There have
been some developments since the latest blog post. Sadly, the silence in
Loliondo continues and the only thing anyone will say is that OBC are busy repairing
roads, and back in business, preparing for a visit by Sheikh Mohammed. It may
also be of interest that Ndumbaro on 29th May met with the UAE
ambassador to Tanzania. Then Loliondo was mentioned in Ndumbaro’s budget speech
as if belonging to NCAA. The delays in the EACJ case are most worrying and some people must become more active …
Ngorongoro
Conservation Area, on the other hand, has been in the news. First as meetings,
delegations, and Ngorongoro politicians expressing their gratitude to Minister
Ndumbaro for talking to them. Then Manongi arranged a NCAA propaganda spectacle
at parliament grounds in Dodoma.
In this blog post:
The eviction
notices that were withdrawn
Insistence on
eviction notices
Petition
Delegation to
Dodoma
Abrupt NCAA HQ
relocation
Delegation
arranged by the MP
CCM meeting
in Endulen
Manongi on
parliament grounds
Loliondo in
Ndumbaro’s budget speech
Unfair ruling
in the case against victims of election violence
New report by
the Oakland Institute
Ngorongoro
and the genocidal MLUM review proposal
The
eviction notices that were withdrawn
While still under the
long-term annihilation threat of the Multiple Land Use Model (MLUM) review
proposal, as reported in the latest blog post, on 16th April, after
Minister Ndumbaro had met with Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA)
officials, but left without seeing local Ngorongoro leaders who had been
waiting for him since early in the morning, some disturbing eviction notices
were made public. In these notices, dated 12th April 2021 – and
referring to a decision of 4th March by the Ngorongoro Security
Committee that’s headed by DC Rashid Mfaume Taka - 45 families accused of
returning to Ngorongoro after being relocated to Jema in Sale division in 2006
were ordered to leave Ngorongoro within 30 days from the day the notice was
issued on 12th April 2021. Further, more than a hundred houseowners,
accused of building their houses without NCAA permit were ordered to demolish
them in 30 days at their own cost. On the list were even government buildings,
like several primary schools, dispensaries, village offices, a food store, a
milk project office, a village veterinary’s house, a maize grinding machine,
and even the police station and lockup at Endulen. Other buildings were two churches,
a mosque, a Pentecostal nursery school, and a Catholic pre-and primary school. A third group of approximately 174 other
families accused of being illegal immigrants is listed in the notice. While not
clearly stated, it was assumed that they too were ordered to
leave.
The Ngorongoro member of
parliament who had stayed shockingly silent about the atrocious abuse to his
electorate for the past five years was included in the notice and ordered to
demolish his house at his own cost. This time he spoke up in media together
with the other gathered leaders in response to the notice. Then, on 19th
April a delegation from Ngorongoro held a press conference in Arusha denouncing
the eviction notices, the long-term abuse by the Ministry of Natural Resources
and Tourism (MNRT) and NCAA, and not least chief conservator Freddy Manongi.
Surprisingly, already on 20th
April, a letter signed by Manongi himself revoked the eviction and demolition
orders until further notice. The reason for this was in the withdrawal letter stated
as that the notices caused confusion in the community, even though they did not
concern anyone who hadn’t returned to NCA after being relocated or built a
house without a permit.
Insistence
on eviction notices
Some of what has happened
after the latest blog post was that Arusha RC Kimanta upon a visit to Jema told
those present that the eviction orders against the 45 people that had returned
to NCA were still standing. He did however not issue any written order and on 15th
May President Samia made changes to Regional Commissioners shifting some to new
stations while others were retired, and Kimanta was among those who were
retired. Still, on 5th May, Ngorongoro DC Rashid Mfaume Taka was
interviewed on Star tv and continued arguing for the evictions of those who had
returned from Jema.
