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 Fortunately, these were withdrawn after protests.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notices withdrawn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
NCAA/MNRT talk in the president’s speech and elsewhere
As mentioned in the latest blog post, on 6th April 2021, in a speech at the swearing in of the newly appointed Permanent Secretaries and heads of public institutions at State House in Dar es Salaam, President Samia included some words that the Maasai of Ngorongoro and their livestock had become too many, said she didn’t know how or if people should be evicted, but concluded that something had to be done, or it was “bye, bye Ngorongoro”. Without having listened to Ngorongoro pastoralists - the victims of historical injustices - without any sign of the slightest empathy or respect for people living under the colonial-style yoke of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), and the constant threat of having their livelihoods and culture annihilated in Ngorongoro, the president just parroted the genocide proponents of the NCAA and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT). At the same time much (but far from all) of the speech proposed sanity where her predecessor would have proposed insanity, and many Tanzanians in social media were very enthusiastic indeed. With some notable exceptions, they seemed fine with excluding the Ngorongoro pastoralists from the nation.
Interestingly, President Samia
in the same speech said that if there are minerals in protected areas then those
should be extracted, so it could hardly be a burning desire to join the ranks
of conservationists that made her utter the ignorant comments about Ngorongoro.
Maybe she – without having any time to check her sources - just wanted to show
that she cared both about mining and “conservation” (or tourism real
estate), while the rights of beleaguered minorities are of less concern. Biodiversity
is more threatened basically anywhere in Tanzania than in Ngorongoro, but that wasn’t
mentioned. This sense of urgency is all about the tourism real estate and
pleasing the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
Climate change and fossil fuels
weren’t much of a concern in the speech. On the contrary, Samia’s first state
visit was to Uganda for signing agreements with Uganda and Total oil company about
“finally” getting Ugandan crude oil out of the ground via the East African
Crude Oil Pipeline that’s to be the world's longest heated pipeline and will threaten
wildlife habitats and water sources for millions of people.
Perhaps even worse, President
Samia had appointed an outspoken enemy of the Maasai of Loliondo and
Ngorongoro, and probably rural Tanzanians in general, Allan Kijazi (former
director general of the Tanzania Natural Parks Authority (TANAPA) and deputy
permanent secretary) as Permanent Secretary to the MNRT. At the head of TANAPA,
Kijazi was responsible for many human rights crimes, and the one that’s best
known by this blog is the illegal invasion of village land in Loliondo in 2017,
with mass arson, beatings, seizing of cattle, rape, illegal arrests, and even
shooting of cows.
Correction: Kijazi continues head of TANAPA while being Permanent Secretary.
Damas Ndumbaro, the new
Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism since December 2020, early on showed
some worrying signs of having learnt that inciting against pastoralists was the
thing to do, but did not mention Ngorongoro, or Loliondo. Then, like every
other minister (apparently, they take turns) he wanted to bring back an
unethical hunting company from the UAE, Green Mile Safari, to Lake Natron GCA.
On 7th April, in front of Ndumbaro people from 23 villages in protested
the plans of returning this company that’s said to owe millions to the villages
and has failed to prevent widespread poaching of giraffes in the hunting block.
Though the placards carried by the protesters also talked about a bigger issue:
that of land rights under serious threat of annexation to NCA, of Game Reserve,
and of WMA.
A few days after the president’s speech, Ndumbaro “responded” to her concerns about Ngorongoro, which is an absurd way of viewing it indeed. The NCAA holds workshops for reporters to whip up urgency for doing something about “overpopulation” in Ngorongoro. The president had obviously listened to the incitement by the NCAA and MNRT, but now Ndumbaro “responded” to Samia’s supposed “call upon the MNRT to take the matter seriously” with the usual rhetoric about involving all stakeholders, not least local people in Ngorongoro. That’s the old strategy of trying to make the Ngorongoro pastoralists “participate” in their own erasure from the land, while torturing them with stricter policies and harassment. In short, the urgency was planted with the president and then the MNRT pretends to have listened and will now act, doing the same as always, but with increased threats against the Ngorongoro pastoralists.
