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 28th 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
On 20th October
2021, some customary leaders and other representatives from Ngorongoro held a
press conference in Arusha to denounce an imposter called Isaack Lekisongo
Meijo who at President Samia’s meeting with the public at Sheikh Amri Abeid
Memorial Stadium on the 17th was presented as the leader of the
Tanzanian Maasai. This individual and the president’s terrible speech were
described in the latest blog post. Lekisongo had, screaming and swatting with a
flywhisk - for some still unknown reason - supported the idea of evictions from
Ngorongoro Conservation Area, saying that it isn’t true that the Maasai don’t
have anywhere else to go, that there are people seeking conflict through NGOs,
that Ngorongoro is a wonder, that people must look into how they can “reduce
themselves” and that it’s necessary to speak to customary leaders to solve the
issue, implying that he would be one of those. This was followed by the
president saying that Ngorongoro is important when talking about tourism and
Arusha, that “we” can’t continue considering people’s interests while
destroying it, that there are places to relocate people, and requesting
customary leaders to resolve the stalemate (as if they had a mandate to trade
away community land).
The press statement by
Ngorongoro representatives said that the customary leaders (laigwanak), and the
Ngorongoro community at large, were shocked and saddened by Lekisongo’s
statement that misled the president. (I’d say that she was already misled long
ago and apparently like it …) The
laigwanak don’t recognise Lekisongo as their leader and don’t even know who he
is. They explained that the Maasai don’t have any chief or one leader who can
speak on behalf of everybody. They further explained that Lekisongo isn’t from
Ngorongoro (he’s from Monduli) and that laigwanak from Ngorongoro had been
present at the president’s meeting without being given an opportunity to speak.
Then Lekisongo had repeated the old tiresome propaganda against the Ngorongoro
Maasai that live on their land according to national and international law, and
that have more tourists and black rhinos than any other protected area in
Tanzania. The laigwanak explained that Lekisongo ignored history and the fact
that the Maasai lost more than 14,000 km2 of their land to the Serengeti
National Park in 1958, and were left with 8,292 km2. They reminded of that upon
the establishment of Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Maasai were promised by
the colonial government that if they on one side, and tourism and wildlife on
the other, could no longer live together, the Maasai would always be given
priority.
The Ngorongoro representatives demanded that:
1. Isaack Lekisongo Meijo
should immediately stop faking authority that has no place in Maasai
traditions, customs and culture.
2. Isaack Lekisongo Meijo
should immediately withdraw his statement against pastoralists living in the
Ngorongoro Conservation Area and apologize publicly for his misconduct in front
of the President of Tanzania, otherwise severe legal action will be taken
against him.
3. The Government of the
United Republic of Tanzania should immediately cease to recognize this person
(Lekisongo) and if it deems it necessary to involve customary leaders, it
should do so by involving those in such position and not Lekisongo who is not a
representative of the Ngorongoro laigwanak or of the Maasai.
4. The government should not
be involved in the fabrications and misappropriation of position of so-called
leader of the laigwanak in Tanzania Mr. Isaack Lekisongo. Because by doing so
it is interfering with the processes and well-being of the cultural traditions
of the Maasai communities.
5. The Government should take
urgent action by involving Ngorongoro pastoralists to address the various problems
facing the people living within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, including: hunger
caused by various restrictions imposed by the NCAA, grazing restrictions, poor
access to water, prohibition of subsistence farming, and unemployment.
6. The Government should
establish an independent and inclusive process to review the law and the management
plan of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area as well as various systems that affect
the people of Ngorongoro and are aimed at managing the area.
7. The President should set up
a judicial commission to investigate the atrocities committed by the Ministry
of Natural Resources and Tourism in collaboration with the Ngorongoro
Conservation Area Authority for more than six decades, including mass violence.
Media coverage of this press conference
was somewhat better than usual and laigwanan Metui ole Shaudo was seen asking
where Tanzanians will be sent the day Tanzania is “full” the way that some
people keep saying that Ngorongoro is full (which some people from much more populated
areas, with less wildlife - which describes basically any other area - enjoy
saying).
The imposter
The real deal
The comedian, and actually
tour guide, Saimon Sirikwa uploaded a surprisingly brilliant and very pedagogic
video repeating the president’s terrible words about Ngorongoro, but
substituting “Ngorongoro” for “Zanzibar”. In 2017 Saimon was arrested for a
video that wasn’t even half as funny.