On 3rd May,
Indigenous People’s Rights International launched a petition with an Appeal to the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, to stop the eviction of indigenous pastoralist communities in Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This was good help with getting the basic facts about
the threat out to more people around the world. The petition, that didn’t go
viral, was signed by 124 organizations and 229 individuals from 51 countries,
and the appeal was sent to the president on 12th May. The sad part
was that the Tanzanian organizations behind this petition were still too afraid
to be mentioned, while other organizations, allegedly under
the influence of donors with a soft spot for neoliberal conservation, and
researchers not from Ngorongoro, wanted it withdrawn, especially since they
were having such good talks with Ndumbaro.
Delegation to
Dodoma
On 3rd May a
feedback meeting was held in Endulen to inform the public about a meeting with
Ndumbaro by a delegation that went to Dodoma on 27th April. Some
information had already been shared about this Dodoma trip that more or less
openly (a significant change from the fear and silence of the past years) was arranged
by Maanda Ngoitiko of Pastoral Women’s Council, who reportedly knows someone
who knows Ndumbaro. Accompanying Maanda was the District Council Chairman and
councillor for Endulen, Emmanuel Shangai, and some other ward councillors. The
delegation didn’t involve MP Olenasha in any way, which he commented on in social
media, with noticeable displeasure. This Dodoma trip was seen as a success,
since Ndumbaro had said that the Multiple Land Use Model review would start
afresh and in a participatory manner, which is what Ndumbaro’s predecessor Kigwangalla
said multiple times before each time returning the same proposal for evictions.
Ndumbaro had said that Permanent Secretary Kijazi would go to Ngorongoro for
talks with NCAA and the Pastoral Council (that ostensibly represent the
local pastoralists in the NCAA). He had also asked the delegation to tell those
communicating with Tundu Lissu to stop doing so, “or else”. This message was
forwarded to activists that had participated in online panels with the
opposition politician whose body was perforated by 16 bullets in 2017.
The feedback meeting in
Endulen on the 3rd was attended by journalists and there are some
news clips in which various leaders express their gratitude for Ndumbaro’s
willingness to come to the discussion table. Though they also had some good
points explaining the problem to the press, like William ole Seki who was
thankful, and said that he had reminded the minister of the problems with chief
conservator Manongi. He then talked about having witnessed a tourism investor
in a recent NCAA meeting calling for evictions of Ngorongoro people, and how he
was saddened by the lack of humanity, or any understanding of how Ngorongoro is
the way it is because it has been protected by the people living there. Ole
Seki stressed that Ngorongoro people are a community, depend on each other, and
can’t be sent in different directions, adding that cattle are life, culture and
identity, and don’t threaten the environment. Johanes Tiamisi, councillor of Kakesio,
was also grateful, but reminded of how Ndumbaro on 16th April left
Ngorongoro without meeting local leaders, after being misled that they were
carrying placards, which they of course were not. (I’d like to add that you
shouldn’t be a minister if you can’t stomach people with placards, but
Tanzanian ministers are sensitive souls indeed …) Emmanuel ole Shangai reminded
that what they had sought from the government was an opportunity for discussion
and to fully participate in finding a solution. He mentioned the MLUM review
report as totally disregarding the views of Ngorongoro residents, just like the
General Management Plan and the Law Reform Commission. Now the minister had
agreed to start everything afresh – together. Shutuk Kitamwas, vice chair of
the Pastoral Council, like everyone else thanked Ndumbaro, brought up the
eviction from Serengeti, said that they (Ngorongoro people) are not ready to be
divided, and should in such a case be returned to where they came from (Serengeti)
and not anywhere else. He said that they should be involved in the new report
from start to finish. Customary leader Metui ole Shaudo explained that
Ngorongoro can’t be a World Heritage without first being the heritage of
Ngorongoro people, and that evicting them doesn’t make sense. Special seats
councillor Nalepo Emmanuel wanted to remind the president of having voted for
her (that's questionable), of having been evicted from Moru and that this was their
district and the only home they have and where they live with and protect wild
animals. She called on the government to recognise them as Tanzanians and the
legitimate residents of Ngorongoro. All these people – while unbearably grateful
– were, as is almost always the case, far more eloquent and heartfelt than I
have the language skills to transmit here.
