With total
lawlessness, massive deployment of security forces, senseless violence and shameless
lies, the Tanzanian government continues planting beacons* in contempt of court
to demarcate and alienate from the Maasai the 1,500 km2 of vitally
important grazing land that it – lobbied by OBC that organizes hunting for
Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai - has attempted to steal so many times. This operation
started less than two weeks before the East African Court of Justice is
expected to deliver its ruling on 22nd June. Many people have been
injured, are missing or arrested, including local leaders who were lured by the
DC and arrested the first day, kept incommunicado, and now charged with "murder" (for self defence exercised while they were locked up) together with ten others. This crime must be stopped,
and the illegal beacons must be uprooted!
The ruling was the day before the scheduled date postponed to September!
In the evening of Friday, 24th June people are being told to leave the illegally demarcated area or livestock will be seized tomorrow! Please help!
*Not sure if the word “beacon”
is used this way everywhere, but they are concrete boundary posts.
Following the blog post that I’ve kept updating,
in this blog post:
The crime
Very brief and
simplified background
NEVER,
through decades of land rights struggle and an increasingly threatening
government side, has any village council or village assembly agreed to a Game
Reserve under any kind of name. Not even the most corrupt and “investor
friendly” groupings (not that they’d have any such authority) have ever signed
away the land for a Game Reserve. Losing 1,500 km2 of vitally
important grazing land would lead to such destruction that it just isn’t
anything anyone can contemplate. The community reports handed over to PM
Majaliwa on 25th May, though over-ambitious considering the time
frame, did certainly not agree to any Game Reserve. The PM was going to “work
on the recommendations”, but instead the government went to war against the Maasai.
A pattern can be seen in the PM’s behaviour.
What makes this attack worse
than any other is that beacons are being planted, and that local leaders,
unlike in the past, don’t get any support from the ruling CCM party, which has
turned into an anti-Maasai monolith. Opposition parties support the Maasai, but there's a one-party parliament. The whole country has copied the Loliondo
Police State, every government supporter has – to some extent – learnt the old narrative
about “Kenyans” and NGOs, breeding grounds and water sources. On the other hand,
most thinking Tanzanians now understand what’s going on. Some have been very
supportive since early this year, with Maria Sarungi Tsehai at the forefront.
Protest statements from international
organisations are so many that I can’t keep up and haven’t had the time to analyse
the level of support (“form a commission and sit down at the same table”, isn’t
that supportive), but the Oakland Institute and Survival International have distinguished
themselves for their speed and Survival for going to the roots by rattling Frankfurt Zoological Society. The much-maligned Kenyan Maasai have shown solidarity by
treating wounds and feeding those who are fleeing across the border (they are many). They
organize protests in different ways, showing love while bickering with each
other.
The crime
In her budget speech on 3rd
June, Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Pindi Chana, announced that
her ministry expects to “upgrade” Loliondo Game Controlled Areas to a Game
Reserve. She never mentioned the 1,500 km2 area (at least not in the
written version), and the only Loliondo GCA that has ever existed is the 4,000
km2 - the whole of Loliondo Division and part of Sale Division
(Piyaya and Malambo wards) - since Wildlife Conservation Act 2009 defunct,
Loliondo GCA that in its totality overlapped with village land and didn’t restrict
local people’s land use in any way. It delineated the hunting block, and that’s
the only thing it continues to do. Further, Chana didn’t put any stress on
Loliondo, but mentioned it in a long list of other (defunct) GCAs to be turned
into Game Reserves, which would mean that the whole northern zone from
Serengeti to Kilimanjaro, and many other areas. The whole of Longido District
would become a Game Reserve. This just couldn’t be taken seriously. Except for
the Ngorongoro MP Emmanuel Oleshangai, this blogger, and some people in social
media, there wasn’t any reaction at all. The other MPs from areas mentioned in
her speech didn’t utter a word*, and nothing was reported in the press.
*Olesendeka from Simanjiro spoke up on 20th June.
As mentioned in my latest blog
post written the same day (with updates since then), on 8th June, in
the morning (but abnormal activities had been noticed already the previous day)
there was an alarm about heavy presence of vehicles from the anti-riot Field
Force Unit (FFU) in Wasso town. The FFU went on to set up camp in the Oloosek
area of Ololosokwan, in Sanjan sub-village of Malambo, Soit Orgoss in Oloipiri,
and Olchoroibor in Loosoito (later Arash was added). Another camp was set up at the DC's office. Other forces confirmed as participating
are Tanzania Wildlife Authority (TAWA), Serengeti and Tanzania National Parks
Authority (SENAPA/TANAPA), soldiers from Tanzania People’s Defence Force (JWTZ)
that have a camp in Olopolun near Wasso since 2018, OBC’s anti-poaching, and
local police. Other on the ground participants in this crime are not yet
confirmed.