Some of the findings of the Controller
and Auditor General’s (CAG) report for the 2019/20 financial year, presented on
9th April, was a series of unlawful payments in the MNRT budget,
like unaccounted for funds from the NCAA and other agencies for the
implementation of the Urithi Festival, and the former minister, Kigwangalla,
had also directed TANAPA and NCAA to provide TShs. 172 million as sponsors for his
Kili Challenge to lure people to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Sadly, for some
reason, in a summary for the press (I’ve searched the reports and not found it
there, but could have missed it), even the CAG was repeating the
“overpopulation” in Ngorongoro narrative of the NCAA and the MNRT, just like in
the president’s speech. Chief Conservator Manongi and his gang have
unfortunately not been lazy.
The reactions by many Tanzanians
in social media when seeing someone influential mentioning Ngorongoro are
dreadful. Some tourism stakeholders will join in with enthusiasm trying to repeat
the NCAA and MNRT rhetoric, theorizing about the tough measures “we” must take
against those people who are too many, and if such a person has attended some
workshop the ignorant arrogance will be almost unstoppable, even when they
can’t remember exactly what they were taught. Those who do remember conduct
their dirty lobbying at higher levels. This
time one of those who didn’t quite remember what they’d been taught but went on
anyway, was just the following day found on a list, and photos, of the
participants of Kigwangalla’s Urithi Festival committee that had used NCAA
money. The important (pre-pandemic) revenue from Ngorongoro to the national
coffers is a main argument for eviction by these people who apparently haven’t
noticed that Ngorongoro has become such a money-maker with the pastoralists
living there, or that the Maasai are Tanzanians. Those commenting in that
way all have bigger ecological footprints and come from more populated areas, and
their complete de-humanization of Ngorongoro people in the defence of the
tourism real estate is simply infuriating.
Then, in other social media
(FB), there are non-pastoralist ambitious young men from other areas of
Ngorongoro district, where hardly a hare can be seen, who love talking about
the urgency for evictions in the most spiteful way, without a thought of how
crowded and conflict-ridden their own areas would become after such evictions.
These are of the same kind as those who will run to inform the DC about anyone
who could dare to criticize certain investors in Loliondo.
And then are the “experts” who
participated in a “project” two decades ago, and keep repeating what they were
told by NCAA officials or central government/investor representatives, while
they haven’t even noticed the massive human rights crimes committed since then.
Foreign tourists, tour
operators, and conservationists apparently haven’t heard about the president’s
speech, or what followed it. I fear they otherwise would have been terrible. Over
a decade ago their behaviour made me look into what was really going on, and
here I am.
Maybe I’m overly bitter and it
may be true that, when presented with facts, most Tanzanians solidarize with
Ngorongoro (and other) pastoralists. Or what should be done? While any
Tanzanian could be arrested at any time, I didn’t think anything could be done,
and asking people to care would have been too much. Have things changed? At
least a lot looks brighter than when I started writing about reactions to the
president’s speech, but didn’t publish.
Response
by Joseph Oleshangay and others
On 14th April, an
article titled, “What President Samia Needs To Know About Ngorongoro” by
the lawyer, and son of Ngorongoro, Joseph Moses Oleshangay was published by The
Chanzo online publication. Joseph explains the eviction from Serengeti and the
broken promises about Ngorongoro. He tells about the apartheid-like
restrictions that are unknown to other Tanzanians, and compares areas and
population numbers, for some perspective. Like everyone in Ngorongoro, Joseph
knows who mislead the president, and mentions Freddy Manongi’s workshop for
journalists. Joseph wonders, “So, my grandmother and my parents, who
happened to be a victim of the Serengeti eviction, are now threatened to be
evicted the third (the second was from the Ngorongoro Crater in 1975) time for
the benefit of State tourism and allegedly world interest as if they are
alien.”