Those less grateful sense that
Ngorongoro people may once again be sitting at the same table and working with
criminals who have tricked them into their trap to make them dance to their
tune.
On 14th and 15th
May three representatives from each of the 11 wards in Ngorongoro division met
in Karatu to reach a proposal to present to the MNRT.
Some people had since early
May been mentioning that NCAA staff had been informed about a plan, or decision
actually, to move the NCAA headquarters out of Ngorongoro and to Karatu, quite
abruptly indeed, before the end of May! On 18th May Manongi made the
decision public, alleging environmental concerns. Speculations about the real
reason abound, but are just speculations.
By the end of May 2021, NCAA had
already relocated their offices to Karatu and the staff are now working
directly from Karatu. I’ve been told that when the first notice was issued on
12th April 2021 to demolish properties within the conservation area,
it seems like there was not yet a plan to move the NCAA headquarter to Karatu
as none of their own premises was listed. There was also no mention of the
potential move. The first 30-day notice against the residents of Ngorongoro and
the abrupt move of the NCAA headquarter from Ngorongoro to Karatu signal how
NCAA decisions are routinely taken without any due consideration.
Delegation
arranged by the MP
On 20th May another
delegation, this time consisting of most, or maybe all, councillors from
Ngorongoro division (NCA) went to Dodoma to again visit Ndumbaro. This meeting
was arranged by Ngorongoro MP and Deputy Minister Olenasha who advised the
delegates not to submit the report that they had prepared in Karatu. They got
many promises from the government but failed to ask for a written letter
detailing these promises.
Kijazi in
Karatu
Allan Kijazi permanent
secretary to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism on 25th
May brought together the NCAA management and local representatives from the NCA
community in Karatu. Again, the message was that the Multiple Land Use Model
review process would start afresh. Reportedly, local leaders were felt optimistic
indeed and failed to demand the removal of chief conservator Manongi, which is
a demand that they have repeatedly voiced at other times.
On 27th May, a CCM
ruling party meeting was held in Endulen. Present was the district and regional
party leadership, and the Secretary General of the CCM Parents’ Wing, Erasto
Sima, who joined the fight against invasive weeds and used the occasion to
praise the NCAA management. Invasive weeds are serious problem in Ngorongoro and
it seem like it’s another problem that the NCAA can’t handle, and won’t listen
to indigenous experts, but instead blame them for weeds in areas that they
don’t have access to.
Reportedly, at the meeting in
Endulen women were crying and saying that God is their only remaining hope, and
there were calls for the revocation of Manongi´s appointment as Chief
Conservator. As high-ranking party officials so often do, Sima promised to
bring community representatives to meet President Samia.
Manongi on
parliament grounds
While Kijazi was engaging
Ngorongoro representatives in Karatu surfaced reports that chief conservator Manongi
had organised a week-long engagement with parliamentarians in Dodoma starting
on 28th May, paid by NCAA money – and maybe also a donor (not
yet confirmed) - in an initiative to make legislators pass a draft bill into
new law of NCA, under certificate of urgency. T-shirts, caps and flyers were
reportedly being printed at A to Z factory in Arusha, and buses had been
prepared to bring legislators to Ngorongoro.
Then, on 31st May
the NCAA went public with their special exhibition showing “conservation,
tourism, and community development” at the parliament grounds in Dodoma from 31st
May to 4th June 2021. The NCAA published pictures of Ndumbaro
handing over filled Ngorongoro-printed textile bags to people such as the
Dodoma RC and to a businesswoman, or influencer, who’s the ex-wife of a most
regime-friendly bongo flava artist. This exhibition was presented as promoting
domestic tourism to Ngorongoro. Strangely, there has hardly been any media
coverage at all. On 5th June, Manongi and delegates from Ngorongoro Conservation
Area Authority met the Deputy Speaker Tulia Ackson who reportedly promised to
arrange the parliamentarians’ visit to Ngorogoro in what sources fear is a plan
to discuss the bill to amend the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Ordinance.
