-Minister Pindi Chana has, against
every law and procedure, a week after the illegal and very violent operation
started, “gazetted” a fake and illegal “Pololeti Game Controlled Area”.
-Government officials have kept
landing in helicopter to, as from the warfront, say that the exercise is going
just fine and is participatory, at the same time as issuing threats and clapping
to war songs performed by massive security forces.
-The Maasai landowners and their
livestock are suffering mostly untold abuse. Independent press is blocked from
the area and does not exist in Tanzania anyway.
-Nine councillors and the CCM
District Chairman were arrested the day before the illegal demarcation started
and have together with 15 (or now 17) other people been charged with the murder
of a FFU officer who was killed after the local leaders were locked up.
-Hundreds of Maasai have been injured,
at least 31 seriously, and thousands have fled to Kenya.
-In areas of Malambo, and elsewhere,
the Maasai are being chased away from their homes.
-The this time without any exception anti-Maasai
expressions among government supporters make this the most dangerous attack so
far, but also more Tanzanians than ever before are aware of what’s happening and
expressing their support for the Maasai.
-Then started mass arrests of Maasai
accused of being so-called “Kenyans”, arson of seasonal bomas, and illegal mass
seizing of livestock.
-The government, that already has
the huge Serengeti National Park, is lawless, boundaryless and brutal in
satisfying the thirst for Maasai land by the conservation-tourism industrial
complex, in this case OBC that organises hunting for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai.
- Where is over 70-years old Oriais Oleng'iyo who was last seen
injured and detained by security forces on 10th June?
 |
| Illegal beacon in Arash. |
Updates at the end of the blog post.
The Tanzanian government in its effort to alienate Maasai land in
Loliondo has committed illegal mass arson operations in 2009 and 2017, and a
local police state has for many years now been in force to silence anyone who
could speak up about investors that don’t respect land rights (OBC and the
American Thomson Safaris) but the current illegal demarcation operation is the worst
threat so far and I’ve written about it in two blog posts that have then been updated. 8th June and 19th June.
Currently it’s hard to keep up with all violence and lies, and I may have missed something significant.
In this blog post:
The government’s huge and shameless lie
Pre-emptive illegal arrests and trumped-up
charges
The violence
Government showing off its own crime
Support
Government not getting support from its
international allies
Don’t confuse Loliondo with NCA, just don't
Traitors
Tourism as state religion
Summary of previous efforts to rob the Maasai
of 1,500 km2 in Loliondo
The government’s huge and shameless lie
In the morning of 8th June, massive joint security forces,
most visibly the anti-riot Field Force Unit, had gathered in Wasso town and set
off to set up camp in Oloosek area of Ololosokwan, in Sanjan sub-village of
Malambo, Soit Orgoss in Oloipiri, and Olchoroibor in Loosoito, while some forces
camped at the DC's office. On 14th June, another camp was set up in
the Emoyokwa area of Arash.
Information surfaced that on 2nd and 6th June, the
Arusha Regional and Ngorongoro District Security Committees had held
closed-door meetings in Arusha and Karatu. In connection with this RC Mongella
had recorded a clip “explaining” the exercise with some absurd lies that were unquestioningly
shared all over regular Tanzanian media. The government had picked up the old
lie, used by Kagasheki in 2013, until even then PM Pinda had to recognise that
it just didn’t correspond with reality. This lie is to claim that the whole
4,000 km2 Loliondo hunting block (the whole of Loliondo division and
Malambo and Piyaya wards in Sale division) is a “protected area” that has been “encroached”
and that the government out of the kindness of its heart is “giving” the Maasai
2,500 km2 while only “keeping” 1,500 km2. The whole 4,000
km2 has been customary owned land since before colonial times and was
further protected through Local Government (District Authorities) Act, 1982 and
Village Land Act No. 5 of 1999, and is without any kind of doubt legally registered
village land. The lie is based on that the land was since the 1950s also a
so-called Game Controlled Area that regulated hunting but didn’t interfere with
local land use in any way and until Wildlife Conservation Act 2009, that came
into operation in 2010, could totally overlap with village land. The Loliondo
GCA is now defunct, but there have been attempts, funded by OBC, to convert
their 1,500 km2 favourite hunting area into a new kind of GCA that’s
the same as a Game Reserve, and does not allow any Maasai land use. All such
attempts have been strongly rejected by local Maasai and relevant authorities. Believing
such a lie is the same as believing that the district headquarters and the DC office
have “encroached” on a protected area. Anyone who takes it seriously either supports
the demented violence or is a coward who wants to use “it’s complex”
as an excuse not to speak up.
Not only did Mongella stand there in his clip repeating the shameless lie,
but he also claimed that the demarcation exercise was “participatory”. He of course knew that the response from the Maasai since when he first started announcing
the threat in January this year could not have been clearer, that nobody has ever
agreed to hand over the land to the government, and illegal mass arrests of
local leaders (see below) the following day further showed how very well Mongella
knew that he was lying.
In Ololosokwan, and elsewhere, people gathered to pray, protest, and deliberate
what action to take. These meetings continued the following day, 9th
June, and were gate-crashed by armed FFU officers “explaining” that they would
demarcate the 1,500 km2 to turn it into a game reserve.
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. A very clear
message for PM Majaliwa, which he chose to ignore.
In parliament on 10th June when violence was exploding, PM
Majaliwa (known for his glowing reports on Magufuli’s health when the president
was probably already dead) claimed that beacons were being placed to protect
the environment and that the local Maasai would “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 had explained the operation,
that those spreading false information would be dealt with, and that Tanzania
is in an economic war with other countries. Another liar, Arusha RC Mongella,
later (see below) tried to justify the PM’s behaviour with that he made the
announcements before the FFU officer had been killed.