On 20th
April, Joseph followed up with another article, “With Eviction NoticeSuspended, NCAA Leadership Must Now Be Held Accountable”, after bizarre
eviction notices were revealed and withdrawn. He criticized the militarization
of Ngorongoro, and indicated the way forward as recalling Manongi’s appointment
as chief conservator, appointing new individuals with fresh minds to the MNRT
and the NCAA, and recalling the appointment of Ndumbaro since he had allowed to
be hijacked by the NCAA.
Joseph also participated in a
Nadj Live Cyber Lounge about conservation and rights abuses in Tanzania's
protected areas, moderated by Tundu Lissu, who since years back is an ally of
Ngorongoro pastoralists, and now is getting into the debate (more and more, I
hope). Another participant was the tireless defender of pastoralists’ rights, Navaya
ole Ndaskoi, and this live online panel may have had an impact that will be
known in the future. Today, 22nd April, Navaya’s article, “Busara
inahitajika Hifadhi ya Ngorongoro”, was published in the Raia Mwema
I wish Loliondo had people
who would write articles.
Ndumbaro’s
visit to Ngorongoro, illegal eviction notices, and the re-emergence of the MP
On 16th April,
Minister Damas Ndumbaro visited Ngoronoro. There had been some confusion
whether he was coming this day, or on the 19th, but leaders from all
wards and villages of Ngorongoro Division, and other villagers, were waiting
since early in the morning to meet the minister. Ndumbaro arrived by plane, met
with NCAA officials, and despite having told journalists about his wish for a “participatory”
approach and talks with all sides, left without having met with the waiting
people! Reportedly, Ndumbaro was advised to leave for “security reasons”.
 |
| Ndumbaro and Manongi |
After Ndumbaro had left,
eviction notices from the NCAA, signed on behalf of the chief conservator, were
made public. In these notices, dated 12th April 2021 – and referring
to a decision by the Ngorongoro Security Committee of 4th March - 45
people, accused of having returned from Jema and Oldonyosambu in Sale to where
they were relocated in 2006, were ordered to leave within 30 days.
Further, more than a hundred houseowners,
accused of not having got the required permit, were ordered to within 30 days
demolish the houses, at their own cost. Among these houses were 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.
In the document were also
listed 174 people deemed to be “illegal immigrants”.
I¨m not sure how the NCAA do
their “intelligence”, but if it’s anything like Loliondo, it would be based on
targeting disagreeable individuals and imposing fear.
As expected, and as they
usually are, the waiting local leaders that had been snubbed by Ndumbaro were unreasonably
peaceful (considering the circumstances) and overly polite. Edward Maura, the
chairman of the Pastoral Council, told Ayo TV that he was surprised that the
meeting with the minister had been postponed, since he had shown such an
interest in meeting all sides. He reminded Ndumbaro, and other members of
government, that those present were ready to talk any time, and that they
should keep in mind that when discussing NCA, they were discussing innocent people
who lost Serengeti in 1959 and now live in the multiple land use area. If a
discussion is needed, they don’t need to be allowed to participate, they need
space to talk, and agreement is the necessary option. Maura reminded Ndumbaro
that they would continue living peacefully, protecting wildlife, didn’t have a
problem with him or any other person, and are waiting for him to return.
Emmanuel Oleshangay, councillor for Endulen (and district chairman) brought up
the eviction notices from the NCAA management and asked for such threatening
behaviour to be stopped, while he repeated the readiness to sit down at the
discussion table. The PC secretary and a woman from Misigiyo had the same
message.
Then MP Olenasha who has been
shockingly silent during massive human rights crimes in Loliondo, the loss of
grazing areas in NCAA, and the insistence on the genocidal MLUM review
proposal, finally had some words to say. He excused Ndumbaro’s departure with a
work-related emergency and said that the minister would return another time.
Olenasha too repeated that those present were ready to discuss the issues
brought up in the president’s speech, and reminded that Ngorongoro residents aren’t
any kind of invaders, but live there legally. Besides the population growth, he
reminded of the increase in tourism numbers, that the vehicles in the crater
made it look like a small town, that the NCAA had over 800 employees, and of
the development impediments when a permit had to be sought for everything,
including private houses. He praised Ndumbaro’s willingness to meet all sides
and added that it was wrong to exclude the Ngorongoro residents.