Manongi has often arranged “workshops”
for journalists that get to do some domestic tourism for free, and in September
2020 the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs
together with ministry staff also got the opportunity to enjoy the World
Heritage Site.
Loliondo in
Ndumbaro’s budget speech
Several days after Ndumbaro on
4th June presented the 2021-2022 financial year budget speech for
the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, I was alerted to that he had
mentioned that the NCAA will construct three entrance gates (for collecting
fees from visitors) to Loliondo Game Controlled Area (LGCA). It’s now feared
that this means that NCAA will annex the areas of LGCA that were threatened in the
MLUM review proposal – which would be the most grievous contempt of the East
African Court of Justice where the Loliondo case continues.
Yet another confused detail was
that among premises to be repaired by the NCAA, Ndumbaro mentioned the same police
station in Endulen that the NCAA ordered to be demolished in its 12th
May 2021 notice.
Unfair
ruling in the case against victims of election violence
After many postponements,
there were finally (5th and 11th May) hearings in the
court case against victims of election violence in Ngorongoro, and an
unfair (even if it could have been much worse) ruling was delivered before I
could publish this blog post.
The accused in the case were Paulo Neepai Olorru, Gabriel Kone Leyan and Meshuko
Lesitik, all of whom were shot when police and NCAA rangers opened fire at
unarmed civilians in a plot to oust opposition polling agents and cast fake
ballots at the Oloirobi polling station on election day, 28th
October 2020.
The other accused were CHADEMA
Ngorongoro ward councillor candidate Tubulu Nebasi, who was not even at the
polling station in Oloirobi, and former CCM councillor Daniel Orkery.
The charges were for rioting
at the polling station, assaulting an assistant returning officer and a guard,
and damaging ballot boxes and ballot papers.
23-year old Salula Ngorisiolo was
killed by the bullets fired by police and NCAA rangers.
There’s still no case against
the killers or those who injured civilians with live ammunition.
It’s a sad reminder that what
happened, and especially in areas where an opposition victory was feared, means
that absolutely all political representatives, in Ngorongoro and all over Tanzania,
are thoroughly illegitimate.
The ruling was delivered on 10th
June. Paulo Neepai Olorru and Gabriel Kone Leyan were convicted on one count of
riot and one count of damaging ballot boxes, and sentenced to a TShs 100,000
fine each for each count, or 1 year imprisonment, in total TShs 400,000, or
200,000 each. If there were any justice, they would have been awarded medals,
not convicted. The other three accused were acquitted.
New report by
the Oakland Institute
On 10th May, the
Oakland Institute released a report and press release about The LoomingThreat of Eviction: The Continued Displacement of the Maasai Under the Guise ofConservation in Ngorongoro Conservation Area revealing the eviction threat
and dismantling myths. In 2018, The Oakland Institute first published a report
about Ngorongoro (and Loliondo, which I commented on at the time) that was received
with aggression by Kigwangalla and the MNRT. They have also earlier reported
about the MLUM review threat. We will see if there’s any reaction from the
Tanzanian government this time.
Ngorongoro
and the genocidal MLUM review proposal
When the Maasai were evicted
from Serengeti in 1959 by the colonial government, as a compromise deal, they
were guaranteed the right to continue occupying Ngorongoro Conservation Area as
a multiple land-use area administered by the government, in which natural
resources would be conserved primarily for their interest, but with due regard
for wildlife. This promise was not kept, and tourism revenue has turned into
the paramount interest, while the human rights situation has deteriorated,
which was worsened by the designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1975,
the Maasai living inside Ngorongoro Crater were violently evicted, and the same
year cultivation was prohibited in NCA. This cultivation ban was lifted in 1992
but re-introduced in 2009 after threats from the UNESCO. The people of NCA,
living under the authoritarian rule of the NCAA, are not allowed to grow crops
or build modern houses, and have the past years been losing access to one
grazing area after the other. They lost grazing and saltlicks in Ngorongoro
crater in 2017, which chief conservator Freddy Manongi stretched to include the
Northern Highland Forest, Embakaai and Olmoti craters as well as the Lake Ndutu
basin (through order and without required change to the Ordinance and without
the MP speaking up in objection). As a result, the Maasai residents of NCA are
suffering from high levels of child malnutrition, while throughout the years
they have been shaken by rumours and threats of eviction.
