Tanzanian Driver Fined K60,000 Over China-Bound Mukwa Timber

By Gibson Zulu

A Tanzanian national has been fined K60,000 by the Isoka Magistrate Court after pleading guilty to transporting 26 cubic metres of Mukwa timber without the required Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) certificate.

According to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), Salum Yusuf, 52, was apprehended by Zambia National Service officers at the Isoka ZNS Checkpoint on July 11, 2026, while transporting the timber.

The consignment was subsequently handed over to the Forestry Department for further investigation.

The DNPW said Yusuf was the driver of the truck transporting the timber and did not have the required CITES certificate because the document had not been provided to him for the consignment.

According to a statement issued by the DNPW, Yusuf produced an export licence and accompanying documentation from the Democratic Republic of Congo indicating that the timber had been loaded in Lubumbashi and was being transported through Zambia and Tanzania, with China as its final destination.

However, he was unable to produce the required CITES certificate for the shipment.

CITES regulates international trade in certain wild animals and plants to ensure that such trade does not threaten their survival.

The DNPW said Yusuf was formally arrested on July 23 by the department, working with the Forestry Department, and charged with failing to produce a CITES certificate.

He was charged under Sections 91 and 99 of the Forest Act, as read with Statutory Instrument No. 79 relating to Zambia’s implementation of CITES.

Yusuf appeared before Isoka Magistrate Deborah Mubanga on July 27, where he pleaded guilty and was convicted.

The court sentenced him to a K60,000 fine, which was subsequently paid by a third party, allowing him to avoid the alternative sentence of nine months’ imprisonment.

Following the conviction, the State applied for the forfeiture of the timber, truck and trailer.

However, the Magistrate’s Court ordered that the timber and vehicle be returned to their rightful owners after finding that the timber had not been unlawfully obtained.

The State has since appealed the decision to the High Court and obtained a stay of execution, meaning the timber and vehicle will not be returned until the appeal is heard and determined.

Mukwa, scientifically known as Pterocarpus angolensis, is a valuable timber species found across southern and eastern Africa and is subject to international trade controls.

The DNPW said the commercial value of Mukwa makes it vulnerable to exploitation and warned that illegal timber trade can contribute to forest degradation, habitat loss and biodiversity decline, while depriving governments of revenue and undermining legitimate timber businesses.

The department said the case comes amid efforts by authorities to strengthen environmental crime enforcement and border controls aimed at disrupting illegal movements of timber across national borders.