A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A DINOSAUR

Henry Osmaston

Introduction

Henry Osmaston served in the Uganda Forest Department (UFD) 1949-63, working in most districts and also as Working Plans Officer.  He is also an Honorary Warden of Uganda National Parks (now merged with the Game Dept. into the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).  In 1999 he was kindly invited to return by Tony Finch of the EU Natural Forest Management & Conservation Project, UFD, to advise on the management of the natural forests.  A minor component of his task was to investigate reports of illegal pitsawing, especially in the Maramagambo Forest, a little known reserve of 440 km² on the floor of the Rift, in the Queen Elizabeth National Park, which he had previously visited for a three-day walking safari in 1957 to prepare a Working Plan.  Almost all sawmilling stopped in Uganda after the expulsion of the Asians by Amin, and legal pitsawing is now an important activity, while illegal pitsawing has been a very serious problem, only recently being successfully tackled.

30 Sept. 1999

Legal pitsawyers have been complaining that they were being undercut in the market by supplies of illegally cut timber from Maramagambo.  The local forest ranger had also reported illegal felling. Henry Osmaston & Michael Kagolo (former DCF) therefore visited QENP HQ at Mweya and discussed plans to stop it with Denis Katunguka (Law Enforcement Warden).  We agreed to meet on 2 Oct; meanwhile we would enquire about the best route to enter the forest.

1 Oct.

We met the local Forest Officer, Moses Mutrammi, and committee members of the Bushenyi All Pitsawyers' and Wood-users' Assoc.  They told us that sawn timber was leaving Maramagambo by three exit routes: one to Kisenyi on the Lake Edward shore, comprising mainly Cordia millenii for canoes; one through the adjoining northern Kalinzu Forest to the main road; and the most important one from the south, particularly for mvule ((Iroko, Chlorophora=Milicia excelsa). We decided to investigate the latter though we were warned that it was a long way to the site of the pitsawing.

2 Oct

We set off early to meet the NP party at Lutoto but they were not at the rendezvous.  Eventually we found them in a local market buying bananas.  D.Katunguka was accompanied by 8 rangers armed with AK47s on a large 4WD pickup, and together went to Kagati village on the southeast side of the Maramagambo.  The route involved some very steep and rough sections of track down the 300m escarpment.  Shortly before reaching the village (GPS 0167460-9948732, 24 km from main road) we met a pickup (UAA 214C) laden with about 64 boards of mvule 300 x 25mm x 2m The driver was arrested and made to drive the pickup back to the village.  There we found tracks which showed that it had loaded at the furthest house, the door of which was padlocked, but by peering through a hole we could see that very many boards were stacked inside.  At 1110 hrs we left the pickup and driver there in the charge of two rangers and set off towards the forest, forming a party of about 14, including 6 rangers and assorted NP and UFD officers

After 20 mins we entered the forest over the River Serere (GPS 0166771-9949107, alt. c.1100m) and followed a narrow but well used path northwards.  Soon we met two men each carrying a mvule board 150 x 50 mm x 4 m. so we arrested them and took them with us under guard.  A little later we passed the remains of a recently felled Funtumia (Wild Rubber) tree, of about 35cm diam., of which the butt-log had been pitsawn and removed.

An advance party of rangers moved swiftly ahead and at intervals for the next hour we passed boards and one nearly worn-out ripsaw thrown down by the path as their carriers had been arrested and taken forwards. At 1315 we caught up with the bulk of the advance party who now had 18 prisoners, seated on the ground, some with their arms tied, making a total of 20, the most that could be effectively guarded.  Most of the boards were mvule, about a quarter being Cordia; there were a variety of sizes, mainly 300 x 25mm x 4m, 150 x 50mm x 4m and 300 x 25mm x 2m.  The path was now closely following the foot of the steep escarpment so probably approximated to the undemarcated boundary of the QENP here and thus to the boundary between Kalinzu and Maramagambo Forest Reserves.

Three rangers had gone further ahead to reconnoitre and try to locate the actual pitsawyers.  I followed with a forest guard as quickly as possible and after about 20 mins. caught them up.  I decided from information from the carriers that the pitsawing site was further (c.1½ hrs) than could be reached and returned from that day, and that some carriers who had fled would have been able to warn the sawyers.  We therefore returned to the main group and spent some time questioning them, recording their names etc.