In another video from Ayo TV, Olenasha
mentions the fact that he’s one of those who’d received a demolition order for
his house in Ngorongoro. This time he even mentioned the infamous MLUM
committee saying approximately that former Minister Kigwangalla had good
intentions, but unfortunately there wasn’t any agreement. He interpreted the
president’s words as that wide and participatory discussions were needed. His
message to Ndumbaro was that a lasting solution is found via an agreement with
the Ngorongoro villagers who live there legally and aren’t any kind of
invaders. His message to Ngorongoro residents was to enter discussions with all
stakeholders, and that the challenges aren’t only about conservation and
tourism, but about everyday life, reminding that the fact that he as an MP got
a demolition order says something about the problems facing ordinary citizens. Olenasha
reminded that NCA is over 8,000 km2 and that the important areas are already
protected (no interest in recovering lost grazing areas, I suppose). Regarding
population numbers the MP and deputy minister said that we are talking about 25
villages in 11 wards, and an area bigger than some regions. The local leaders
waiting for Ndumbaro were to tell him that people, conservation, and tourism
are still possible, but unfortunately the meeting could not be held. The MP and
deputy minister said that Ndumbaro had already promised that it would be held
another time.
Why did MP Olenasha re-emerge
now after all his long and shocking silence? Was it because there is now less
fear inside the government, because the NCAA now went too far in their
provocation, even including the MP’s own house, or what? He wouldn’t like
speculation. Maybe Ngorongoro now has some kind of MP.
Press
statement in Arusha
On 19th April, a
delegation from Ngorongoro held a press conference in Arusha. In short, very
short, the delegation denounced the NCAA’s way of rushing to use the
president’s speech as an excuse to further the long-term plan from the report
by the MLUM committee, which so many times had been rejected by Ngorongoro
residents (this was far from the first press conference, see below). They
warned Ndumbaro to immediately stop working together with chief conservator Manongi’s
network and asked the president to be careful not to appoint people who will violate
the constitution, including people’s basic rights.
Customary leader (laigwanan)
Metui ole Shaudo described the illegal eviction and demolition notices, and
asked President Samia to remove Manongi as the head of NCAA, since he’s running
the authority as his own family or boma and keep harassing the Ngorongoro
residents in many ways. Napokie Peshuti from Endulen said, “This notice is
given to us as if we are refugees, not Tanzanians. Where were they when we
started building our houses? They didn’t see and let us finish the construction,
and today they are coming with their orders. This is not fair, we are oppressed
when we are human beings like other human beings.” Regarding the panic about
population growth, Napokie said that they were having three or four children
when their elders used have many wives and over a hundred children. James
Moringe, councillor for Alaitole, reminded of that the Maasai themselves have
contributed to Ngorongoro status as a World Heritage Site. Though the delegates
added that Ngorongoro will continue having wildlife, but maybe with less human
rights crime, without the status as a World Heritage Site.
The delegation asked the
president to stop the MNRT’s eviction plans,
to remove Manongi as chief
conservator,
to stop militarization in NCA,
to remove Ndumbaro as
minister, since he was hijacked by the Manongi gang and convinced not to meet with
Ngorongoro residents,
to revoke the eviction and
demolition notices,
to stop the looming hunger crisis,
caused by restricted movement of livestock for pasture and water, and the ban
on subsistence cultivation.
to form a committee to
investigate the human rights violations committed by the MNRT and the NCAA,
to visit Ngorongoro and meet
with people in order to find the best way to resolve the dispute.
The delegates said they would
compose a technical letter to the president which will show the real situation
in the NCA and the best way of developing the area without violating human
rights, while caring for ecology, archaeology, wildlife, and tourism.
Then an independent and
participatory commission should be formed, including experts at ecology and
wildlife, human rights activists, and Ngorongoro residents, and this commission
will go through all the problems and recommend the best way forward to develop
ecology, wildlife and pastoral livelihoods in the NCA.