It surfaced that on 2nd
and 6th June, the Arusha Regional and Ngorongoro District Security
Committees had held closed-door meetings in Arusha and Karatu. It was in
connection with these meetings that Arusha RC Mongella made a video clip explaining
what he termed as the 'exercise'. A letter from the DED summoning all ward and
village executive officers (WEOs and VEOs) to Karatu on the 7th had
already been leaked. They were asked to come with the stamps of the ward and
village offices. WEOs and VEOs are government employees working under the DC,
and not representing local people in any way.
The video clip featuring RC JohnMongella was uploaded and unquestioningly reported in regular Tanzanian media,
and in this clip the RC repeats Kagasheki’s old – since long stopped and
disproven - lie that the old 4,000 km2 Loliondo GCA would be a protected area
since 1951, but that the government out of love for its people decided to give those
who had moved in 2,500 km2, while 1,500 km2 are being “kept” for critical conservation.
To make matters worse, he pretends that the exercise is “participatory” through
many visits by government officials. He seemed to have forgotten what he was
told when he issued his threat in January! This:
Further, in a press release dated 7th June, Pascal Shelutete, Tanzania National Parks Authority´s public relation’s manager, writes that RC Mongella at a meeting in Karatu called on the people of Arusha Region to support the Government's efforts in conserving Loliondo GCA, and anticipating protests called on those spreading false information to stop doing so, since the government's goal is to preserve the area for the benefit of Tanzanians and the economy of the country.
In Ololosokwan, people
gathered to pray in protest of the unexpected police invasion. Meetings to
deliberate what action to take were reportedly held in several villages.
On 9th
June, the Maasai gathered for more protests and were approached
by armed FFU that wanted to “explain” the operation to them. The FFU also gate-crashed
social gatherings to do the same. The FFU’s explanation – repeating the RC’s
words - was that they were there to demarcate 1,500 km2 as a Game Reserve
- the vital threat that decades of land rights struggle had managed to
avert.
Significantly more pictures
than during other illegal operations started circulating, taken by people sitting
in the grass at a distance. However, a picture taken from a vehicle behind FFUs
confronting Maasai, is obviously not from now, but taken by a journalist when a
committee was unexpectedly met by protests in March 2017 (so stop using that
one).
In Kirtalo women with pangas and
men with bows and arrows made a video clip as a message to show that they were
ready to die for their land.
The councillors of Ololosokwan
(worked as OBC’s assistant director for years), Oloipiri (big friend of OBC when
he was village chairperson), Oloirien, Maaloni, Arash, Piyaya, Malambo, and two
women’s special seats councillors, Kijoolu Kakiya and Taleng’o Leshoko were
arrested after being lured to a meeting by the DC. Nothing was known of their
whereabouts until the 16th (see below).
Reportedly, Parmwaari Merika,
Oloirien village chairman, had been arrested already on 7th June, but
there are such differing views on where he is now that I just don’t know.
The night before
10th June, the land grabbing forces started planting
illegal beacons on village land in Ololosokwan. They Maasai uprooted the
beacons and in the morning the FFU attacked them with teargas and live bullets.
People were arrested and the FFU destroyed several motorbikes. The injured were
taken across the border to Kenya for treatment, some needing surgery. Pictures
of injuries were shared, some may not find it ethical, but they made an impact
on Tanzanians online. The latest number of injuries I’ve heard, compiled by
Kenyan doctors, was 128, but many people are missing.
The over 70 years old Oriais
Oleng'iyo who was last seen with bullet wounds and detained by the FFU is not
seen on the list of those charged with murder and not found anywhere else.
One FFU officer was killed by arrowshot (or arrowshot is what RC Mongella said). While human life is always irreplaceable, this is a clear case of self-defence. He was 36, not 18, aware of what his profession entailed, and that when sent with hundreds of colleagues to plant boundary beacons on Maasai land, he knew that he was sent to commit a crime.