On 15th June, five days after the violent attack on the
Maasai had started, 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. This ambassador later continued lying in a Zoom meeting, and probably
in many other places that I haven’t kept up with.
On 17th June, 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.
Authentic Maasai youths in Dar es Salaam issued a statement to denounce
the fake demonstration, but were of course not covered by any of the regular press.
Tanzanian press kept quoting the 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, as did the Director of Wildlife, Maurus Msuha, who also has been very active lying about Loliondo.
Deputy Minister Masanja, Minister of Constitution and Legal Affairs
Ndumbaro, Director of Wildlife, Msuha, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mulamula
on 21st June, stood in front of spineless diplomats telling their
blood-soaked, easy to debunk, lies about Loliondo, and about Ngorongoro
Conservation Area. In a clip shared by the Tanzanian government, Ndumbaro
totally manipulates the diplomats (not shown but heard) making them stand up in
silence for the slain FFU officer, clap, and giggle. He lectures them that
there aren’t any indigenous people in Tanzania, that nobody owns land, and that
human rights aren’t the same in Africa as in Europe, since there are “human and
people’s rights”, which I think would mean more rights, but to Ndumbaro it
justifies human rights crimes. He talks about a conflict between environmental
interests and grazing, but it’s obvious that if had the Maasai used their land
in some other way, less compatible with wildlife, they would not now be
suffering all this abuse. Ndumbaro shamelessly directs himself to the British
high commissioner, thanking the British for having made Loliondo into a
protected area that lasts until today – which is the big lie – and the
diplomats just laugh and clap. Though maybe this time they had asked not to
feature in photos, to avoid situations like in March, when the Ministry of Natural Resources and
Tourism declared that the German ambassador supported their “efforts” in
Ngorongoro (still not publicly denied by the ambassador). The ministry did
however show off the UAE ambassador, and the following day the French
ambassador lent himself to a most deplorable spectacle.
 |
| Masanja, Ndumbaro and UAE ambassador Khalifa Abdul Rahman Al Marzouqi |
In a government propaganda meeting on Zoom on 22nd June, in
which they kept repeating the same lies, Minister of Natural Resources and
Tourism, 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. Until then,
the government had been talking about a Game Reserve, but finally decided to
create a GCA on another GCA, since their lie is that Loliondo Game Controlled
Area still exists and is a protected area. The French ambassador participated
making some pointless comments about France. He could have been uninformed and
not understanding the language, if it weren’t because just the day before
diplomats were told the government’s lies in English. On 29th June,
the director of wildlife, Maurus Msuha, held another press conference insisting
on the same lies.
 |
| Two areas, as in the genocidal MLUM review proposal. |
On 29th June, a group of anti-Maasai religious leaders was
announced, led by businessman Azim Dewji (who also made an appearance in the Zoom meeting, sounding
authentically stupid, trying to repeat government lies about Loliondo) and
including the government favourite imposter, traditional leader Lekisongo. Not
much was then heard about this group, except that it wasn’t welcomed in
Ngorongoro ward, but Dewji reappeared on 5th July talking about
peace and voluntary relocations from NCA. I may have to return to this
individual.
 |
| Azim Dewji |
A special mention among liars in the war against the Maasai of Loliondo
goes to OBC’s journalist Manyerere Jackton. This year has seen his return to
incitement against the Loliondo Maasai. The past years he’s parroted chief
conservator Manongi’s rhetoric about NCA, but he lied low about Loliondo
following the arrest of OBC’s director Mollel in 2019, after in over 60
articles having spewed out unhinged hate rhetoric against the Maasai of
Loliondo and campaigned for taking the 1,500 km2 away from them. He
has claimed that 70 percent of the Loliondo Maasai would not be Tanzanian, and
published lists of hundreds of private persons that his “sources” consider to
be “Kenyan” – which he returned to boasting about in his latest article on 28th
June. His slandering of those speaking up for land rights, or those he thinks
could speak up for land rights, has been vicious and insane. Besides this, he’s
capable of fabricating any story for apparently no reason at all. This year,
the Jamhuri joined Habib Mchange and Maulid Kitenge in their more recent media hate
campaign against the Ngorongoro Maasai.
Even worse is that I’ve in the past experienced first-hand how Jackton
likes to boast about being directly involved in arrests of innocent people.
He’s been boasting quite publicly, published photos of the phones of those
illegally arrested, and used to email me rude one-liners when someone was about
to be arrested. This year I have however not been contacted by this “journalist”.
Also, OBC’s director Isaack Mollel himself has, after a couple of years
of lying low, returned to sharing his views in the press, in at least two
international articles. His message is that the president can change the land
use anywhere in Tanzania to benefit the nation, naming a couple of brutal
evictions operations to exemplify, adding that urban NGOs use the Maasai as
milking cows (Toward Freedom), and (after the illegal operation had started) repeating the government’s lie about
dividing the land while claiming that there’s no land scarcity in Tanzania
(Financial Times).
On 5th July, when I finally was to publish this blog post, the
same lies about Loliondo and NCA were parroted by the Minister of Lands,
Housing and Human Settlements Developments, Angeline Mabula, Kennedy Gastorn, Tanzanian
representative to the UN, Adelardus Kilangi, Tanzanian ambassador to Brazil, who
thought Tanzania could learn from Brazil (!) opening a whole new chamber of horrors, solicitor general, Gabriel Malata, and others. They must all be
documented and taken to court.
