Thursday 28 January 2021

Ngorongoro councillors and customary leaders send a message once again to President Magufuli


On 21st January 2021 in Arusha, a delegation representing ward councillors and customary leaders from Ngorongoro District (specifically from Ngorongoro division/Ngorongoro Conservation Area), on behalf of the Ngorongoro residents, met the press and read a statement prepared in Endulen on the 16th January. The statement urges President Magufuli to disregard recent reports from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT) about Ngorongoro, particularly the Multiple Land Use Model (MLUM) review report.  The councillors and customary leaders insist that these reports were compiled and written without the informed or full involvement of communities, but rather with the aim of evicting these communities from their land. They reminded the president that the multiple land use model that makes the area unique has been effective because of the traditional way of life of the indigenous pastoralist community and their support for the model. They also reminded him that the pastoralist communities in NCA are not land invaders, but rather they are the lawful residents of legally registered villages, with their land and legal rights recognised, amongst others in the NCA Ordinance of 1959. 

 

The councillors and customary leaders finish the statement with emphasis on the fact that the people of Ngorongoro do not agree with the process adopted by the MLUM team or the General Management Plan (GMP) team, and that they also reject the results of these studies, including the proposals. They therefore ask the president not to agree to proposals that do not have the consent or blessings of local people. They are ready to seek solutions, but the participation should be genuine and not hateful, fraudulent or with pressure from the NCAA.

“Therefore, we ward councillors and customary leaders, on behalf of the people of Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with great humility ask the president to keep an eye on this area so that if possible, he will change the leadership of the NCAA and completely expose the whole institution because it has failed to manage the area, and is the source of conflicts and deteriorating relations between communities and conservationists.”

 

The delegation from Ngorongoro.