In parliament, PM Majaliwa’s
“explanation” was expected from someone who when Magufuli was dying or already
dead declared that the president was working hard with loads of files on his
desk. He claimed that beacons are being placed to protect the environment and
that the local Maasai will not be affected. He warned people of ill will who are
spreading a video with false information, referring to the clip from Kirtalo,
saying that the Maasai weren’t pointing their arrows at any police, while
missing the point that it was a message sent to himself. Speaker Tulia Ackson,
said that the government has explained the operation, that those spreading
false information will be dealt with, and that Tanzania is in an economic war
with other countries.
On 11th
June, RC Mongella arrived in Loliondo with the regional
security committee to repeat Kagasheki’s old lie about the land status in
Loliondo, a lie that was put stop to already in 2013, but that the government now
is set to keep repeating again and again. He said that the illegal operation was
going just fine, while confirming that one police was the previous day killed
by arrowshot and putting emphasis on that it happened after PM Majaliwa’s statement.
Then he posed in photos planting illegal beacons.
On ITV and Channel 10 doctors
from Wasso stood saying that they didn't have any injured people, and Tanzanian
media has since continued showing an appalling lack of professionalism,
sticking tightly to the government disinformation narrative.
The stream of pictures stopped,
and reporting became sporadic.
Violence continued in
Ololosokwan and more people were injured.
One elderly man in Malambo died
when hit by a FFU vehicle.
In the evening there was
teargas and illegal planting of beacons in Oltulelei area of Maaloni. People
were arrested and beaten, and the FFU set fire to three motorbikes.
At night the FFU fired shots in all directions in Mairowa in Ololosokwan, not in the 1,500 km2 area that’s being targeted by illegal demarcation. Houses were searched and people were beaten. Many ran away into the bush to hide. More people fled to Kenya.
Albert Selembo, legal officer
at the organization IDINGO was arrested and then kept being held at Loliondo
police station, on unknown charges, until appearing on the murder charge sheet together
with the councillors.
International media started reporting
to an extent that was hard to keep up with. Some had problems not mixing up
this illegal operation with the speeded spin, deprivations and restrictions
taking place in Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Some repeated the incorrect information
that OBC’s licence would have been cancelled in 2017, and other confusion.
In the WhatsApp group CCM Yetu,
and maybe elsewhere, an “article” about me was being shared, in which I was
accused of being an international spy, working with a Kenyan senator, and the
councillor of Ololosokwan (unlikely) providing young people with smartphones.
Further, I had earlier bought arms for the Maasai in the conflict with the
Sonjo, created an elephant poaching network, and whatever. Later, I was informed
that similar accusations had been entertained in a Clubhouse room with government
spokesperson Gerson Msigwa. I haven’t even listened to the recordings.
On 12th
June, at the funeral of the FFU officer, Ngorongoro DC, Raymond Mwangwal – who unlike
previous DCs seemed to earlier have left much repression work to the DED - told
media that those talking online, instigating things that aren't true, will be
found wherever they are, in classic Loliondo police state style. Head of police
operations, Liberatus Sabas, declared that anyone involved in the killing of
the police who died from arrowshot will be hunted down day and night.
On 13th June, Inspector
General of Police, Simon Sirro, arrived in to Loliondo to make his contribution
to the illegal demarcation, accompanied by RC Mongella. Sirro said that the
demarcation operation is going just fine, but there are some people,
politicians included, who are stirring things up, using the Maasai for their
own benefit. Sirro too posed with illegal beacons, and with some clueless
mostly non-Maasai young men at the area with shops in Soitsambu.
The government spokesperson,
Gerson Msigwa, repeated the same old Kagasheki-style lie – that 4,000 km2
are “protected”, but that the benevolent government is just keeping 1,500 km2
while generously giving the Maasai 2,500 km2, when the whole 4,000
km2 is legally registered village land and the 1,500 km2
vitally important grazing land - and the same threats against instigators.
The African Commission of
Human and People's Rights called for cessation of the eviction.
MP Emmanuel Oleshangai
confirmed that at least 31 people (the numbers have since risen) had been
seriously injured in the demarcation exercise on village land, and that they
are being treated in Kenya after being denied treatment at the Osero clinic in
Ololosokwan for lacking the required PF3 form that the police are supposed to
provide. He explained that the injured were his voters and not Kenyans.
Further, the MP demanded the release of the detained leaders, and made clear
that the operation is most definitely not "participatory" since even
he had not been informed, despite sitting in the same parliament as the
Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism.