See below for lies and threats by government officials while documenting
their own crime, on the ground in Loliondo.
Two parliamentarians, both Maasai, have spoken
up against the land grab operation.
On 20th June, Olesendeka, MP for Simanjiro, spoke up in
parliament against the illegal operation in Loliondo and against Chana's talk
about GCAs and game reserves on the 3rd when the minister had
engaged in confused talk that would imply turning very extensive areas of the
country into game reserves. He was viciously bullied by the speaker, Tulia
Ackson, about law paragraphs. Deputy Minister Masanja lied that there aren't
any people living in “those areas”, apparently meaning the old defunct game
controlled areas, denying the existence of hundreds of thousands of Tanzanians.
On 22nd June, MP Emmanuel Oleshangai 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 several interventions by ignorant, or worse than
ignorant, parliamentarians, one of them Ridhiwani Kikwete. I don’t know how the
MP can keep calm and smiling in a house so full of evil. "I know there
are people laughing here, but I am talking about the lives of my people, my
grandparents, my fathers, my brothers and my younger siblings. It is their
land”, he said.
In short, the government is robbing the Maasai of 1,500
km2 of mostly less densely populated grazing land, expecting them to
squeeze into the remaining 2,500 km2 of the Loliondo hunting block where
there are towns, agricultural areas, forests, a “private nature refuge”, and
other land occupation, while shamelessly lying that this means that out
of love they are “giving” the Maasai the 2,500 km2. Further, the
government claims that the exercise is “participatory”, while arresting
everyone who could speak up against it, which means basically every single
Maasai in Loliondo, and this is what’s being done.
Pre-emptive illegal arrests and trumped-up
charges
On 9th June, the day before the illegal demarcation started, the
councillors of Ololosokwan, Oloipiri, Oloirien, Maaloni, Arash, Piyaya,
Malambo, and two women’s special seats councillors, Kijoolu Kakiya and Taleng’o
Leshoko were arrested. At least two of these councillors have until quite
recently been working for OBC, against the people. After a CCM meeting they
were interrogated by the District Security Committee, and then a special task
force arrived to interrogate them individually. The Soitsambu councillor avoided attending the meeting. 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.
Nothing was known of the whereabouts of those illegally
arrested/abducted 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. The
murder concerned a FFU officer who was killed the day after the local leaders
were arrested. Later three more people were added to the charges. The other
group of ten were arrested on the 10th, not allowed to contact
anyone and held for four days without being fed. They were 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. One of those illegally arrested is a
student, The case was up for mention in court on 30th June, but then
it was postponed to 14th July for further “investigation”. Wilsong
Kilong and Memusi Taki (Njoroi chairman) had been added to the charges, so now
25 people are victims of this idiocy. One new charge was added: “conspiracy to
murder”. Then, on 5th July, Simon Saitoti, councillor of Ngorongoro
ward in NCA, not Loliondo or Sale, was reportedly added to the charges, as was
one older, injured man, but this requires confirmation.
The violence
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 needed
surgery. The Ngorongoro MP later mentioned 31 serious injuries, and Kenyan
doctors listed 128. The security forces inflicted bullet wounds, beatings, cuttings and stabbings.
One of the attackers, a FFU officer, died (according to RC Mongella of
arrowshot).
The over 70 years old Oriais Oleng'iyo who was
last seen with bullet wounds and detained by the FFU was not on the list of
those charged with murder and not found anywhere else. Where is he?
The illegal planting of beacons, shooting and tear gas continued the
following day, in Ololosokwan and elsewhere. In Malambo and elderly man died
when hit by a FFU vehicle. In the Oltulelei area of Maaloni, people were
arrested and beaten, and the FFU set fire to three motorbikes.
On the 11th, at night the FFU fired shots in all directions
in Mairowa in Ololosokwan, not in the 1,500 km2 area targeted by
illegal demarcation. Houses were searched and people were beaten. The hunt was
for those who had participated in protests and those who had shared photos of
the government’s violent crimes. Many ran away into the bush to hide. More people fled to Kenya. Thousands of Tanzanians are currently refugees in Kenya.
Kenyan Maasai have shown great solidary helping with hospital treatment
and medicine, feeding and accommodating refugees, and organized protests.
On the 13th, MP Emmanuel Oleshangai confirmed that at least 31 people 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.
The following day, 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.
The FFU opened fire at the market in Oltulelei on 15th June, 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.
The very illegal demarcation exercise in clouds of teargas continued. Besides the FFU, those participating in the crime 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, local police, and others. Eventually it became confused and hard to determine who was doing what.
With all this terrifying violence and lawlessness, there were big
expectations for the ruling of the East African Court of Justice on 22nd
June. Shockingly, just one day before the expected ruling, the court communicated
that due to unavoidable circumstances the ruling had been postponed to
September. This could just be another case of an overwhelming workload. The
years of this court case have been filled of frustration of how everyone involved
is too busy to give it the required dedication, but there’s a lingering unease
that something more sinister could be at work. Remember that the court on 25th
September 2018, issued an injunction restraining the government from evictions,
destruction and harassment of the applicants, while the case continues. Obviously,
this order has been violated to some extreme extent.
There were reports from Malambo that the invading security forces were
counting the bomas found inside their illegal demarcation.
On 24th June, at Ngorongoro District Council – the day after
Majaliwa had clapped to soldier songs - village and ward executive officers were
instructed 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.
