Cecil's death could help expose poaching syndicate at Hwange park

Hwange-While Zimbabwean authorities continue to mourn the death of Cecil, the country's favourite and foreign currency generating lion, a few questions remain unanswered. Are Zimbabweans being been told the whole truth about the circumstances that led to Cecil's death?

What poor Zimbabweans  know is that the American dentist,  Walter Palmer killed Cecil and should be extradited from the US to face charges of murder.

We are told Palmer committed the crime with the help of local professional hunter Theo  Bronkhorst. Palmer paid US$50 000 to have the lion killed. Cecil was allegedly killed after being lured out of his sanctuary by Palmer and his local helpers.

A bow and an arrow was used to kill Cecil whose skeleton was found some days later on a land owned by a local man. He had been skinned and his head removed. If he is found guilty of killing the money spinning Cecil the lion, Palmer could be sent to jail for 10 years.

If he is lucky he could pay a fine of US$20 000 but it is highly unlikely the Americans will hand the suspect over to the Zimbabwe government to face trial.

Politics could also be at play in the Palmer versus the state case as bad blood between the US and the Zimbabwe  government is well documented. The two governments are still at loggerheads over Zimbabwe's bad human rights record and Washington's reluctance to lift travel sanctions against the country's high ranking leaders and president Robert Mugabe

Palmer and Bronkhorst could also be used as scapegoats by some corrupt government officials, civil servants, police and army officers who have in the past been implicated in illegal hunting and poaching activities around the Hwange National Park.

The government has failed to investigate the suspects among them  civil servants  for alleged  involvement in poaching syndicates. In the early 90s a senior army officer, Captain Edwin Bhundani Nleya died in mysterious circumstances after he threatened to expose a poaching racket involving Zimbabwean army officers during their tour of duty in Mozambique.

Nleya's decomposed body was found on a hilltop in Hwange. His family accused the government of failing to protect him after he spoke about men in dark glasses who followed him in a train from Harare to Bulawayo then Hwange.

Bronkhorst appeared in court in Hwange on Monday on charges of facilitating illegal hunting which led to the death of the country's most famous lion and darling of tourists who visited Hwange park.

Parks workers said Cecil was the most friendly of all the lions and was not aggressive like others. Cecil, named after chief British imperialist and coloniser of Zimbabwe, Cecil John Rhodes allowed tourists to get close to him for pictures

His death has sparked international outrage and forced some airlines to ban the transporting of trophies on their planes. Animal rights activists in the US staged a protest outside Dr Palmer's River Bluff Dental Clinic in Minnesota.

There were reports that he had received death threats too. Hunting operations in Zimbabwe generate about 20 million American dollars for the government each year. The money from hunting also helps fund anti-poaching activities.

But corrupt officials are suspected of pocketing the lion's share of the profits. A local politician told me there was a lot going on inside the Hwange National Park. The park, like many departments under Zanu-PF government, is run by army officers who lacked managerial skills to be given such huge responsibilities.

Cecil's death has also robbed researchers from Oxford University who were studying him. Magangeni Ncube, a villager whose homestead is a few minutes to the park says he did not know there was a lion which enjoyed international pop star status.

'We were surprised to see scores of white journalists from different countries coming here to write about this lion. He must have been very important to this government,' said Ncube. Other locals said they were angry with the government for putting  more value on an animal than humans.

As tributes continue to pour in for Cecil, the government is speeding the extradition process for Dr Palmer. Bronkhorst returns to court today. The professional hunter appeared under a lot of stress on his first appearance on Monday and said his family had received death threats over Cecil's killing.