KAMPALA, Uganda – A Ugandan official says local police are investigating the disappearance more than a ton of ivory from a government vault.
Police spokesman Fred Enanga said Monday that detectives recently questioned officials from the Uganda's wildlife protection agency as well as the Ministry of Tourism.
Enanga said the missing ivory is believed to have been worth about $1.1 million.
The government-controlled New Vision newspaper reported Monday that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had ordered an anti-corruption watchdog to start a formal investigation of the matter.
East African countries face rising levels of poaching, often with the connivance of corrupt wildlife officials.
Enanga said an initial investigation will focus on why wildlife officials did not destroy the ivory, some of which is believed to have been confiscated more than a decade ago.