The following days, families, women, children and livestock continued
leaving Sanjan with their belongings packed on donkeys.
In Ololosokwan the security forces said that they would never leave and
will revenge the death of the FFU officer by killing 15 people. Reportedly a
road is being cleared along the illegal demarcation. There were unconfirmed
reports of widespread theft committed the security forces.
In Ormanie, Arash ward, on 27th June, donkeys, calves, and
other livestock belonging to Parkimalo Lupa were shot when on the way to the
river. Children accompanying the livestock were severely beaten by the security
forces.
At least seven people from Serng'etuny sub-village in Piyaya and ten
from Ndinyika, Malambo were on 29th June, arrested and taken to
Loliondo police station. Those in Piyaya were reportedly arrested in connection
with uprooting beacons.
Mass arrests are spreading to areas in Loliondo far from the illegal
demarcation attack. At least 21 people were 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".
Simon Saitoti, councillor of Ngorongoro ward in NCA, was arrested on 1st
July. The councillor had two days earlier visited those ridiculously charged
with murder and when he returned to Oloirobi he himself was arrested. Reportedly, people
in his ward have refused to meet with a religious imposter group. Other councillors
from NCA have been remarkably silent during this brutal and illegal operation,
while activists from NCA have spoken up more than the terrified ones from Loliondo.
Simon was sent to Loliondo and then Arusha, but then his location became unknown,
and the police denied having him, until he on 5th July was reportedly
added to the ridiculous murder charges, according to some because he refused to
relocate to Msomera.
The night to 2nd July, 30 people were arrested in Njoroi and
11 in Oloika sub-village, in Ololosokwan ward. They are accused of being
"Kenyan”.
In the afternoon of 2nd July, the security forces started
burning seasonal bomas (ronjos) in the Oldoinyorok area of Arash. They had
caught and tortured a young herder, forcing him to show them the location. Six
ronjos were burned to the ground. At least four more ronjos were burned in the
nearby Sindin area.
In Malambo, the security forces are demolishing houses.
Some 477 cows and 650 sheep were illegally seized in Ololosokwan, and the
livestock held at Klein’s gate. The owners are being told to pay an
extortionate 100,000 TShs fine per head of cattle, and 25,000 per sheep. Though
other reports mention 1,130 cows that five families have been charged for.
Reportedly, on 3rd July, Thomson Safaris joined the abuse,
and I’m trying to obtain exact information.
On 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. Then they went on to extort 100,000 TShs per cow and
25,000 per sheep from the owners.
The
police on 4th July announced having detained 72 people, from Loliondo
and Sale divisions, suspected of being “illegal immigrants”, 30 will be taken to
court, 13 released, and investigation of 29 others continue. Accusing people of being “Kenyan” and going
after NGOs, while at any cost protecting the interests of “investors” that don’t
respect land right, is the basics of the Loliondo police state. This time, Immigration is looking for the location of vaccine marks, which reportedly isn't the same in Kenya as in Tanzania.
In Olosirwa sub-village of Kirtalo six people were arrested on 6th
July, including a primary school teacher when police in four vehicles invaded
the school.
This section of the blog post is impossible to keep exact, and sadly it
never ends.
The government showing off its own crime
On 11th June, RC Mongella arrived in Loliondo with the
regional security committee to repeat the shameless lie that stealing 1,500 km2
is giving away 2,500 km2. He said that the illegal operation was
going just fine, while confirming that one FFU officer was the previous day
killed by arrowshot. There has of course not been any independent
investigation, but if that’s how he died, the archer was defending his home and
his land against very dangerous invaders. Then Mongella posed in photos
planting illegal beacons.
Many government officials have followed Mongella and they must all be
held personally accountable for this crime. I wish I could keep up with everything
that has happened. All these criminals must be punished!
On 12th June, at the funeral of the FFU officer, Ngorongoro
DC, Raymond Mwangwala, told media that those talking online, instigating things
that aren't true, will be found wherever they are, in classic Loliondo police
state style, which he earlier has mostly left to the DED. Then he has stood at
the side of most every government official who has come to defend the crime and
threaten anyone who could speak up. 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 too 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 in Loliondo |
The Minister of Home Affairs, Hamad Masauni, arrived in Loliondo in
helicopter to make a statement 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.
Immigration Commissioner for Border Control and Administration, Samwel Mahirane arrived in Loliondo on 18th June to stand next to an
illegal beacon (he too) and posing with a legal Kenya border beacon,
threatening people who are sabotaging the exercise and have fled. He said they
are known and will all be dealt with. Then he threw in some threats against
NGOs.
Commissioner General of Immigration, Anna Makakala, arrived in Loliondo
to add her statement from the warfront against the Maasai, announcing that
there would be 10 days of flushing out illegal immigrants.
A letter was shared with the information that CCM's National Executive
Committee had 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 liaison for many years. The letter was signed by Shaka Hamdu Shaka.
On 5th July, Marekani was “unanimously elected” as district council
chairman – with ten of the councillors illegally arrested! It should however not be forgotten that opposition councillors were cleansed out of Ngorongoro district, via threats and bribes, and all returned to CCM well in advance of the bloody 2020 elections. Now there's ethnic cleansing to get rid of the Maasai (by far majority in the district) for the love of the tourist dollar.
On 23rd June, PM Majaliwa arrived in Loliondo together with the
RC, DC, DED, Minister Chana, Immigration Commissioner Makakala, Awesso, Minister of Waters who’s very much
involved in this crime, and other criminals. One of his lies was that 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 from the national army were singing a war
song to Majaliwa and the other dignitaries upon landing in Loliondo. I’ve been
told that such tropes aren’t deployed without the direct involvement of the
commander in chief, President Samia.