On 14th June, 30
FFU vehicles arrived in Arash and set up camp in the Emoyokwa area.
The Ngorongoro MP was summoned
to the police, and so were Olesendeka, MP of Simanjiro and Kitila Mkumbo, MP of
Ubungo. The accusations were of incitement and what the three have in common is
that they spoke up during the vicious anti-Maasai hatred in parliament in
February. The MPs were questioned and released.
On 15th June, Edward
Hoseah president of Tanganyika Law Society has made a useless, spineless, and
shameless statement advising the Ngorongoro MP to report injuries to the
police!
Six UN experts warned about
escalating violence amidst plan to forcefully evict Maasai from ancestral lands
and urged to immediately halt plans for relocation.
Amnesty International called
on the Tanzanian government to halt the brutal security operation in Loliondo.
The FFU opened fire at the
market in Oltulelei causing fear and panic. In Malambo as well were they firing
shots into the air, and they beat up a motorbike rider whom they thought was
following them.
Arrests continued in an
apparently aimless way. Freddy Ledidi from Oloirien who's District Natural
Resources Officer (which may make some suspect he’s a double dealer) was
arrested and so was the elder Koyie, brother of who used to be ward councillor
for Orgosorok years ago, which led people to first think that the other brother
had been arrested. Ledidi and Koyie were locked up at Loliondo Police Station
and nobody has been allowed to see them.
Deputy Permanent
Representative to the Tanzania Mission to the UN in Geneva, Hoyce Temu, lied in
the most malicious way from start to finish denying any state violence,
claiming that a 4,000 km2 reserved area had been encroached and that
the government in peaceful talks with local residents had agreed to divide the
area and keep 1,500 km2 as a protected area, that a minority against
the exercise made recordings while posing threateningly and combined this with
unrelated pictures, that the government has called on anyone alleging to have
been attacked to come forward for the law to take its course and for treatment,
but that nobody has come forward. The
ambassador did literally not say one word of truth.
Meanwhile
in Endulen - in NCA, not Loliondo - there was a big spectacle with 20
vehicles carrying RC Mongella and other dignitaries, and the useless press, to
witness 6 families who have fallen for the Msomera scam and were demolishing
their houses. One of the vehicles hit and injured 14-year old Nemburis
Oletombo. For some reason, the government figures seem eager for people not to
mix this up with Loliondo, but their supporters do this gladly in social media anyway,
and all the time. So do many allies of the Maasai.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Hamad
Masauni, arrived in Loliondo in helicopter to make a statement – as if from the
warfront - directing Immigration to strengthen border security to prevent
illegal entry by foreigners and so avoid incitement activities. He also ordered
NGOs to be investigated to make sure they operate within the law and don’t
engage in breach of peace. As known to anyone familiar with Loliondo or with
this blog, threatening “Kenyans” (anyone who could speak up) and NGOs is the most
classic rhetoric of the Loliondo police state. A clip of this was widely shared
the following day and the Tanzanian press, that by now has lost all credibility,
reported uncritically.
On 17th June, a
solidarity demonstration in Nairobi by Kenyan Maasai was broken up by the
Kenyan police and demonstrators taken to the Central Police Station. After a few
hours they were freed unconditionally. Another demonstration, in Namanga, went
on without incidence.
The Tanzanian government organized
its own demonstration using supposed Maasai without
any relation to Loliondo, or Ngorongoro, to demonstrate outside the Kenyan
embassy in Dar es Salaam thanking the government for dividing Loliondo so that
the Maasai have a place to live(!), and accusing Kenyans and NGOs of inciting conflict. Later it was found that people had been told that 150 Maasai were needed to go and sing for some white people at Dar Free Market Mall and would get 20,000 shillings each. Some Parakuyo Maasai gathered, but most fled when they saw what was being cooked.
The whereabouts of the nine councillors and the CCM district chairman were not known until 16th June when they were sneaked to court without any legal representation and then locked up in Kisongo remand prison. The following day it was revealed that they, and ten other arrested people from Loliondo had been charged with murder contrary to Section 196 of the Penal Code [Cap 16 R:E 2019] in the preliminary inquiry case No 11 of 2022. Remember that the councillors were locked up the day before the FFU officer was killed by an arrowshot.
Reportedly, after a CCM
meeting the DC summoned them to the District Security Committee and there was
an agreement that they would keep people calm during the demarcation operation.
