Salangat ole
Mako has in his own words become a – nightly - grass thief in his own land. He is
a Maasai pastoralist and a small-scale commercial cultivator of vegetables and
fruits in Ololosokwan village in Loliondo. As lobbied for by OBC, that
organizes hunting for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai, 75% of his, and everyone’s, grazing
land has brutally and lawlessly been taken by the Tanzanian government for a “protected
area”, and then there have been threats of taking his farm. On 25th
January, Salangat was waiting in vain for a much shambolic and government co-opted
visit by the African Commission of Human and People’s Rights (I hope to very
soon post a blog post about this). A brief clip of what he would have wanted to
tell the Commission was shared online. The following day the Officer Commanding
Ngorongoro District came to Ololosokwan to say that the gathering waiting for
the international organization had not had a permit and that Salangat had been
talking thrash. Then Salangat received more threats and fled to Kenya.
These are his spoken and written words:
The pain and suffering in
Ololosokwan and all villages adjacent to the hunting block is beyond expression
by words. The peace and harmony of Tanzania as perceived by those who visit
have drifted to marginalization, oppression, threats, hate and all nasty acts
by the ruling class to those who elected them.
Dr. President (acquired
through power bestowed on her) portrays her ignorance through misinterpretation
of our national constitution and land laws.
" Land belongs to the
Government."
A question asked by a layman
or woman:
" Who is the government in real sense
between the elected and those who actually elect (citizens)? "
The sequence of events after
the 2016 OBC report, MLUM rectification and propositions 2019 and the forced Land
Use Plan propels the economic drain and extermination of our culture and
pastoral economy.
"Only a
fool can perceive progress and prosperity of a pastoralist economy without
pasture."
"Since
our development isn't much of their concern, their ego, prioritised greed and
corrupt approach to each and every undertaking are all geared to draining our
wealth forcing us to extreme poverty."
As we can't sit back and watch
our livestock die, we battle the fear of wild animals, beatings, intimidations
and harassments by FFU, TAWA and NCAA soldiers whenever they capture you.
As per the newly established
GCA laws grazing may be considered by the Director of Wildlife. 2022 was a year
with a serious and prolonged drought, that claimed the lives of thousands of
cows, goats and sheep forcing a majority of Tanzanians seeking refuge for their
livestock in nearby Kenya to reduce calamities.
“Didn't the
Director of wildlife see the need of granting us grazing permits to rescue our
communities economic base?" It is even made worse by the
fact that they even forcefully seized and captured livestock out of the hunting
block and from homes too as in the case of Olesimanga from Ololosokwan.
"I may
say our neighbors Kenya felt our pain and extended their hand to help, while
our lovely country intensified captures, reinforced patrol teams and increased
the number of newly acquired vehicles that would ensure our cows die of
hunger."
"What is
it of us to deserve the hate?"
Maybe it is the beauty of the
land we have, or we may be lesser humans than other citizens. It is a common
trend to see fellow tribesmen shifting to towns after being snatched ancestral
land for petty jobs like guarding gates, selling traditional herbs, plaiting
women hair and so on. It may be a deliberate effort of a few who feel more
human than we ignorant Maasai to violate rights and dignity of the rightful landowners
in favour of a single rich individual to feed their never-ending greed.
Our days are bitter while our
nights are sour, we see our end as nearer than we perceived earlier. How long
will a hungry cow stand its hunger?
Will we be left with anything?
As pastoralism concludes its
end, what is our alternative?
In the nature's law survival
for the fittest, will we survive this, or will we give room to those who
dictate it to us? To me and many like me we see better death than the pain and
suffering of being helpless when your child cries of hunger and you have
nothing to offer. Our Maasai culture and economy are no more, will we survive
this?
A serious question I had for
myself and for you:
"What if we the actual
landowners in this situation transformed or were Muslims, would our land be
returned? Would this be the case?”
A cry from an
oppressed herder and a hungry cow
I can't get sleep,
Away from my family,
My farmwork frozen,
Uncertain food and roof,
Where am I safe,
What do I do,
How do I earn,
They may go hungry with a
starving father on the run,
Will I even manage their
school fees with no harvest?
Ohh God give us strength to
push on, console us during times like this and open the eyes and hearts of the gods
strangling us. Show them mercy and pity, reduce the hate they have for us. Let
them not be swayed and blinded by the temporary wealth and authority we grant
them. Show them our equality in your eyes.
In Herder’s
Shoes
Day time sleep being a new
habit to many it is as hard as not dozing off at night while stealing grass.
Many go for days without sleep conscious or not of the health risks at hand.
As we can't watch our cows
die, we risk carnivores and the oppressive fines that we clearly know will
claim them all. It is more rational to us that way than to watch them starve to
death, our attachment to and cultural importance of a cow would incline us to
be with them till their last breath. It is the hardest test you can give a
traditional Maasai, it is easier to take your own life than helplessly just
watch.
Evenings to an ordinary herder
whether on hired terms or being the owner come quicker than normal, your
heartbeat increases as dark approaches. You have no other choice than fight
fear the entire night, if not from a lion or buffalo attack, getting into a
warthog hole, getting beaten, harassed or intimidated by rangers, a snake bite,
or any risks a hunting area may have at its disposal. The worst of all, an
encounter with an injured lion or buffalo who sees a man as first-hand enemy to
be attacked on sight.
Each day having a different
experience, better or worse all ours with high hopes of a better haven where we
will have good night sleep, where we can sit at one table as equal beings as
the oppressive park rangers.
If it is what God meant for us
then be it, be it not in the wishes and demands of gluttony and egoistic
citizens granted the mandate to command.
In whose interest is the
command to arrest an opinion holder, a complainer of oppression? It is a pity
that a temporary mandate and dirty wealth blinds someone this quick, opting
ruthlessness to your voter forgetting that tomorrow is a day to beg for
acceptance.
It is sad, having years of
motherhood, still holding a ruthless heart that feels no pain nor pity, no
consideration to a suffering community instead increasing the weight of the
pain.
The beauty of our land, the
backbone to our daily bread, leaves the king of crude and refined oils, the conqueror
of brutal capitalism salivating. And since he is used to getting whatever his
heart pleases, and basically has it all, ruler of the Arab world is satisfied
taking what to us is everything; just to kill for leisure and pleasure in the
expense of our daily bread. Ohh God come down, please just make it once we your
lesser children can't bear it anymore.
As cows die, our herds reduce
in number shrinking our pride, the dreams of a better tomorrow fading away
slowly. Poverty is forcefully embracing us, and no human law condemns it, we
live in a wicked world where we pay dearly for an essential right, cost
depending on the rights importance at that particular time. We wonder in fear
and despair what can we pay for the right in decision in the use of our own
land. Why should his wants always come first, and in real sense we wouldn't
give him in exchange for the blood oily emirate desert that is inclined to
pleasing him.
A word to you wicked and
witchy king, watch your six, the curse of our suffering is on its way, an
African version and recipe this time to fly you back to your desert, you are
not the green type.
Salangat ole
Mako
+255 788 541 669
1 comment:
Samia the evil doer , the Price awaits her , Alaaniwe milele
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