There was a Press Conference by Ngorongoro Representatives to Respond to the Imposter Lekisongo, It’s Over a Year Since the Election Murder that Killed Salula Ngorisiolo, and the DED Works Hard for the Loliondo Police State

 

The press conference protesting the behaviour of the imposter Lekisongo is old news, maybe a diversion, and I haven’t been able to get much of a background on this individual, or much information what he’s done after being told off.

I should have published on 28^th October about last year’s election murder, but keep getting delayed and am un-focused.

Then there were worries that NCAA were trying to influence the by-election, but now there is a candidate who is a lesser evil (I hope …) and will become MP, since a real by-election won’t be held anyway.

When I finally was about to publish this blog post, more worrying information reached me that the new DED (not that the old one was any better …) isn’t lazy at all in his contribution to the Loliondo police state at the service of unethical “investors”, this time the horrible Thomson Safaris.

 

In this blog post:

The imposter Lekisongo

A reminder about the genocidal Multiple Land Use Model review proposal

A year since election murder

Salula Ngorisiolo

Confusion about the by-election

DED at the service of Thomson Safaris

 

Protests Against Violence in Endulen, the New DED Added to the Loliondo Police State, and then Samia again Showed off her Dangerous Ignorance about Ngorongoro

 

Rest in peace dad, Alf Nordlund.

And, rest in peace MP and deputy minister, Willliam Olenasha.

 

I’m unfocused and am again posting far, far too late about important issues. I was writing about the new DED’s contribution to the Loliondo police state, but also needed to return to the president’s “Royal Tour”. Then protests erupted in Endulen against abuse and violence by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority.

 

On 27^th September the Ngorongoro MP and Deputy Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (Investment) William Tate Olenasha passed away far too young at 49. I will write about him later, or maybe I won’t. He was of invaluable help for this blog up until 13^th August 2017. I would like to extend my condolences to William’s family and friends.

 

Then we suffered a shocking, but not unexpected, family tragedy.

 

And then President Samia once again made an ignorant and threatening statement about Ngorongoro.

 

This blog post is about two, or more, different land threats in Loliondo and NCA, but that are united by the threat of a genocidal Multiple Land Use Model review proposal (in case new readers are confused).

 

In this blog post:

More about The Royal Tour

Petition

Protests against ranger violence in Endulen

A most unsuitable district executive director

The Germans again

Samia again showing off her dangerous ignorance

By-election?

Two Press Statements in One Day by Village Chairs from Loliondo/Sale and NCA – and Manongi Openly Declares War on Ngorongoro Pastoralists

 

On Friday 27^th August 2021, two statements about land threats in Ngorongoro district were issued by village chairpersons – and then there was a long and frustrating time of waiting before anything was broadcast. One statement was about Ngorongoro Division (Ngorongoro Conservation Area, NCA), which was one of many since the genocidal Multiple Land Use Model review proposal was revealed by chief conservator Freddy Manongi in September 2019. It’s significant that the other statement was issued by village chairmen and other representatives from Loliondo and Sale. Other than two statements by all ward councillors in the district (in October 2019 and June 2021) basically nothing has been heard from Loliondo leaders and activists since those who had not already been silenced in one way or other were silenced by the terror of 2018 when soldiers from the Tanzania People’s Defence Force – without any kind of official order, unlike the illegal mass arson operations in 2009 and 2017 that were ordered by the DC – were in some way contracted to commit violent crime, arson included, for OBC that organize hunting for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai.  

 

This double press conference follows a most illogical, inhumane and very, very illegal order, or ultimatum – which I wrote about in the latest blog post - from Minister Ndumbaro to hunting firms telling them to remove livestock from their hunting blocks, many of which, like Loliondo, are on village land, and this was one of the reasons for the Loliondo statement. How can Ndumbaro order the hunters to commit a crime that they’re already far too inclined to commit and which OBC has for a long time lobbied for? This has included the funding of a rejected draft district land use plan that proposed turning their 1,500 km2 core hunting area into a protected area, and this lobbying has led to several major illegal invasions of village land, human rights crimes, and to a local police state at the service of OBC (and the American Thomson Safaris) that finally silenced almost everyone.

