Of these, 867 pieces are in Uganda Revenue Authority (URA)'s custody, 444 are at the Aviation Security offices in Entebbe while about seven are said to be at Central Police Station in Kampala.
Following tests, 35 pieces recovered in 2012 at Entebbe International Airport were traced to Angola, Southern Africa.
Although the recoveries are commendable, the international community and treaties like the Convention on International Trade in Species of wild fauna and flora demand that Uganda has to double its effort to stop the vice. Indeed, one of the stakeholders, the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, voiced its concern in a January 30, 2014 letter to the URA Commissioner General.
"Under the Convention on International Trade in endangered species of world flora and fauna (CITES) Uganda as a contracting party is obliged to ensure that international trade in specimen of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival," the letter read in part.
"Article three of the Convention obligates Uganda to regulate trade in specimen of species in Article I. However, during the 16th meeting of the conference of parties to CITES that took place in Bangkok, Thailand in March 2013, Uganda was named among the eight countries that act as conduits for trade in Ivory."
Elephants are cited under appendix I of CITES.
The letter added, "Although Uganda was tasked to outline and implement measures to address the vice, recent media reports continue to reveal numerous cases of seizures of Ivory."
"The Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities (MTWA) as the management authority for CITES is thus increasingly getting concerned about the handling and management of these cases."
MTWA boss, Maria Mutagamba in a follow up to the letter last week visited the Aviation Security office in Entebbe and the URA head office in Nakawa, Kampala.
"We have to increase our enforcement to ensure that we stop movement of contraband in Uganda," Mutagamba stated at Nakawa, adding that President Yoweri Museveni would soon appear at an international meeting to disclose what is being done to combat the problem.
"The most important thing is not to impound but to stop the trade because by the time Ivory is impounded, Elephants have already been killed."
Wondering why Uganda continues to be a conduit for Ivory from other countries, she demanded that "gaps should be identified" and action taken immediately.
The practice persists partly because of Uganda’s porous borders, URA Commissioner Customs, Richard Kamajugo told Mutagamba during the Nakawa meeting.
Nonetheless, he pointed out, URA constantly engages with Uganda Police Force and Uganda People's Defense Forces to tackle the problem. He pledged that more was being done to ensure to combat smuggling.
Allaying the Minister's fears, Kamajugo said the Ivory in the URA's stores was safe and would be handed over to when the cases are disposed of.
David Ocaya, a suspect, he disclosed, had been arrested in connection with 832 pieces of Ivory recovered from Luzira, a city suburb late last year. The matter is at Nakawa court. This Ivory is said to have originated from Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mutagamba, who was accompanied by Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) personnel, proposed "maximum publicity" as one of the deterrents.
"These practices should be publicized as much as possible otherwise the international community might think that nothing is being done," she said.
Over the past four years, there has been an upsurge in cases of smuggling Ivory mainly from Tanzania where the grip has been tightened, UWA deputy director for conservation, Charles Tumwesigye told the meeting.
Tests, he announced, would soon be done on the pieces in Entebbe to ascertain their origin. Earlier, samples were picked from the 832 pieces recovered from Luzira.
Tumwesigye assured the Minister that Ivory in URA's custody was safe. Moreover, URA has in the past handed over Ivory to UWA.
Painting a gloomy picture, Tumwesigye added that the Elephant population had dwindled to about 250,000 in Africa.