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