Maasai eviction from Ngorongoro: Tanzania government bows to diplomatic corps

By Our Correspondent, DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania

The government of Tanzania has defended the ongoing ‘forceful’ demarcation and eviction of Maasai community in Loliondo and Ngorongoro saying it was aimed at promoting conservation and protect the welfare of the residents.

In an unusual meeting with the members of the diplomatic community on the situation in Loliondo and Ngorongoro, the government insisted that it was doing everything possible to promote conservation and ensure public safety in the areas.

In the meeting held in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday June 21, the minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Liberata Mulamula told foreign ambassadors and Human Rights organizations that the East African country abides by the rule of law and it is also a party to a number of international conventions and protocols based on respecting human rights.

“Conservation is for the people and in this regard the government will continue giving priority to the people.” Mulamula said.

Tanzania’s government has been accused of using violence against Maasai herders protesting efforts to evict them from one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, in the latest friction between those who see certain African landscapes as a lucrative playground and those who simply call them home.

In the process, one police officer was killed by an arrow alleged to be shot by a group of Maasai people who intended to stop their eviction from their ancestral land.

The police force has engaged in full throated assault to remove the native Maasai pastoralists from the area under pretext of wild conservation which left police officer dead, 20 people arrested, 31 injured and many more fleeing the country to neighbouring Kenya to seek medical care, fearing retaliation from Tanzanian authorities.

The approach the government has taken in relation to the two areas is also different, she said. “The government was demarcating Loliondo, holding 4,000 square kilometres so that a 1,500 square kilometer portion of the land is used for conservation and the 2,500 square kilometers land portion remain accessible to local residents.

She argued that as the number of people increases in the area, conservation efforts were also being affected, thus placing the protected area in peril, adding that the matter has troubled the government for a long time, thus resolving to relocate a portion of Loliondo residents on the basis of a user-friendly approach.

The minister further told the diplomats that in Ngorongoro the situation in the protected area was bad as the number of livestock and people being killed by wild animals were on the rise, compelling the government to set aside land in Tanga region for resettling those willing to move out.

“They will be assured of a better life as they can develop the land, while in Ngorongoro the law restricts any residents from developing land or conduct production activities.” She noted.

She asserted that discussions about Ngorongoro and Loliondo started in 2008 when sensitization teams were sent but had to pause in 2015 due to election pressures.

The Wildlife Division director, Maurus Msuha, told the gathering that the relocation exercise in Ngorongoro was triggered by increasing human activities, deterioration of rangelands due to rising livestock numbers not just within Tanzania but across border livestock rearing.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and
 East African Cooperation,
Liberata Mulamula

This leads to overgrazing and spread of invasive plant species that harm the livestock when they chew them, meanwhile as these movements were damaging water catchment areas, the main sources of water for people, livestock and wildlife.

Several United Nations human rights experts in a joint statement last Wednesday said they were “deeply alarmed” by the reports of Tanzanian security forces using live ammunition and tear gas against the Maasai and protested “continuous encroachment” on their ancestral lands.

Up to 70,000 Maasai could be displaced by the planned game reserve which would take up 1,500 square kilometers (580 square miles) of 4,000 square kilometers (1,544 square miles) designated as village land, experts said.

The entire Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the U.N. experts urged Tanzania’s government to make sure any plans for the area meet human rights standards.

The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights this week called on Tanzanian authorities to “halt the ongoing forcible eviction.” - Africa