Then the DC announced that a special task force had arrived and that the
councillors were needed for individual interrogations. At midnight they were
put in a vehicle and driven to an unknown destination that upon arrival was
identified as a smaller police station in Arusha town, Chekereni, where they
were interrogated regarding sedition and not murder.
The councillors weren’t
allowed to contact family or lawyers, until being joined by ten others and secretly
taken to court to be read murder charges. The other group had been arrested in
their homes, along the road, or in Wasso town. They had been tortured and
accused of reporting about violence in Loliondo, interrogated on suspicion of spreading
false information, but later they were told a murder charge had been found and
they were re-interrogated for murder. While held at Loliondo police station they
weren’t allowed to contact relatives, and not fed for four days, until they
were taken to Arusha and charged with murder. Not feeding those detained is
common practise at Loliondo police station, as I could see from the writings on
the wall when I spent 2 nights there in 2015 (I was fed though). Further problems
are very low temperatures, no blankets, and plentiful mosquitoes.
The case will be heard on 30th
June.
The ever patient and negotiating
Onesmo Olengurumwa of Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition, that had the president
as guest of honour at their 10th anniversary a month ago, tweeted, “It
is now officially, our relatives and our leaders in Loliondo have been
maliciously charged with murder case. These include those who were illegally
detained one day before the killing of the Police officer. This marks the end
of any negotiations
@SuluhuSamia”
Memusi Taki, Njoroi village chairman
was arrested on 17th June. (Edit: I may have to correct this, since there are differing views on when he was arrested)
Sadly, since this is Loliondo,
even during the most heinous crime, opportunistic traitors will emerge. I
wouldn’t mention it without confirmation from sources close to the individual. One
Matiko Maoi has been contracted and is driving around on his motorbike looking
for women and youths to pay to get involved in a pro-government demonstration.
Immigration Commissioner for
Border Control and Administration, Samwel Mahirane came to Loliondo on the 18th
to stand next to an illegal beacon (he too), threatening people who are
sabotaging the exercise and have fled. He said they are known and will all be dealt
with. He also threatened NGOs.
In Arash, and probably elsewhere,
the FFU continue using tear gas and planting illegal beacons.
Very brief
and simplified background
In Loliondo (and parts of
Sale) Division of Ngorongoro District the Tanzanian government has for many
years wanted to alienate 1,500 km2 of legally registered village
land that’s vitally important grazing land.
The other division of
Ngorongoro District is Ngorongoro Division or Ngorongoro Conservation Area
where Maasai land rights also are seriously threatened and where they live
under restrictions not found in Loliondo. This is a closely related, but separate
issue (see many previous blog posts). The government lie about NCA is, “The
Maasai are relocating “voluntary” to Handeni” while the government lie about
Loliondo is, “The Maasai have been “given” 2,500 km2.”
Otterlo Business Corporation,
that organizes hunting for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai, has had the 4,000 km2
hunting block (permit to hunt on legally registered village land) since 1993 (first
contract signed in 1992) and kept lobbying the government to turn their 1,500
km2 of preferred hunting area into a protected area, including
funding a draft district land use plan in 2010-2011.
OBC’s lobbying has led to illegal
mass arson operations in 2009 and 2017, ordered by the DC, and to a local
police state in which anyone who dares to criticize the hunters (and an
American ecotourism company called Thomson Safaris) is severely harassed and
slandered, illegal arrests included, often accused of not really being
Tanzanian, but from the neighbouring country.
 |
| Oloosek 13th August 2017 |
It should be noted that OBC
licence has never been cancelled (except for the first 10-year contract in the
mid-1990s that was replaced with regular 5-year hunting block licenses). After
having stopped the illegal operation in 2017, for a few days, Minister Kigwangalla
was saying that OBC would have to leave before January 2018, but they never
left and on 6th December PM Majaliwa declared that they were
staying. In April 2018 OBC again gifted the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism with 15 vehicles. I’ve lost all patience with people who claim otherwise.
The Maasai have celebrated
some victories, like in 2011 when the Ngorongoro District Council strongly
rejected OBC’s land use plan, and in 2013 when Minister Kagasheki tried to
alienate the 1,500 km2 via vociferous lies that the whole 4,000 km2
was a protected area and the Maasai would be gifted with 2,500 km2 (the
lie that the government has now picked up again), and he was resoundingly
stopped by PM Pinda when both opposition and ruling party supported the
protests by the Maasai. On 25th September 2018 there was another victory
when the East African Court of Justice issued an injunction restraining the
government from evictions, destruction and harassment of the applicants, but
that happened at the point of most panicked fear and could not be that much
celebrated.
