Tuesday 12 December 2017

PM Majaliwa Announces Vague and Terrifying Decision about Land in Loliondo, and Says that OBC will Stay


In this blog post:
The PM’s vague and terrifying decision.
Whose land is it?
Press meeting
Kigwangalla’s promise down the drain
The PM “solving the conflict”
Background summary

There’s confusion and fear in Loliondo. Nobody seems to know exactly what’s going on, but I’ve tried to write a blog post about what’s known.

The PM’s vague and terrifying decision.
In the afternoon of 6th December, PM Majaliwa finally delivered his long awaited, and much feared, decision about the 1,500 km2 of important grazing land that Otterlo Business Corporation (OBC), that organises hunting for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai, have spent years lobbying to have alienated for a “protected area”. The PM was to decide between a Game Controlled Area 2009, which would be a catastrophic land alienation leading to destruction of lives and livelihoods, environmental degradation and conflict with neighbours, or the compromise proposal reached by the RC’s select committee, consisting of a Wildlife Management Area, which the Loliondo Maasai had rejected for a decade and a half of pressure, since it means setting aside land for “investors”, while handing away much power over the land to the director of wildlife, the said investors, and others.

First reports in the evening were that the PM would have announced some very worrying “special WMA”, and it didn’t seem like even those who were present at the meeting in Dodoma had understood, or wanted to understand, what the PM had said. Some said it was about an expansion of Ngorongoro Conservation Area where the Maasai live under the colonial style rule of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority. A couple of very similar (copies of a brief press statement) newspaper articles the following day made things somewhat, but not much, clearer. The PM had ordered the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism to prepare a legal bill with the aim of forming a special authority to manage the 1,500 km2, even if all reports just mention “Loliondo GCA” which would be the whole 4,000 km2, to protect the ecosystem of Serengeti National Park, wildlife paths, breeding grounds and water sources, while benefitting all sides. The MP said it would be ensured that the interest of local people, their customs, traditions, and land use are considered in the legal bill that is to be rushed through so that a final draft is ready for February/March 2018, to be included in the 2018/2019 budget. A team of specialists, after going through various options, recommended this “special authority” for the broad interests of all sides, and with the aim of bringing peace and sustainable conservation to Loliondo. To some people, me included, this sounds like an all-out land grab, taking away the land from the villages to give it to a “special authority” prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. Some of those who were at the meeting interpreted the PM’s – possibly intentionally - cryptic words as if the 1,500 km2 would be for “wildlife only” or very restricted grazing, the most feared outcome of all, and all clearly heard that Majaliwa said that OBC – contrary to the promises by Minister Kigwangalla - will stay even if the executive director (who apparently now has been fired) would be “investigated for corruption”.

Monday 4 December 2017

Disconcerting News from Loliondo


In this blog post:
Rape and silence
Refugees in their own country
Ngorongoro chief conservator for “upgraded” LGCA
Council Chairman and German Pieces of Silver re-appear
What action has been taken against those responsible for the operation? (No signs of OBC packing)
Background summary

After the stopping of the long, illegal “operation” on village land in Loliondo, in which at least
250 bomas were burned to the ground, men, women and children were brutally beaten, and cattle illegally seized, and after the almost too good to be true news from the new Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism that OBC - that organise hunting for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai and that for many years have been lobbying for turning the 1,500 km2 of important grazing land that’s their core hunting area into a “protected area”, inciting conflict and violence – will have to leave before January 2018, there is some disconcerting news from Loliondo.
This blog post has many questions and few answers, but is already getting too old and must be published. I hope there will eventually be answers.