 

Then there hasn’t been any further explanation from Ndambaro and nobody, other than some social media posts and my blog post, spoke up demanding accountability and retraction of the statement. Though I was told that the councillors wrote a statement early on protesting Ndumbaro’s order, but that they lacked funds for a press conference. The village chairpersons were assisted by NGO’s (PINGOs Forum and others) to hold their press conference on 27^th August. Television coverage was expected for the weekend, but didn’t appear, and then in a very brief form, until a week later.

 

Then a video of Manongi and deputy minister Masanja openly declaring war on the Ngorongoro pastoralists was uploaded to the Youtube account of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.

 

President Samia is soon to visit Ngorongoro on her “Royal Tour”, maybe even tomorrow (Monday).

Update: Samia is in Ngorongoro. 

Update Tuesday 7th September: Yesterday several special seats councillors, NGO-people, and activists were arrested until dark to prevent them from reaching Samia on her Royal Tour They are suspected of being in possession of placards and will have to present themselves at the police on Friday. I'm searching for more details. 

In this blog post:

The Loliondo/Sale statement

Ngorongoro Conservation Area Statement

Open declaration of war by Deputy Minister and Chief Conservator against Ngorongoro pastoralists

Samia’s Royal Tour

 

Ndumbaro Makes a Criminally Clueless and Dangerous Statement Urging Hunting Investors to Commit More Crime Against Rural People

 

Poleni sana wanangoile …

 

On 5th August, the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Damas Ndumbaro, made a most inflammatory statement totally ignoring rule of law, human rights, land rights and common sense.

In this blog post:

Ndumbaro’s Criminally Clueless and Dangerous Statement

Summary about OBC and the Osero in Loliondo

 

First, please sign this petition by Rainforest Rescue and the Oakland Institute against eviction in Ngorongoro.

Guest blogger Tubulu Nebasi: The Failure of the Manongi Regime of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority and the Maasai as Natural Conservationists

 

By Tubulu Lerug Sokoine Nebasi (Diwani Nje ya Halmashauri/Councillor outside the District Council).

 

(Tubulu is the first guest blogger here at View from the Termite Mound, but any serious voice for Ngorongoro land rights – not least including Loliondo, if anyone would be brave enough - is more than welcome.

/Susanna)

 

Ngorongoro, particularly the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, is legally known to be a Multiple Land Use Area and it was by early 1959 when the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority Act (formerly Ordinance) No.14 of 1959 was initiated and defined the three main functions of the Area: Conservation, Tourism and Development of Indigenous People. The Maasai people are known to be the owners of the land and Ngorongoro is the Land of Maasai people, followed by the agreement of the Maasai to vacate the Western Serengeti on 13^th, 14^th March and 20^th April 1958 by the Laigwanak (elders) of Ngorongoro and Loliondo division of the Maasai District (Munge Ole Keyamba, Ole Pose, Olong'oyu and others agreed on behalf of all Maasai).

 

Today Ngorongoro is not better than before, the life of the indigenous people is not better, employment of Maasai people to the NCAA is not better, Multiple Land Use is not better, Ngorongoro Pastoralist Council, NPC, is not better, only militarism thrives.

A Brief Reminder of Rashid Mfaume Taka's Crimes, a Statement by Ngorongoro Councillors, and Manongi’s War against the Maasai Continues

 

Ngorongoro has a new DC after the human rights criminal and perjurer Rashid Mfaume Taka has been retired. I must remind of the crimes committed by the old DC, but know very little about the new one. On 27^thJune, the Ngorongoro councillors issued a statement about the land conflicts in the district. This is an improvement that I must write about. As feared when I was writing the latest blog post, at least 35 MPs visited Ngorongoro. As usual, this post could have been published several days ago.