There have been many low
points, like in 2016-2017 when a select committee after sharply increased
repression reached a sad compromise proposal (a WMA), that had earlier been
rejected by the Maasai, to hand over to PM Majaliwa, which was followed by
unexpected illegal mass arson (there may be a pattern here). Or in 2018 when
nobody dared to speak up against police efforts to derail the case in the East
African Court of Justice filed during the illegal 2017 operation, and then the
silence continued when soldiers from a military camp set up in Loliondo the same
year tortured people and razed bomas in Ololosokwan and Kirtalo, violating the recently
issued court orders. At that time all local leaders thought that the attack had
been ordered by the president, but when the RC denounced it in a vague way,
they changed to thinking that it was OBC’s director contracting the soldiers.
In 2019, a most terrible
zoning proposal for Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) included turning the
1,500 km2 into the protected area preferred by OBC and annexing it
to NCA, was presented by NCA chief conservator Manongi. There have been many protests
from every group in NCA against this proposal, but not so many protests from
Loliondo, where people had been intimidated into silence.
In
January 2022, Arusha RC Mongella came to Loliondo to announce that the
government would make a painful decision about the land, for the wider interest
of the nation, and this broke the silence and led to protest meetings. This was
taking place at the same time as a demented anti-Maasai hate campaign in media
and parliament, primarily directed at the Maasai of NCA, but also affecting
those from Loliondo who for many years have already been targeted by a hate
campaign conducted by Manyerere Jackton in the Jamhuri newspaper. As has
happened before, this “journalist”, who this year renewed his incitement after
lying low following that OBC’s director in 2019 was kept in remand prison on
economic sabotage charges, is now quiet and enjoying the terror that’s
unfolding.
On 17th February,
PM Majaliwa, known as a psychopathic liar by virtually all Tanzanians, when in
NCA, not Loliondo, ordered beacons to be erected “so that we may know
the boundaries” of the 1,500 km2, which nobody needs to know unless there
are bad intentions. The PM repeated the same in parliament on 11th
March. He kept talking about water – and then a spectacle was made about water
projects outside the 1,500 km2 - when the area’s importance for
grazing had been explained to him in Loliondo on 14th February. Protests
followed. At a huge protest meeting in Arash on 19th March, several
leaders spoke up in defence of the land, among them the Arash ward councillor
Methew Siloma spoke up very clearly and strongly. The message from this meeting
was:
-PM Majaliwa is a liar.
-The Maasai are not renouncing
one square inch of land.
-They request to meet with the
president, since Majaliwa can’t be trusted.
Several local leaders in
Loliondo were arrested. The councillors of Arash and Malambo were taken to
Arusha and interrogated.
On 31st March
Abdulrahman Kinana was brought in from the cold, after having fallen out with
Magufuli, and is now Vice-Chairman of CCM mainland. Kinana is one of OBC’s and
Sheikh Mohammed’s best and oldest friends since at least 1993.
Then a committee agreed to
hand over community recommendations to the PM, which was done on 25th
May, and Majaliwa said that he’d work on the recommendations.
On 3rd June,
Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Pindi Chana in her budget speech
announced that her ministry expected to upgrade Loliondo to a Game Reserve, but
she did this while listing huge area of Tanzania for the same expectation, which
didn’t make it sound believable or realistic in any way, and there was hardly any
reaction, except for an intervention by Ngorongoro MP Emmanuel Shangai.
On 9th June the
heavily armed Field Force Unit set up camps in Loliondo, after closed-door
meetings by the regional and district security committees and no information at
all to local leaders, not even the MP, many of whom were arrested the same
day, and have now been charged with murder.
The demarcation started on 10th
June. Protesting Maasai were teargassed and shot at with live bullets by the
FFU, many were injured, arrested, fled to Kenya, or are missing. One FFU was
killed by arrowshot. RC Mongella and PM Majaliwa say that the operation is
going on just fine, that instigators will be seriously dealt with, and their
explanation is a repetition of Kagasheki’s old and disproven lies. The
Tanzanian press almost exclusively keep to the government narrative. Ministers
and police authorities appear in Loliondo to make statements as from the
warfront, threaten “Kenyans” and NGOs, and take photos with the illegal
beacons.
There has been substantial,
sometimes confused, international media coverage, and a stream of protest
statements by international organisations.