Eviction
notices withdrawn
On 20th April, a
letter signed by Manongi himself revoked the eviction and demolition orders
until further notice. The alleged reason for this was 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. I’d
say that paralyzing confusion and fear was exactly what NCAA wanted to cause,
using the occasion of having managed to plant their rhetoric with the
president.
Fortunately, Ngorongoro
residents were not paralyzed.
In President Samia’s state of the nation speech today, 22nd April 2021, human rights weren’t
mentioned, and democracy was mentioned only in passing. The anti-pastoralism
was patent, even quoting Kikwete. At least she didn’t mention Ngorongoro.
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 have 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 will 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 salt
licks 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.
While people in Loliondo seem
to have used an ostrich strategy, there were complaints from NCA as soon as the
MLUM proposal was presented, and then Minister Kigwangalla agreed that
“community representatives” would be added to the MLUM review team, and the NCA
wards re-visited. On 5th October 2019, the Pastoral Council, that ostensibly
represent the local pastoralists in the NCAA, finally issued a statement, but
it seemed weak, and compromised, and it misrepresented Loliondo. On 29th
October 2019, a statement by the ward councillors of Ngorongoro District (which
includes those from Loliondo) was even weaker.
The MLUM review team again
toured the wards and could again observe people’s unsurprising rejection of any
evictions. The community views were briefly mentioned in the new version of the
report, but the “community representatives” were side-lined, which they
panicked about, refusing to share the new version of the report, in which the
same genocidal proposal was repeated.
It was reported that at a
regional CCM meeting there were assurances that there was no way that the ruling
party would support the proposal for evictions. Some traditional leaders from
NCA went to see the then CCM secretary-general Bashiru Ally towards the end of
2019 (still not sure what came out of this).
On 14th April 2020
the Pastoral Council, customary leaders, and village and ward leaders from NCA
– but not those from Loliondo or Lake Natron - held a press conference in
Arusha with a stronger statement than the previous one. They called upon the
president and the prime minister to intervene against the abuse committed by
the MLUM team - together with chief conservator Manongi whom they wanted
removed.
On 23rd April 2020,
a collection of leaders from Ngorongoro were summoned to Kigwangalla in Dodoma,
and were promised four new community representatives, and told that the
Ngorongoro residents should compose their own ideal proposal, submit it to the
committee, and send him a copy. At a feedback meeting in Mokilal the MP was
booed by the attendants who wanted to cut all engagement with the MLUM team,
but finally the MP side managed to impose their view that the offer should be
taken, but this time accompanied by public pressure (of which not much was seen).
In May 2020, the councillor
for Endulen (who since November 2020 is the district council chairman) reported
about how NCA rangers were conducting an operation, invading villages to
interrogate people about houses that had been built and doing reconnaissance of
areas under threat of mass eviction, even using a plane, and that the rangers
then went to the market at Naiborsoit where they arrested three women
small-scale traders that were taken to Loliondo and illegally detained for 48
hours. Surprisingly, the DC (a known human rights criminal) ordered that the
rangers should be arrested and said that they had been acting on their own
behalf, and that Manongi had in no way ordered them. The councillor also
reported that the new “community representatives” had been given terms of
reference that more looked like preparing for evictions than preparing a community
proposal to be sent to Kigwangalla.
At the meeting of all
councillors of Ngorongoro District Council that ended on 3rd June
2020, the information was that the NCAA had approved funding of TShs. 5 billion
for the task of expanding its boundaries – according to the proposal in the
MLUM report - to become 12,000 km2 and to include the Osero in Loliondo and the
Lake Natron basin. This included the cost of “relocations”. Reportedly, the
councillors resolved to work against the plan regardless of consequences and
were discussing the way forward – but then the elections got in the way … and
they became busy praising the government, while burying their heads in the
sand.
Nothing more was heard from
Kigwangalla, except that he and the permanent secretary to the MNRT went on to
threaten Lake Natron GCA – that’s included in the genocidal proposal – with a
Game Reserve and a Wildlife Management Area, against which there was a protest
meeting in Engaresero a few days later. Then Kigwangalla just intensified the
threat.