The not-so-genius
The genius
Then I was told that in the
evening of 22nd October, 12 elders from Ngorongoro met the Arusha
regional commissioner. The RC promised to work with them to resolve the matter amicably
(we’ve heard that before …) However, he warned them to not work with the press.
Prior to meeting the RC, the
12 elders met with Lekisongo who was accompanied by a team of 12 aides. The
imposter apologized saying it won't happen again. Still, nobody seems to have
found out why he did it.
However, later I’ve received
reports that Lekisongo more or less keeps insisting on his statement at the
meeting with the president, and claiming that the Ngorongoro elders would have
apologized to him, and not the other way around.
How could this Lekisongo intervene
in such a destructive way? Most people seem convinced that he’s being misled and
used by the NCAA. It’s of course also possible that it was his own evil,
opportunistic idea to impress the president. Sadly, even someone from
Ngorongoro could have been used in this way, probably not speaking in favour of
evictions, but certainly praising the aggressors, while pretending to be
ignorant about the threat. “Befriending” such people seem to be a behaviour
shared by everyone who’s after pastoralist land in East Africa, or maybe of all
abusers of minority groups, all-over the world and since the dawn of time. It’s
irresistibly comfortable for lazy, uncaring (or worse) outsiders to be able to
claim that the issue is too complicated and that the victims themselves differ
about if they want their lives and livelihoods crushed into oblivion, or not*.
The Loliondo police state has
brought multiple cases of bought traitors and wannabe corruptees that have been
mentioned in this blog through the years. Not only do basically every government official, and
particularly the security committee and DC, openly, shamelessly, and with astonishing
lawlessness work for the investors OBC - that keep lobbying to have their core
hunting area turned into a ”protected area” (this is part of the current
genocidal proposal) - and Thomson Safaris - that claim 12,617 acres of Maasai grazing
land as their own private nature refuge. For years, and until almost everyone
was silenced, local authorities have habitually summoned anyone suspected of
being able to criticize these two “investors” to be interrogated by the
Ngorongoro Security Committee, and these people are threatened, defamed, even
in national press and not least was this done by the “journalist” Manyerere Jackton,
they have had their citizenship questioned and been illegally arrested and, in
some case, tortured. Some local traitors happily participate in this police
state, not directly agreeing with the land alienation (except in one case where
mental health is an issue), but praising the investors – that very actively “befriend”
suitable individuals – and complaining about NGOs that don’t want them to work
with such wonderful investors, at the same time as others are, or were, taking
considerable risks to defend their land.
Since Lekisongo isn’t from
Ngorongoro, maybe he isn’t a traitor in the same way, but he’s indeed supposed
to send the same message. Though we also have the “wannabe corruptees” who
aren’t always pastoralists, but who will go out of their way to present
themselves as Loliondo representatives, heaping praise on the “investors” and
running to the DC to report anyone who could speak up. Currently the situation
– after the whole of Tanzania has turned into a police state - has deteriorated
to the extent that at least three ward councillors are OBC employees.
I have been told that it’s a
waste of time to write about such a useless individual as this Lekisongo, and
that he won’t have any further impact. Though I just don’t know, can’t get any
updates, and want to laud the excellent initiative of setting the record straight
in a press conference, even if Lekisongo is an easy target compared to others
(the president for example …)
*By this I don’t mean that
everyone in the world must speak up for Loliondo and Ngorongoro pastoralists,
but that those who keep talking about Ngorongoro, and even intervening,
investing, working and advocating, can’t be allowed to defend injustice and
atrocities by claiming that the issue is “too complicated”, which it just isn’t.
A
reminder about the genocidal Multiple Land Use Model review proposal
People 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, and as a result are suffering from high levels of child malnutrition,
while throughout the years they have been shaken by rumours and threats of
eviction. The current threat was announced in September 2019, when chief
conservator Freddy Manongi made public the Multiple Land Use Model review
report’s proposal, which is so destructive that it would lead to the end of
Maasai livelihoods and culture in Ngorongoro District. This had followed 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) that once again visited Ngorongoro and
in their report repeated 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. Recommendations and concerns from
the UNESCO had in the past repeatedly led to a worsened human rights situation.
When the Maasai were evicted
from Serengeti in 1959 by the colonial government, losing access to over 14,000
km2, as a compromise deal, they were guaranteed the right to continue occupying
the 8,292 km² 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.
The proposal of the MLUM
review report is to divide Ngorongoro into four 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 annexation
of the Osero in Loliondo caters almost perfectly to the wishes of OBC that
organizes hunting for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai, and has a local police state at
its service, which has led to several illegal invasions of village land,
multiple human rights crimes, fear and treason.
