Magufuli has offered intensive military training to 50 TANAPA officials starting this week.

It aims at equipping the authority with better and necessary field skills. He sent a strong message to poachers and intruders to national parks and forest reserves that military force would be applied against them without any hesitation.

Prof Maghembe said it was enough how parks and reserved areas have been degraded, animals killed, forests set on fire and logs cut. "Now it is time to take action.

We back TANAPA in its decision to initiate a paramilitary system to protect the country's resources. "To poachers and intruders in the national parks and reserved areas; I say we won't send Christmas cards to them.

They come in with guns and we will respond with guns," cautioned Prof Maghembe. He added that much as TANAPA will cooperate with the police force, authority will have to stand on its own legs, go forward and not wait for others in the strategy to go military since the parks are one of the main sources of foreign currency earnings and livelihoods to many in the country.

The minister said much as poaching has been getting chronic, he was optimistic that its solution is at last as use of force is necessary since poachers have refused to hear pleas to stay out of the parks.

He sent another message to park and forest wardens and managers who entertain encroachers and poachers and let people set fire on parks and forests, cut trees and smuggle out logs that their days were numbered.