On 1st July 2020, a
statement addressed to President Magufuli from the customary leaders of
Ngorongoro Ward - the villages of Mokilal, Kayapus and Oloirobi - in Ngorongoro
District was read by Njamama Medukenya and Sembeta Ngoidiko on Global tv. They
called for the president to hear their cry about their land that keep being
stolen for conservation and tourism, and ask him to stop the current proposal,
while reminding of that since they were evicted from Serengeti in 1959, there
have been multiple violations of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Ordinance.
MP Olenasha while contesting
for the CCM candidacy for the Ngorongoro parliamentary seat, chose to deny any
threat in the MLUM review proposal, calling it “propaganda” by his opponents.
On 13th September,
the councillor of Endulen posted in social media, apparently in a panic, about
a visit to NCA by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Constitutional and
Legal Affairs, adding that while other Tanzanians are busy finding leaders that
will bring them development the coming five years, people in Ngorongoro live in
fear and doubt due to various ongoing committees working to undermine the
rights of the people. Not much more was heard about this.
On 16th October
2020, the election campaign had brought PM Majaliwa to Loliondo, and he could
have declared that the genocidal proposal would definitely not be implemented,
that everyone could go on with their lives as normal, and no land would be
taken. Though instead of this Majaliwa insisted on denying, deflecting, and
using the horrible word “participatory”.
The so-called “elections”, as
known, were a violent horror with vote rigging all over the country. On
election day in Ngorongoro 23-year-old Salula Ngorisiolo was killed when police
and NCA rangers opened fire at unarmed voters who were protesting the blocking
of opposition polling agents. Four other people were shot by the police in an
attempt to facilitate CCM rigging in the one of the only seven contested wards
in Ngorongoro District. There’s an ongoing court case against the victims.
Then, on 28th – 30th
December 2020, the NCAA held a workshop for editors and senior journalists, of
course including enthusiastic participation by Tanzania’s most anti-Maasai
journalist, Manyerere Jackton, and misleading reporting in various newspapers,
not least the Jamhuri.
On 21st January
2021, a delegation representing councillors and traditional leaders from
Ngorongoro Conservation Area met the press in Arusha calling on Magufuli not to
receive misleading reports that they had not participated in, and on 8th
February 2021, youths from Ngorongoro held their own press conference in Dar es
Salaam – while the silence continued in Loliondo.
At the Ngorongoro District
Council’s presentation of the budget proposals for 2021-2022 it was revealed
that neither the NCAA nor OBC were offering their usual contributions to the
district coffers. Nobody has been able to explain the reasons for this to me.
Damas Ndumbaro, the new
Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism since December 2020, so far show
signs of being even worse than Kigwangalla, and unfortunately, President Samia
has appointed an outspoken enemy of the Maasai of Loliondo and Ngorongoro,
Allan Kijazi, former director general of TANAPA and deputy permanent secretary
of the MNRT, as Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Natural Resources and
Tourism.
Then the president was
probably misled to mention Ngorongoro in a speech, the NCAA moved on with their
evil plans, but were stopped for now.
Meanwhile in Loliondo, OBC
have been described as weakened, but at the same time the MLUM review proposal,
that caters to their long-term wishes, was presented in September 2019, is said
to have been placed on the late president’s desk, and has not been declared
scrapped. After the so-called elections in 2020, OBC have at least three of
their employees in ward councillor seats, including OBC’s assistant director in
Ololosokwan that used to be at the forefront of the land rights struggle. The
notorious director, Isaack Mollel, is back to work and reportedly preparing the
camp for a visit by Sheikh Mohammed. Everyone is silent, or worse.
The importance of the ongoing
case in the East African Court of Justice can’t be overstated. Now both sides
must file written submissions, which has been terribly delayed.
At least chief conservator
Manongi and his gang were stopped from moving forward for now, even if the NCAA
oppression continues as part of daily life.
Susanna
Nordlund is a working-class person based in Sweden who since 2010 has been
blogging about Loliondo 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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