A year since election murder
On 28th October it
was a year since police and NCAA rangers opened fire at unarmed voters at
Oloirobi polling station in Oloirobi, Ngorongoro ward, killing not yet 22-year-old
Salula Ngorisiolo (I’ve earlier been writing that he was 23).
On this day of shame in the
history of Tanzania, similar to was what happening all over the country,
opposition polling agents weren’t allowed in at the Oloirobi polling station,
and around 10am a vehicle belonging to a CCM cadre called Sammi arrived with
this Sammi, a CCM polling agent named Oltunyo Oloitai and boxes full of
pre-marked ballots. Opposition polling agents and voters refused to let this
happen, and Sammi and Oltunyo were taken away by the police. No action was
however taken against them, and they were soon seen out and about again. Such
boxes, bags and baskets were intercepted all over Tanzania, and reportedly they
occurred in other areas of Ngorongoro as well, but it seems like, in the
district, only in Oloirobi were the polling agents and voters brave enough to
try to stop it. Though in Endulen, the night before the election, the
opposition managed to stop CCM’s plan for three fake polling stations.
Around noon there was a second
attempt at rigging. Then it was “discovered” that the polling agents didn’t
have identification from the returning officer, then DED Siumbu. Initially, no
party had their agents identified. Only in the middle of the confrontation, the
assistant returning officer availed identification letters to CCM polling
agents alone.
When the opposition polling
agents and the voters resisted the removal of the polling agents, the police
and the NCAA rangers task force fired teargas and live bullets at the innocent,
unarmed civilians. Salula Ngorisiolo was killed. Leepalai Kashiro, who was shot
in the stomach, was taken to hospital, while the injured Meshuko Lesitik,
Neepai Olorru, and Kone Leyan were taken into police custody.
After the murder, the voting
was suspended, and then followed hunting and arrests of opposition candidates
and cadres. CHADEMA councillor candidate for Ngorongoro ward Tubulu Nebasi, who
hadn’t even been at the polling station in Oloirobi, former CCM councillor Daniel
Orkery, and the three injured men not in hospital, were detained by the police.
For several days nobody seemed
sure where the illegally arrested defenders of democracy had been taken, but on
4th November 2020, they were taken to court in Loliondo and released
on bail. The charges were of rioting at the polling station, assaulting an
assistant returning officer and a guard, and damaging ballot boxes and ballot
papers.
The ruling was finally
delivered on 10th June 2021. 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. The murderers continue walking free.
Salula
Ngorisiolo
It hasn’t been easy to get any
details about Salula’s life, but I’ve finally heard from his maternal uncle who
told me that Salula was born in Oloirobi village on 20th December
1998 (I’ve been writing that he was 23 years old, but he was not yet 22). From
2005 to 2011 he completed his primary school education at Oloirobi primary
school. After that he didn’t manage to go to secondary school. He has two young
brothers and four sisters. Both his parents are still alive. Salula’s father is
of the Ormakaa age set and almost 75 years old.
Before he was circumcised,
Salula’s parents were very poor owning only three cows, but after circumcision
Salula went to Kenya to do some watchman work and come back with ten goats and
money to buy enough food for his family. When at home he helped his father to
take care of the cows and building the boma.
Salula’s family depended on
him and now they are experiencing very hard living conditions, drinking uji (porridge)
as the only food, and sometimes it’s difficult even to buy maize for making
uji. As one of their closest relatives the uncle supports them, sometimes
giving them some money to buy maize or cooking oil. Please get in touch with
the uncle if you’d like to give Salula’s parents some goats, or cows.
Salula wasn’t involved in
politics. He was in Kenya looking for watchman jobs, and came back for the
election. When fake ballots were brought and opposition polling agent were not
allowed into the polling station, he was one of many youths who opposed the
unacceptable behaviour – and then the police and NCAA rangers opened fire.
When Salula’s uncle was
looking for the post-mortem report from the hospital the security officers and
doctor were not willing to share it with him. He only got a death certificate, on which a spade is very far from being called a spade.
Salula’s uncle still today
cries when he remembers Salula’s death in public, which nobody, especially
government officials, said anything about.