In March 2019, a joint
monitoring mission from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and International Council on
Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) once again visited Ngorongoro and in their report
reminded that they wanted the MLUM review completed to see the results and
offer advice, while again complaining about the visual impact of settlements
with “modern” houses, and so on. This did not bode well as recommendations and
concerns from the UNESCO had in the past repeatedly led to a worsened human
rights situation. In September 2019, chief conservator Freddy Manongi announced
the MLUM review report proposal, which is so destructive that it would lead to
the end of Maasai livelihoods and culture in Ngorongoro District.
The proposal of the MLUM review
report is to divide Ngorongoro into zones, with an extensive “core conservation
zone” that is to be a no-go zone for livestock and herders. In NCA this
includes the Ngorongoro Highland Forest, with the three craters Ngorongoro,
Olmoti and Empakaai where grazing these past few years has already been banned
through order. This has led to a loss of 90% of grazing and water for
Nainokanoka, Ngorongoro, Misigiyo wards, and a 100% loss of natural saltlicks
for livestock in these wards. The proposal is to do the same with Oldupai
Gorge, Laitoli footprints, and the Lake Ndutu and Lake Masek basins. In the
rest of Ngorongoro District, the proposal is for NCAA to annex the Lake Natron
basin (including areas of Longido and Monduli districts) and the 1,500 km2 Osero
in Loliondo and Sale Divisions and designate most of these areas to be no-go
zones for pastoralists and livestock. These huge areas include many villages
and are important grazing areas, the loss of which would have disastrous
knock-on effects on lives and livelihoods elsewhere. The reason for including
Loliondo and Lake Natron - expanding NCA from 8,292 km² to 12,404 km2 - is in
the report explained as an estimated 25% loss of tourism revenue for NCA when
the upgrading of the Mto-wa-Mbu - Loliondo road has been finished and tourists
will use that route to Serengeti.
The proposal for the 1,500 km2
Osero in Loliondo to a large extent fulfils what OBC, that organizes hunting
for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai, have been lobbying for since before funding the
old - in 2011 rejected - land use plan proposing it. In the Osero 1,038 km2 are
to be for tourism (hunting, unlike in the rest of NCA, “core conservation
sub-zone”) conservation, and research while all other human activities will be
banned. It will be a no-go zone for herders and livestock, while 462 km2 of
Loliondo GCA in Malambo in Sale division is proposed to be the same, except
that some grazing will be “allowed” (“transitional zone”). Though any move to
annex the 1,500 km2 Osero to NCA and implement this plan would be contempt of
court, due to the ongoing case in the East African Court of Justice, where the
Tanzanian government finds itself sued for its violent attempts at alienating
this land. Currently this case is delayed and apparently stuck in a most worrying
way.
As reported in earlier blog
posts, the reactions from leaders and common villagers in Ngorongoro division
against the MLUM review proposal were immediate and have been kept up –
sometimes weak and apparently naïve, sometimes serious and to the point – while
an ostrich strategy has been practiced in Loliondo. The protests have, now
repeatedly, led to promises from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism
of doing the review afresh and in a “participatory manner”, and then the
ministry has returned the same proposal. We will see what happens with
Ndumbaro’s promises. Meanwhile chief conservator Manongi is unfortunately not
being lazy at all.
Susanna Nordlund
is a working-class person based in Sweden who since 2010 has been blogging
about Loliondo (now increasingly also about NCA) and has her fingerprints
thoroughly registered with Immigration so that she will not be able to enter
Tanzania through any border crossing, ever again. She has never worked for any
NGO or intelligence service and hasn’t earned a shilling from her Loliondo
work. She can be reached at sannasus@hotmail.com
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