The ruling in the East African
Court of Justice is expected on 22nd June.
The constant attacks, the government’s
insatiable appetite to - for the conservation-tourism industrial complex - deprive
the people who already lost vast areas with the creation of Serengeti National
Park, require a new approach. Is it time to reclaim Serengeti?
The illegal
beacons planted in blood, and contempt of court, must be immediately uprooted!
Olesendeka, MP for Simanjiro, spoke up in parliament against the illegal operation in Loliondo and against Chana's talk about GCAs and game reserves. He was viciously bullied by the speaker, Tulia Ackson. Deputy Minister Masanja lied that there aren't any people living in those areas.
Tanzanian press continued quoting Rector for College of African Wildlife Management Mweka, Prof. Jafari Kideghesho’s lies about the “downsizing” of a protected area in Loliondo. This liar also participated in making the genocidal MLUM review proposal for NCA.
21st June
Just one day before the expected ruling in the East African Court of Justice it was postponed to September!
Deputy Minister Masanja, Minister of Constitution and Legal Affairs Ndumbaro, Director of Wildlife, Msuha, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mulamula stood in front of spineless diplomats telling their blood soaked lies about Loliondo, and about Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Wilson Kilong and Patita Maya were arrested at their place of work at a tourist camp. I need more exact information about this. Later it seems like only Wilson was arrested.
22nd June, a lot has happened.
In Malambo, the invading security forces were counting the bomas found inside their illegal demarcation.
On Zoom, a
most terrible propaganda spectacle for the Tanzanian government’s war against the
Maasai in Loliondo and NCA was held, in which government officials had
coordinated their lies, strictly keeping to the old Kagasheki-style lie. Pindi
Chana went as far as claiming to on 17th June having gazetted the
1,500 km2 into a “Pololeti GCA”– after a week of war against the Maasai, with
local leaders illegally arrested, charged with murder for a death the day after
they were arrested, and others in hiding. The French ambassador participated
making some pointless comments, supposedly lending legitimacy. He could have
been uninformed and not understanding the language, but just the day before diplomats
were told the government’s lies in English.
MP Emmanuel
Shangai spoke up telling the national assembly in no uncertain terms that land
in Loliondo is village land, that when we talk about land we talk about people’s
lives, and that what's being done in Loliondo is a land grab that no person or village
government has agreed to. He rejected intervention by ignorant, or worse,
parliamentarians. It was the best thing that has happened this year.
Kigwangalla
wrote a comment differing with the government when recognising that the 1,500
km2 undoubtedly is village land, but otherwise the message was not particularly
impressive.
Commissioner
General of Immigration, Anna Makakala, arrived in Loliondo to add her statement
from the warfront against he Maasai, announcing that there would be 10 days of flushing
out illegal immigrants.
Then, or I
don’t know in what order everything happened, there was a negotiation meeting
between Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition and Ndumbaro who the same day
in the zoom meeting was very much lying and threatening indeed. A strange and worrying thing to do. Reportedly, the
government was ashamed, but didn’t know how to get out of it. Ministers were
quite ignorant and had been brainwashed. It would be the quickest way to get
those arrested out of prison and Ndumbaro pledged that amnesty would be given
to those who fled the country. The government, particularly the MNRT was
however not willing to remove the beacons, which must be an absolute
precondition to any negotiations. I'm getting more and more annoyed with these talks with not particularly repentful criminals.
23rd June
More people were added to the ridiculous murder case: Freddy Ledidi, Lekerenga Koyia who's over 75 years old and with kidney problems and Kelvin Nairoti who has injuries from police violence.
There was a letter with the information that CCM's National Executive Committee has met on the 21st under the chairperson Samia Suluhu Hassan, and among other issues nominated a contestant for Ngorongoro District Council chairperson. Normally there would be three contestants, but now there was only Mohammed "Marekani" Bayo, current deputy chairman and OBC's community liasion for many years.
Majaliwa arrived in Loliondo together with the RC, DC, DED, and Minister Chana. to continue lying. One of his lies was that the the beacons had been planted many kilometres from where people are living, which everyone participating in the crime have with their own eyes seen is not true.
The following day a creepy clip was shared in which soldiers form the national army were singing to Majaliwa in Loliondo.
24th June
At Ngorongoro District Council,
Majaliwa instructed village and ward executive officers to tell people to leave
the illegally demarcated area within 24 hours, or their livestock would be confiscated.