 

In this blog post:

A reminder of the crimes committed by former DC Rashid Mfaume Taka

Statement by the councillors of Ngorongoro District Council about land conflict in the divisions of Sale, Ngorongoro, and Loliondo

Tourism by parliamentarians, and soldiers

 

While Ndumbaro and the MNRT Lull Ngorongoro Leaders to Sleep, Manongi Prepares Full War on the Maasai

 

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 29^th 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

After the President’s Speech Mentioning Ngorongoro Strange Eviction Notices were Issued and then Withdrawn

 

After the terror - that since 2016 (worsened in 2018) had made the defenders of land and pastoralists almost useless - finally seemed to have started to subside, there have been some setbacks caused by newcomers (not least, as mentioned in the latest blog post, the new president) repeating the NCAA’s and MNRT’s anti-Ngorongoro rhetoric. Then, Minister Ndumbaro visited Ngorongoro, avoided meeting local representatives that had been waiting since early morning, and almost 150 families got illegal “eviction notices” or orders to demolish their houses. Fortunately, these were withdrawn after protests. At last, a small victory.

 

Meanwhile in Loliondo, OBC are busy, and nobody is saying anything at all.

 

In this blog post:

NCAA/MNRT talk in the president’s speech and elsewhere

Response by Joseph Oleshangay and others

Ndumbaro’s visit to Ngorongoro, illegal eviction notices, and the re-emergence of the MP

Press statement in Arusha

Eviction notices withdrawn

State of the nation speech

Ngorongoro and the MLUM review proposal

 

A Reminder about Loliondo

Maasai in Loliondo have for years been at risk of losing 1,500 km2 of important grazing land, suffered all kinds of abuse, including illegal mass arson operations, and a local police state. I’ve tried to make this article as brief as possible, too much have been left out, but there’s just too much to say – even when some is unknown.

Initially the plan was to publish this blog post somewhere else, but I’ll write another kind of article for that purpose.

 

While this post has kept being delayed hopes have first been raised with the change at the highest level of government, and then plummeted on 6^th April when President Samia mentioned Ngorongoro in a speech showing that she’d swallowed the lies by the MNRT hook, line and sinker. This can still be salvaged, and I hope to very soon be able to write a blog post about the responses that will set record straight for her (more about this at the end of the blog post). Meanwhile, read what Ngorongoro youths in February had to say about the plans by the MNRT.

In this blog post:

Rest in peace Emmanuel Saringe ole Naronyo

Loliondogate to today

Invasion of village land and mass arson of 2009

The draft District Land Use Plan

Kagasheki’s attempt at imposing OBC’s land use plan

OBC’s journalist

Worsened divide and rule with Nyalandu

Proxy wars for OBC

My illegal arrest

Illegal arrests to silence everyone

Gambo’s committee

Invasion of village land and illegal mass arson operation of 2017

Kigwangalla became a hero and then U-turned

Intimidation drive to derail the case in the EACJ, unbelievable perjury, and interim orders that were soon violated

The bizarre case of mistaken identity

JWTZ soldiers working for OBC committed human rights crimes

The unexpected arrest of OBC’s director

JWTZ soldiers killing Yohana "Babuche" Saidea in Wasso town

A genocidal NCA Multiple Land Use Model review proposal includes the land wanted by OBC

Current state and the speech of nightmares

Press Conference by Ngorongoro Youths in Dar es Salaam

In this blog post:

Press conference

The threat of the MLUM review proposal

 

After the press conference in Arusha on 21^st January, held by ward councillors and customary leaders from Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), Ngorongoro youths in Dar es Salaam – all of them university students except one who’s a lawyer - followed up with their own press conference on 8^th February. They continued the work to set the record straight about bad policy in NCA including serious human rights issues, the current atrocious management of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) under chief conservator Freddy Manongi, misleading information from the NCAA and in the press (like Manongi’s workshop for journalists in late December, in which he drummed up urgency about population growth and was quoted uncritically in the press, which prompted the first press conference), and threatening proposals. Already the following day, Global tv and E Habari reported about the youths’ press conference, but further news coverage is so far nowhere to be seen.

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

On 21^st 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 16^th 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.