Tea with Richard Leakey.

When the first shipment of "tea" was intercepted in Thailand, I said nothing. This was, after all, an anomaly. Feisal Mohamed was in gaol awaiting trial and his attempts at bail had fallen on deaf magisterial ears. The Kenya Wildlife Service, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the National Police Service (after a fashion) and Wildlife Direct, a civil society bigwig, were rubbing along nicely. Now a second shipment of "tea" has been intercepted in Singapore and I think this thing is getting out of hand.

Despite the fact that China is booming, that boom doesn't seem to have had a salutary effect on its people's superstitions and appetites. Millions upon millions of Chinese still swear by the aphrodisiac qualities of ground rhino horn and deer penis, and the allure of ivory carvings and accessories. Their appetite for animal trophies will not be showing a downward trend anytime soon. But they are not the only ones hankering for animal trophies; the economic rise of Asia has been followed by a rise in the demand for animal trophies which, in turn, has accelerated the rate at which African wildlife is being decimated.

But regardless of the rise of China and its avaricious neighbours, Kenya suffers not so much from the pull factors from the East as from the structural infirmities in its policing of its borders and the safety of its wildlife. We are no longer blind to the fact that despite the fact that the Director of National Intelligence, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of Immigration and Cabinet Secretary for Interior are all military men, men used to discipline, the public safety, border security and the security of the nation continue to leak like sieves. Poachers and bandits alike seem to waltz through our nation with a freedom that boggles the mind.

Vicious and unsubstantiated rumours abound about the connection of high-ranking Kenyans, whatever that means anymore, with the incessant "export" of "tea" to markets in the East. These rumours will be investigated, it also seems, when hell freezes over. These rumours are not new; they have existed since 1972 and our response is not surprising for it has remained the same since 1972. A key feature of the Kenyan approach to wildlife protection has been wash-rinse-repeat starkly displayed by the doddery but triumphal return of Richard Leakey to the Kenya Wildlife Service after a spirited lobbying by his supporters and fans. Anyone who believes that Mr Leakey is the solution to the one problem we have refused to address over poaching has simply not been paying attention.

We know what we must do. We have known since the United Nations Environment Programme set up shop in Nairobi and this was confirmed when we set up the KWS the first time around. Small-time, single-cargo poachers are not our problem. Just like with the Somali piracy that brought traffic off the eastern seaboard to a crawl, we need to get the kingpins, like Mr Feisal, in order to deter the poaching. And until we admit to ourselves that these kingpins are not your run-of-the-mill bandits but "high-ranking Kenyans," those mysterious shipments of tea to Singapore, Thailand and God knows where will not stop. Ever.