On 24th June, at Ngorongoro District Council, village and
ward executive officers were instructed 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.
Every single government official who has been telling lies and issuing
threats, from the ground, or elsewhere, must be held personally accountable!
Support
I will probably forget many, but the Loliondo Maasai have received statements
of support, of varying strength, from the African Commission on Human and
Peoples’ Rights, a group of nine UN human rights experts, Amnesty International,
the Oakland Institute, Survival International, the International Work Group for
Indigenous Affairs, Indigenous People’s Rights International, Cultural Survival,
a group of more than 250 scientists, Forest People’s Programme, ICCA
Consortium, International Land Coalition, the Sami Parliamentary Council, and
In Tanzania the political parties CHADEMA and ACT Wazalendo have made statements.
So has Legal and Human Rights Centre, and illustrious individuals have spoken
up, such as Tundu Lissu, Issa Shivji (in a letter speaking up about the
ownership of the land), and Maria Sarungi Tsehai tirelessly in social media. Kenyan
politicians like Ledama Olekina and Moitalel Ole Kenta, and others, keep
speaking up.
Govt not getting support from its international
allies
A video called “Serengeti and Ngorongoro shall never die: the truth about
the Loliondo situation” (paraphrasing Bernhard Grzimek) was shared, with a plead
to international conservation organisations to support the Tanzanian government’s
war against the Maasai. It claims that the survival of the Serengeti ecosystem
is at stake, describes any talk about forced evictions as lies, repeats the monumental
lie about the status of the land, and boasts about that Tanzanian has allocated
32% of its area for conservation. It must feel unfair to the government that
the organisations and conservation researchers that have created the ideology and
the promises of tourism revenue that inevitably lead to violence then refuse to
express any public support for this violence.
It’s not just a few international researchers that have a manic focus on – while deeply embedded with the parastatals of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and with human rights criminals as co-authors – finding any faults with pastoralists at the outskirts of protected areas. “Sucha simplistic view will only lead to solutions that promote violence as in the evictions of the Maasai pastoral households in Loliondo in the last few years”. This time even Frankfurt Zoological Society, that never has said anything about violence for conservation in the Serengeti ecosystem, seriously rattled by Survival International, has expressed shock about the violence in Loliondo and distanced itself from any involvement in the land demarcation, but still claiming that the land status would be “uncertain”. It’s not a secret that FZS has since its foundation, in close cooperation with Tanzanian authorities, been involved in and promoting land alienation and violent conservation. Another unlikely organisation that has expressed concern about the violence in Loliondo and even called on the government to respect the 2018 injunction in the EACJ is the IUCN that has never had any involvement in Loliondo (as far as I know) but together with UNESCO has been a main instigator of the government’s threats against the Maasai of Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The reactions by organisations like this must be seen as a victory for the - mostly silenced through terror - local Loliondo activists and their work through international organisation for land rights and indigenous rights.
However, we don’t know what they conversations behind the scenes look
like, and the government is getting plenty of laughs and applause from foreign
diplomats.
It’s important that leaders, naively or tempted by big money, when we’ve
stopped this land grab, don’t let non-friendly organisations act as any kind of
mediators to alienate the land in some less violent and obvious way, the land
must be managed by the villages, without any kind of “WMA”.
Don’t confuse Loliondo with NCA, just don’t
While even lying government officials keep asking people not to confuse
Loliondo and NCA, the supporters of injustice themselves do so all the time (enjoying
it) as do those who support the Maasai, and many journalists. No, nobody
from Loliondo will get any alternative land in Handeni. That’s for those
relocating from NCA. What the government is trying to do is to steal 1,500 km2
of less densely populated mostly grazing land while expecting the Maasai to
squeeze into the remaining 2,500 km2 of the Loliondo hunting block,
where there are two towns, including district headquarters, agricultural areas,
forests and a private nature refuge claimed by the horrible American “investor”
Thomson Safaris.
On the other hand, the government is also lying wildly about NCA, which I’ve
written about in previous blog posts, and will hopefully return to once the
illegal beacons in Loliondo are uprooted. Relocations to Msomera in Handeni are
hardly “voluntary” when the Maasai in NCA live under intolerable restrictions,
permits for already funded public services have the past year been blocked, and
COVID-19 funds for schools have illegally been transferred to Handeni. Much of
the government’s spectacles showing off those who are relocating don’t involve
people with a real relation to NCA. One recent spectacle is the family of
former MP Telele who have homes in several cities and agricultural business in Simanjiro.
Telele will hardly have to fight with mosquitoes and agriculturalists in the more
densely populated Handeni. Many people have through the years tried to explain
Telele’s previous treasonous behaviour with that he’s good, but not so bright
and aware. I’ve wanted to believe them.
On 30th June, 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.
Traitors
Talking about traitors, such people have sadly often been found in Loliondo.
In the previous blog post, I mentioned a young man, confirmed by relatives, who
was driving around trying to, in exchange of money, find youths and women to
speak up in support of the government. He seems to ha failed in his mission,
but others have emerged. An old traitor from the days when the “investor-friendly”
group – led by Alais and Killel - in 2014 seriously damaged the land rights struggle
seeking personal benefits by praising the aggressors and attacking the activists
to whom they left the defence of the land, is the former councillor Raphael
Long’oi. He has now emerged in a clip filmed at the start of the illegal
demarcation operation, in which he lies that there isn’t any violence and that
nobody will be evicted. The most benevolent interpretation is that he was trying
to assuage the government, in which he failed, but considering his history, I’d
guess that it’s worse than that. Long’oi was joined by the traditional leader
Lekakui Kanduli and by Freddy Lindi, chairman of Oloswashi village without land
in the 1,500 km2 under attack.