In the evening, there were pictures
and reports from Sanjan in Malambo ward of how the Maasai, under fear and
panic, were loading their belongings on donkeys.
Then came reports that the
same was happening in Arash, Oltulelei in Oloirien, and everywhere. Shots were being fired
and people were being beaten, reportedly by both the FFU and soldiers from the
national army.
Tanzanian online news media uploaded the government’s war film in which it calls for all conservation organisations to support the war against the Maasai.
25th June
In Karkamoru, Kirtalo, Girrima Yaile was severely beaten and arrested by soldiers. Taken to unknown location.
Later it's unclear if he ever was arrested.
As is usual when it comes to Loliondo, a clip featuring some traitors, filmed during early days of the illegal operation was released. Featured was former councillor, now traditional leader, Long'oi, who when they started to become really aggressive in 2014, was part of the "investor friendly" group led by William Alais and Gabriel Killel. The message was that there wasn't any violence at all and nobody was being evicted from the illegally demarcated area. The other two were traditionl leader Lekakui Kanduli and Freddy Lindi who's chairman of Oloswashi in Maaloni ward.
26th June
Families, women, children and livestock continue leaving Sanjan with their belongings packed on donkeys.
In Ololosokwan the security forces are saying that they will never leave and will revenge the death of the police by killing 15 people.
27th June
In Ormanie, Arash, donkeys and other livestock belonging to Parkimalo Lupa were shot when on the way to the river. Parkimalo was beaten by the criminal security forces.
In the evening morans went to slaughter the dead cattle but were chased way by security forces.
28th June
There were reports of security forces firing bullets over cattle in the area of Taasa Lodge Ololosokwan.
29th June
The director of wildlife, Maurus Msuha, held a press conference insisting on the government's lies.
A group of anti-Maasai religious leaders, led by Azim Dewji, and including the government favourite imposter, traditional leader Lekisongo, was announced.
I wasn't told until Friday 1st July, but it seems confirmed that 16 people from Serng'etuny sub-village in Piyaya and 9 from Malambo were arrested and taken to Loliondo police station. Further, security forces took adults and children from their bomas in vehicles to dump them at Malambo market leaving their cattle and properties behind.
OR, confirmed 10 arrested from Ndinyika, Malambo and 7 from Serng'etuny, Piyaya.
30th June
The ridiculous murder case came up for mention in court, but was postponed to 14th July for further "investigation". Memusi Taki and Wilson Kilong had been added, so now 25 people have been charged.
President Samia appointed the retired chief of Tanzania People’s Defence Forces, General Venance Mabeyo, as chairman of the board of directors of the NCAA.
Mass arrests are spreading to areas in Loliondo far from the illegal
demarcation attack. At least 21 people arrested in Naan, their houses invaded
at night, and Ng'arwa in Enguserosambu, several village or sub-village chairmen
among them. Also pregnant women and those with small children. They are
"suspected of being immigrants".
1st July
Simon Saitoti, councillor of Ngorongoro ward in NCA, was arrested and will be sent to Loliondo. The councillor had visited those ridiculously charged with murder on Wednesday and when he returned to Oloirobi he was arrested. Reportedly, he had also been in Loliondo at the start of the illegal attack on the Maasai, and people in his ward have refused to meet with an religious imposter group. 2nd July
2nd July
The night to 2nd July, 30 people were arrested in Njoroi and 11 arrested in Oloika sub-village. They are accused of being "Kenyan.
In the afternoon, the security forces started burning seasonal bomas in the Oldoinyorok area of Arash. Six ronjos were burned to the ground.
350 cows and many sheep were seized in Ololosokwan, belonging to Parmuat in Mairowa and Lukeine in Oloika.
3rd July
The repression copycat, Thomson Safaris, engaged the police in harassment and arrests in Sukenya.
4th July
The security forces seized cows and sheep from over five bomas in Ildupa sub-village of Ormanie, and drove them to Engutoto sub-village in Arash. Now they are trying to extort 100,000 TShs per cow and 25,000 per sheep from the owners.
5th July
Mohammed Marekani Bayo was "unanimously elected" as district council chairman.
Reportedly, Simon Saitoti was addded to the ridiculous murder charges, and so was an elderly injured man.
6th July
Unconfirmed reports of more seized cattle.
In Olosirwa sub-village of Kirtalo six people were arrested, including a primary school teacher when police in four vehicles invaded the school.
7th July
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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