At 1430 we departed, with all the prisoners carrying boards (some boards had to be left as their carriers had fled) and with a ranger ahead of and behind them and others spaced at intervals among them.  As I marched through the forest at the head of this caravan of about 34 people I was entertained by imagining myself as a modern mini-version of Henry Stanley, marching through the Congo Forest with 340 porters not far to the west over a century ago (but at only half my age - one of the rangers kept enquiring solicitously whether I could walk any further).  In fact however it resembled more closely a slave caravan of the notorious Tippoo Tib, each slave yoked by a forked pole to the neck of the one in front.  I also wondered whether an episode 37 years ago would be repeated when I had been involved in the capture of some poachers above Benet (north Elgon), but on the last stage of the journey to the local HQ they had fled successfully into the bush, sped by a shot into the air by one of the rangers.  Without ropes there was no way we could have prevented this happening again.  I had told the rangers that under no circumstances were they to use their guns but was careful not to tell our prisoners that.

On reaching the village we found that the entire population of about 70, most of whom too had evidently profited from the illegal trade, were lined up along the street regarding us glumly.  We also learned that the pickup driver had escaped and there was long debate over what to do with so much wood (required as evidence in court and worth about USh 400,000) and so many prisoners.  I also encouraged the Law Enforcement Warden to use the power I expected he had and which he admitted to, to force the door of the wood store. However he was unwilling to do this without the support of the LC2* chairman who was present, but who was most uncooperative.  He must have been aware of the profitable pitsawing trade and had very probably been taking a rake-off from it. However he did give us what he said was the name of the store owner.  I tried to pin some responsibility on him for the security of the timber still locked in the store, but my own status was slightly ambiguous so I restrained myself from natural impulses to re-exert my former but now non-existent authority.  At 77 I have long learned to follow that reputedly Confucian maxim "When confusion is inevitable, sit back and enjoy it".  Time for lunch – 3 bananas.

We cut the 4 m boards in half so as to fit them in the vehicles and loaded most of them, leaving the rest in the charge of the LC2.  We released the 7 youngest prisoners (some were only boys) and packed the rest on to the three vehicles, with the troops.

After a few km, taking a different, slightly better but much longer track which passed the LC4* HQ, the captured pickup developed two punctures, back and front.  It had one very worn spare but none of the three vehicles had means of repairing the second tyre.  A heavy thunderstorm threatened to make the tracks impassable but luckily passed by with only a few drops.

Meanwhile one rear wheel of the UWA vehicle had developed an oil leak and lost several of the bolts holding the half-shaft to the wheel.  Nothing could be done to tighten the remainder as neither it nor the UFD vehicle had any hand-tools other than jack and wheel spanner.  Soon the remaining bolts came out and the half-shaft too, so no power reached either back or front wheels.  The warden climbed the nearest hill, contacted HQ by radio and tried unsuccessfully to persuade them to send a rescue vehicle.

After another lengthy discussion the pickup was left in the charge of two guards from a Local Defence Force post a few km away, fetched in the surviving UFD Landrover.  A short length of steel wire was found and used to tow the UWA vehicle.  On the flat or down hill everyone crowded on to the two vehicles.  Uphill (and there was lots of this as at first we were running south at the foot of the scarp and so across the valleys which descend from it; then we had to climb the scarp itself) everyone leaped off and pushed, particularly the prisoners with a show of enthusiasm.  The rangers were preoccupied with running alongside trying to see that they did not escape.  At intervals the cable came untied or broke and had to be progressively shortened till the vehicles were less than a metre apart.  The drivers of each deserved congratulations on not colliding.  By now it was quite dark and I strolled ahead sucking my emergency supply of Kendal Mint Cake and contemplated Scorpio high in the sky in front, indicating that we were still heading south and so away from home which was NE.  However we were at least on the plateau again.

This enabled us to dispense with pushing, commandeer a 14 seater taxi and load all the prisoners into that.  Thus eventually at 2115 we reached county HQ and roused the LC4* Chairman.  As usual "The man with the key had gone"** and it took half-an-hour to find the sergeant who had the key of the lock-up.  However eventually the prisoners were safely incarcerated, though without food or water. Remembering the Black Hole of Calcutta and all their help in pushing, I felt quite sorry for them.

The "officers" then piled into the UFD Landrover (which had also developed an oil-leak from a rear hub, but the driver, lacking any tools to tighten the bolts, had somehow stopped it by throwing cold water on it, a novel remedy).  After dropping both the FO and the NP wardens at the former's house, Michael and I returned to base at Ishaka at 2230.  I had found the whole experience most entertaining.  The mix of adventure and misadventure, high farce, hard walking alternating with tedious waiting, was quite like old times, a welcome change from most consultancies today!  Moreover it had produced tangible results, not just a report to gather dust on a shelf. Several of the prisoners were subsequently sent to prison for 2-3 months, which may perhaps serve to discourage the others – the actual sawyers and their bosses whom we didn’t catch.

* LC2, LC4 = Local Council level 2/4                    ** The title of a popular local book.