I don’t know what the old traitors William Alias and Gabriel Killel are
currently doing.
The current state of terror would not be possible without the Magufuli era’s compulsory stupidity and repression of any kind of dissent within the ruling CCM party that in the past used to be divided about pastoralist land rights. This has now worsened considerably with President Samia’s open hostility towards the Maasai of NCA, and less outspokenly also Loliondo.
The president’s
views and the NCAA’s tireless parliamentary lobbying has made it possible that
in the national assembly less than a handful of parliamentarians will object to
lies, the wildest colonial fantasies, and extreme ethnic hatred against the
Maasai. The president’s participation in a cheesy travel tv show that nobody in
the USA or Europe has heard about, but that the researcher Alex Dukalskis has described
as “authoritarian image management”, has turned into a cult that can’t be
questioned and that is said to be attracting tourists, who will be 5 million by
2025. The reporter Peter Greenberg has done the same show with such criminals
as Netanyahu and Kagame as his hosts and guides. In the Tanzanian version of The
Royal Tour, the only ethnic group that features as a tourist attraction are the
Maasai, who at the same time are insulted by Greenberg and Samia as “too many”,
“primitive”, “will be forced to change”, with some added sexism.
Most clear is the message of tourism as state religion, and
environmental concerns as pure theatre, when for international women’s day, the
notorious deputy minister Mary Masanja’s caravan of hundreds of vehicles in the
Ngorongoro crater is celebrated as the highest form of patriotism and when the
same is repeated in June by the CCM youth wing.
 |
| President Samia and Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai |
Brief summary of previous efforts to rob the
Maasai of 1,500 km2 in Loliondo
Since 1993 (first contract signed in 1992) Otterlo Business Corporation, owned by Mohammed Abdul Rahim Al Ali, that organize hunting for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai, has the 4,000 km2
Loliondo hunting blocks (permit to hunt), which they got in the Loliondogate
scandal covered by the reporter Stan Katabalo in 1993. This area includes two
towns, district headquarters, and agricultural areas, so OBC have lobbied to
have it reduced to their core hunting area bordering Serengeti National Park,
and to make it a protected area, which would signify a huge land loss to the
local Maasai, leading to lost lives and livelihoods.
 |
| Al Ali |
 |
| Sheikh Mohammed at Oloipiri Primary, March 2018 |
In 2008, then Ngorongoro DC Jowika Kasunga coerced local leaders into
signing a Memorandum of Understanding with OBC. There were supposed to be talks
to coordinate grazing and hunting, but when the 2009 drought turned
catastrophic, OBC went to the government to complain, and village land in the
1,500 km2 osero was illegally invaded by the Field Force Unit
working with OBC’s rangers, with mass arson, dispersal of cattle, and abuse of
every kind.
The Maasai moved back, and some leaders reconciled with OBC that went on
to funding a draft district land use plan that proposed turning the village
land that had been invaded into a protected area. The Maasai were united, and
the draft land use plan was rejected by Ngorongoro District Council in 2011.
In 2013, Minister Kagasheki lied to the world saying that the whole
4,000 km2 Loliondo Game Controlled Area (Loliondo Division and part
of Sale Division of Ngorongoro District) was a protected area and that
alienating the important 1,500 km2 meant generously giving the
remaining land to the Maasai. This ugly trick did not work, since the Maasai
were more serious and united than ever, garnered support from both the
opposition CHADEMA and from CCM, and then PM Pinda stopped Kagasheki’s threats.
After the unity, efforts to buy off local leaders started creating
serious divisions and weakening. Some found it convenient to benefit from openly
praising the “investors” and attacking the people who they at the same time
expected to take risks to defend the land. Though nobody signed any MoU.
The investors (OBC and Thomson Safaris) had for years used the local
police state that through the successive DCs, security committee, and most
every government employee will threaten anyone who could speak up about them
and engage in defamation and illegal arrests. The repression and fear of this
police state became worse with Magufuli in office, and there were lengthy
illegal arrests, torture, and malicious prosecution, by 2016 it was so bad that
Majaliwa could enter the stage with a select non-participatory committee, set
up by RC Gambo. Some of the members were local leaders and other representatives
that found themselves at the opposite side of the people when marking “critical
areas” under protests in each village. The proposal handed over to Majaliwa was
seen as a victory, even though it was a sad compromise (a WMA) that had earlier
been rejected for many years of better unity and less fear.
 |
| This picture is from March 2017. DON'T use it to illustrate what's happening now. |
Maybe since the Maasai showed such weakness, the government went on with
the unthinkable and while everyone was still waiting to hear Majaliwa’s
decision, on 13th August 2017 an illegal mass arson operation, like the
one in 2009, was initiated and continued, on and off, well into October.
Hundreds of bomas were razed to the ground by Serengeti rangers, assisted by
NCA rangers and those from OBC, NCA, TAWA/KDU, local police and others. People
were beaten and raped, illegally arrested, and cattle seized. Some leaders were
frightfully silent while others protested loudly. Minister Maghembe pretended
that OBC’s land use plan would have been implemented and the operation was
taking place on some protected land, while the DC, and Maghembe’s own ministry,
said it was not about the 1,500 km2, since Majaliwa was to announce
a decision about that, but that village land was invaded because people were
entering Serengeti National Park “too easily”.