By-election
As mentioned in the latest
blog post, after William Olenasha’s sad and untimely passing, a by-election was
to be held to find a new MP for Ngorongoro. On 25th October, the CCM
delegates voted for their candidate and the winner was the current councillor
for Endulen and District Council Chairman, Emmanuel Oleshangai. This was
somewhat fortunate, since among the CCM candidates, Oleshangai is the most
able, and likely, to speak up against the abuse that’s being committed against
the people of Ngorongoro. He has already spoken up many times – but not always,
and in between he can heap inexplicable praise on the worst of government
figures – and there isn’t the slightest chance that he’d speak up against the
election murder.
Since the opposition will not
participate until there’s a free and independent electoral commission, Emmanuel
Oleshangai will become the new MP – or so I thought before people started
saying that the NCAA were working hard to influence the nomination, and from 2nd
November the CCM Committee from Arusha region was in every part of Ngorongoro reportedly (reported by many) trying to persuade the delegates to agree to anyone brought in by the party. I
was told there was considerable risk that the lesser evil would not be allowed.
Though it was hard to understand what was going on and still nobody has explained
it with any clarity.
However, on 7th
November, the CCM National Executive Committee announced that Oleshangai was
indeed the candidate. I hope to find out what happened. Now the district council
chairmanship must be prevented from going to OBC …
From 9th November,
other political parties have picked up the form for participating in the by-election.
None of the opposition candidates is from Ngorongoro or known by anyone I have asked.
Neither do the political parties have offices in the constituency. Most of them
are unknown to the extent that their existence can be doubted.
The 13 ghost candidates are
being paraded to create a public impression that the by-election is
participatory for all political parties given the fact that the main opposition
CHADEMA has boycotted all by-elections citing the violent 2020 general
election.
DED at the
service of Thomson Safaris
In the latest blog post, I
mentioned how the new DED, Jumaa Mhina, was pressuring the chairmen of Ololosokwan,
Kirtalo, Oloirien and Arash to withdraw the case concerning the 1,500 km2 in
Loliondo that OBC keep lobbying to have turned into a protected area, which since
2019 is part of the genocidal Multiple Land Use Model review report proposal, that
also threatens areas outside Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Now it’s been reported that the
DED has prepared a letter saying that the villagers of Sukenya, Mondorosi and
Soitsambu want to withdraw from the case against the ruthlessly hypocrite Thomson Safaris from Boston, that claim 12,617 acres as their very own private “Enashiva
Nature Refuge”, while copying OBC's dirty tricks and adding their own ones.
This case is after a most unjust
ruling in 2015 still in the court of appeal, and it’s virtually impossible to
obtain any information about it, maybe because fewer people are directly
affected, and certainly because the persecution of those speaking up against Thomson
Safaris has been even worse than against OBC’s critics. On 10th
November, one resident of Mondorosi who hadn’t been vocal before alerted people
in social media to the worrying news that DED Mhina had prepared this letter without
involving the villagers who did not in any way want to withdraw from the court
case, and who were telling the chairmen not to sign. Some other voices were
added, but without providing much detail. The little additional information I’ve
been able to obtain tells that there are some worries about compromised village
leaders whose level of intelligence isn’t that high, but who will still not sign the
DED’s fake letter.
On 12th November a
brief news clip from Star tv was shared in Whatsapp. Apparently, it had been
broadcast already on the 10th and without much detail a couple of
villagers and two lawyers complain that the lawyers have been prevented – on
order by the DED - from meeting the villagers to update them about the case.
The reporter phones the DED who has the classic explanation that the lawyers
did not report to his office before going to the villages. As is known, when
following this kind of procedure in Loliondo, visitors are just stopped at an
earlier stage, and prevented from doing anything meaningful. Then the DED says
that the by-election has started and wonders why the lawyers are going to
incite the villagers. Still, I’m happy that finally after the years of panicked
silence following the illegal arrests, torture, and malicious prosecution of
2016, there was a brief news clip.
I’d appreciate more information
about this DED, Jumaa Mhina, who’s filling the position usually reserved for he
Ngorongoro DC in the Loliondo police state, and of course, more information about
the current schemes by the horrible Thomson Safaris would be invaluable. The
actual DC, Raymond Mwangwala, is still seen as a friendly young man, even if there
is evidence that he’s visited the worst of “investors”. This issue requires
another blog post.
Update: Sadly, the chairmen did sign the DED’s letter,
told journalists that they decided to withdraw long ago, and accused the lawyers
of having their own agenda.
Then,
I’d like to ask everyone involved in the Loliondo case in the East Africa Court
of Justice, and anyone who could get involved, to please move this crucial issue
up on your list of priorities!
And, if you can, do get in contact
with Salula Ngorisiolo’s maternal uncle to assist his parents.
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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