- In 2024, at least 1521.80 kg of ivory was seized by law enforcement authorities in 45 incidents. These were the detected incidents, approximately 10% of what is actually being smuggled.
- In 2023, there were at least 71 incidents where ivory was seized with a total seizure amount of 2,037.17 kg.
- In a recent court monitoring study by SEEJ-AFRICA, it was found that the conviction rate for ivory related prosecutions was 61%.
- These numbers did not come from the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, or any other conservation NGO operating in Kenya. They came from SEEJ-AFRICA through its independent courtroom monitoring programme. As can be seen, there is still work to do in deterring organized crime from trafficking ivory and other endangered species.
- The core business of SEEJ-AFRICA is the tracking of ivory trafficking cases (primarily) falling under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act as they proceed through the Kenyan court system. While there are considerable resources deployed into countering poaching and related investigations, there is essentially no attention paid to the court process. The court is the primary site of failure, particularly in prosecutions where the accused are members of organized crime groups.
- SEEJ-AFRICA is a non-profit organization, registered in Canada in 2019. The organization lead is Chris Morris who comes from a Canadian law enforcement background. He has been in Kenya since 2015 following these cases.
- SEEJ-AFRICA sends freelance representatives, all Kenyan nationals, as members of the public to attend court hearings and mentions, who then write reports based on observations made. This includes details of testimony from witnesses. The subject matter of the reports is then made public through the website and other social media.
8. The purpose of our court monitoring initiative is:
- To promote accountability, transparency, and integrity in the handling of wildlife cases within the criminal justice system.
- To provide a voice for those who have none and are part of the criminal process. While this obviously includes the animal victims of wildlife crime, it also applies to those KWS investigators or even others within the CJS, who are part of the process but cannot voice their concerns/recommendations.
- To keep informed, wildlife conservation justice professionals, as well as the interested public, and to raise awareness to the current issues and trends occurring within wildlife crime investigations and prosecutions.
- To provide pro-active risk mitigation to actions that may compromise vulnerable prosecutions in ivory cases.
9. Specifically, between the dates of March 2023 to March 2025, SEEJ representatives attended courts 774 times spread between 125 ivory prosecutions at 21 different law courts. 33 cases began prior to 2021. Witness testimony was heard from over 200 witnesses in 57 of those cases. This came at a cost of just under $40,000 USD, sponsored by the Elephant Crisis Fund.
10. During that time, 72 cases concluded with 44 cases registering convictions, 21 acquittals, and seven others either terminated or withdrawn and a final conviction rate of 61%.
11. Recognizing the vulnerability of ivory cases and the fragility of the criminal justice system, integrity issues were a concern while monitoring ivory prosecutions. In the most recent analysis, 18 of the 125 cases were deemed to have been corrupted and a further 41 presented criteria of prosecutions with possible integrity issues.
12. SEEJ-AFRICA is on the brink of closing its doors to providing independent monitoring of wildlife crime prosecutions throughout Kenya.
13. SEEJ-AFRICA is looking to continue our present work and if possible, expand to other courts within Kenya. We are also looking to collaborate with other liked minded individuals and organizations in the conservation justice sector while maintaining our independence. Therefore, we are reaching out to any person or organization who wishes to donate/fund our continuing work. Interested parties may contact Chris Morris at chris@seej-africa.org.
14. You are invited to read our most recent report, Following the Ivory – Monitoring the Wildlife Crime Courts of Kenya (Interim Report – updated) 2023 – 2025 or view our website at SEEJ-AFRICA.