The illegal operation wasn’t stopped until late October 2017, a couple
of weeks after Kigwangalla came into office. The new minister also made grand
promises, like saying that OBC would have left Tanzania before 2018, but it was
very soon clear that OBC weren’t going anywhere. On 6th December
2017, Majaliwa delivered his vague but terrifying decision that was about,
through a legal bill, creating a “special authority” to manage the land. He
also said that OBC were staying. The decision was celebrated in the anti-Maasai
press (the Jamhuri). Fortunately, implementation has been delayed, no legal
bill has been seen, and would of course be contempt of court.
In March 2018, Kigwangalla welcomed OBC’s hunters to Tanzania (directing
himself to a fake account of the Dubai crown prince), and in April the same
year, OBC - once again - gifted the Ministry of Natural Resources of Tourism
with 15 vehicles. In March 2018, a military camp was set up in Lopolun, near
Wasso in Loliondo, first temporary, but eventually made permanent with
donations from the NCAA.
In June 2018, the OCCID and local police tried to derail the case in the
East African Court of Justice (EACJ) – filed during the illegal operation in
2017 - by summoning local leaders and villagers. Nobody dared to speak up about
this, except for the applicants' main counsel. On 25th September
2018 – a year after the illegal operation - the court
finally issued an injunction restraining the government from evictions,
destruction and harassment of the applicants, but this injunction was soon
brutally violated. In November and December soldiers from the camp in Olopolun
tortured people, seized cattle, and burned bomas in Kirtalo and Ololosokwan.
This was the lowest point ever in the land rights struggle and I have still not
understood how it could happen without anyone at all speaking up. Local leaders
claimed to fear for their lives and thought that the brutality was directly
ordered by President Magufuli. When RC Gambo in January 2019 condemned the
crimes in a very vague way, they changed to thinking that OBC’s director had
contracted the soldiers.
There were finally some promising developments in 2019 when OBC’s
director Isaack Mollel was arrested on economic sabotage charges and OBC toned
down (they never left and Mollel was never fired) their activities on the
ground, but the local police state wasn’t dealt with and after a lengthy stay
in remand prison Mollel was out, and after a while back to work. Speculations
about Mollel’s misfortune include his clashes of egos with Kigwangalla and
Gambo, and Magufuli wanting to send a message to OBC’s old friend Abdulrahman
Kinana (and to Bernard Membe) that nobody is untouchable.
In September 2019, a genocidal zoning proposal for NCA, which included
the proposal to annex most of the 1,500 km2 and turn it into a
protected area allowing hunting was presented. This Multiple Land Use Model
review proposal was met with countless protests from every kind of group of
people from NCA, but near silence from Loliondo.
2021 brought Jumaa Mhina as new DED and he started working to kill the
court cases against land grabbing “investors”. Though the village chairmen have
stood their ground and Reference No. 10 of 2017, Ololosokwan, Kirtalo,
Oloirien, and Arash versus the Attorney General of the United Republic of
Tanzania continues in the EACJ. The case against Thomson Safaris in the
Tanzanian court of appeal, however, was in 2022 killed using a law that was
introduced after the case was filed.
On 11th January 2022, Arusha RC John Mongella summoned
village and ward leaders from villages with land in the 1,500 km2 to
inform them that the government would make a painful decision for the broader
interest of the nation. The leaders, even those who for years had worked for
OBC and against the people, refused to accompany the RC for a tour of the 1,500
km2, or to sign the attendance list. On 13th-14th January
in Oloirien there was a public protest meeting and a statement by village,
ward, and traditional leaders.
On 14th February, Majaliwa came and wasn’t much better than
Mongella, but too well-received, since something worse was expected, because of
the crazy anti-Maasai hate campaign, and parliamentarians calling for tanks to
be sent to Ngorongoro.
Three days later, on 17th February in NCA, not
Loliondo, Majaliwa ordered the disputed land to be marked by beacons, so that
we may know the boundaries – while claiming that this is NOT a trick!
Then Ndumbaro on 8th March re-introduced Kagasheki’s lies in
an interview with DW Kiswahili, and on the 11th Majaliwa again
mentioned beacons and water projects when informing parliamentarians about a
fake spectacle that he had set up in Arusha, without people from Ngorongoro,
the previous day.
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.
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.
CCM councillors that had spoken up against plans of robbing the Maasai
of the 1,500 km2 osero were being intimidated, arrested, and
summoned to be “interrogated” in Arusha. The councillors of Arash and Malambo had
to keep reporting to the police.
On 25th May a committee handed over their report of
“community views” on both NCA and the 1,500 km2 Osero in Loliondo to
PM Majaliwa who said that he’s 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 areas 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 Oleshangai.
Then the brutal, lawless land grab operation erupted, and now there are
some 424 beacons to uproot, illegally arrested people that must be freed, and
so many criminals that must be punished. And where is Oriais Oleng'iyo?
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
Updates:
7th
July
Cows from five bomas and sheep from one boma were seized in Sanjan, Malambo. There was incorrect information on the 6th saying that livestock were seized in Sanjan, which then was denied by people from the area, but on the 7th they were seized, to demand hefty fines, but reportedly the owners have not yet dared to start negotiating. They would get help from the councillor who's arrested, or the village and sub-village chairmen who have fled. (It's as if some people are actively trying to create confusion). The cattle is being held at Orng'oswa.
