A man, living in the border town of Malaba, has been arrested by the police for selling cobra meat to unsuspecting buyers of fish.
The man, Patrick Ekituna, reportedly told his customers that the white flesh was mudfish, a delicacy known among Bantu groups as ensonzi. Ekituna is believed to have sold several kilograms of the cobra meat to customers at his butchery before he was found out.
The case was reported by Daniel Okitwi, who says he spent 4,000 shillings on the meat, intending to eat it on Christmas day. On discovering that it was not mudfish, Okitwi reported the matter to the police, who found evidence of killing of a cobra in Ekituna's butchery.
Ekituna is to be charged with endangering wildlife.
Cobra flesh is widely eaten in China, Vietnam, Hong Kong and among communities in the Congo River basin. In China it is eaten in soups and special dishes reputed to have health benefits in cold weather.
The incident in Malaba isn't the first time customers in Uganda have been duped into buying the flesh of domestic and wild animals.
In August last year two men were arrested in Kampala for passing off dog meat as goat. The men were caught with the carcass of the dog, which had had its head and tail cut off.
Wildlife officials also raised the alert about hunters who were raiding wetlands around Lake Victoria and killing pelicans. The pelicans were roasted and sold as chicken or turkey.