According to an eyewitness, in the evening, four vehicles
arrived in Arash and took two youths who were wearing clothes with the Kenyan
flag. The youths are from Arash. Reportedly people were detained in Piyaya as well.
On 6th July the German ambassador schmoozed with one of the main criminals, RC Mongella.
8th July
The criminals, TAWA and police, are demanding 100,000 per cow and 25,000 per sheep for the livestock seized in Malambo on the 7th. They were seized in Ndinyika sub-village and not Sanjan as mentioned earlier, but are being held in Orng'oswa and another area in Sanjan sub-village.
The livestock in Malambo were released after the owners paid the extortionate ransom fee of 54,000,000 TShs.
The Daily News, Habari Leo, and maybe others,
published the news that traditional leaders from Loliondo would agree with the illegal
demarcation process, quoting one Amani ole Silonga Torongei, supposedly from
Ololosokwan. It was soon found that Silonga is a politician and pastor from
Monduli, without any connection to Loliondo, another one of the government’s
imposters, or fake traitors. On the 13th a video clip was available
online, in which two real traitors were standing next to the imposter – Boni Masago
and Mungasio Ketuta. Masago is known, but Ketuta still a mystery.
I also got to know that UNHCR from Geneva on 27th June
visited the refugees from Loliondo who have fled to Kenya in Olpusimoru,
Naikarra and other areas where the families are hosted. They stayed for three
days and saw the wounded and the County Commissioner in Narok. The UNHCR have
now written a report and will put pressure on Kenya to recognise the Tanzanian refugees.
The UNHCR Kenyan office and the UNHCR regional office have been unwilling to do
anything, supposedly since they are overstretched.
The chairman of Ololosokwan read a statement giving the imposter Amani ole Silonga Torongei five days to apologize.
16th July
It was announced everywhere that on 15th July in Geneva, Ndumbaro held talks with Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, “to exchange ideas on human rights issues, including clarifying allegations about the Loliondo GCA and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.” Further, the message from the Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs was that, "thanked and congratulated the way in which the United Republic of Tanzania implements human rights issues under the Government." Ndumbaro also claimed to have invited UN Special Rapporteurs to Tanzania.
17th July
Since yesterday the police have been using tractors to demolish houses in Malambo. People have been told to remove all their belongings before Friday.
18th July
Kigwangalla spoke on Clubhouse in a far more measured way than anyone in the government, recognizing that you can't legally declare a GCA on village land. I missed that, but Watetezi news reported.
19th July
There were reports about ongoing roadworks along the illegal demarcation by rangers in Arash.
In Ormanie village one boma was burned and people in other bomas were told to leave. This crime was committed by TAWA rangers, police and NCAA rangers.
21st July
TAWA again illegally seized 70 cows and demanded 7 million from the owners, who paid the following day.
22nd July
246 cows were illegally seized by TAWA in Malambo and 24.6 million extorted.
25th July
Over 700 cows were illegally sezed by TAWA on village land in Leken, Kirtalo. Reportedly, they demanded more than the ging extortion rate. The cows were released on the 27th. I haven't found out exactly how much the owners paid.
26th July
Seven youths from Malambo got caught by rangers in
Olbalbal in NCA when on their way to Serengeti. The rangers asked them where
they came from and after saying Malambo they were detained and taken to
Ngorongoro police station. Relatives had to pay 125,000 Tshs and 200,000 for
the police vehicle for their release. Their livestock weren’t seized, but kept
with some women in Olbalbal. I am not sure if I have understood this correctly.
27th July
The nasty copycats Thomson Safaris, that claim their own private nature refuge in the villages of Sukenya and Mondorosi, started planting their own beacons.
28th July
Charges against three of the 27 accused of murder and conpiracy to murder were dropped. Lekerenga Koyee, who's elderly and sick, Simel Parmwat who's a young student, and Fred Ledidi who's district natural resources officer and a PhD student. The hearings were postponed to 5th August.
29th July
The DC met with WEO, VEO, and some village leaders warning them that if villagers take livestock into the illegally demarcated area, they will be auctioned by TAWA.
Flying Medical Service have been banned from landing in Loliondo. They have for several decades been providing a mobile clinic and ambulance for remote areas.
Correction: they have been grounded since March, officially for technical reasons, but they fully disagree and are trying to find a solution.
Watetezi tv uploaded a 22-minute video - Loliondo is crying.
31 July
More livestock were seized in Malambo. The illegal fines for 36 cows and 90 goats were paid by the owner an they were released.
4th August
The Kenyan pastor Julius Kuyioni who was detained when entering Loliondo for a "crusade" and on a missionary visa, has been illegally arrested since 7th July without charges and was now supposed to be arraigned in court, which didn't happen A charge sheet had still not been prepared. Reportedly, the police no longer suspect him of anything and have handed over the case to Immigration.
5th August
The court overruled the submission by the defence of separating murder and conspiracy charges. Then the hearings in this bogus case were postponed to 17th August.
In the evening Julius Kuyioni was released.
6th August
130 cows belonging to the Oloinyo family were seized by TAWA at Eng'ongu Nairowa in Ololosokwan and are being held at Klein's gate. The extortionate and illegal fines were paid on the 9th and the cows released.
There were reports that a convoy of the Arusha RC,
TAWA, NCAA and deputy minister Masanja were in Loliondo to hand over the
management of the fake and illegal protected area to NCAA. Though nothing at
all of this has been mentioned online by the MNRT or NCAA, so it just can’t be
verified.
15th August
Several herds of livestock were seized in Olembuya in Arash. I'm having problems getting exact information.
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