The Worst Year Ever in Loliondo is Ending Without any Hope on the Horizon

 

This year has been the worst year ever. With extreme brutality, breaking every law, the Tanzanian government has turned 1,500 km² of important grazing land, legally registered village land in Loliondo and Sale divisions of Ngorongoro district, into a fake and illegal “Pololeti Game Reserve”.

 

This is not just a violent operation that took place in June – when mzee Oriais Oleng'iyo was last seen wounded by bullets and held by security forces. It is an ongoing brutal crime that continues, in a most deadly way, until the illegal boundary beacons are uprooted and the lawless Government Notice No.604, issued by the president, thrown into the waste bin.

 

The land has been stolen, the grass has been stolen, livestock keep being stolen and ransom fees demanded, everybody’s mental health is stolen, all leaders – they had some moments of usefulness early this year - have become useless cowards through terror. This terror has been caused by the locking up of all councillors from affected wards on bogus murder charges for over five months, reporting has almost stopped through confiscation of smartphones, arrests, and additions to the murder charges.

 

This crime is significantly worse than the illegal evictions with mass arson in 2009 and 2017. Those attacks had a start and an end when the Maasai could rebuild, while the current brutality goes on and on.

 

In Ngorongoro Conservation Area, not to be confused with Loliondo, restrictions have worsened and hate propaganda in the press and in parliament have gone mouth-frothingly insane in this year. It looked like it was there that the government’s violence would explode, but instead, it did in Loliondo.

 

However, it is not only Ngorongoro district. Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government is waging a war against pastoralists all over Tanzania. The repression and lawlessness of the Magufuli era have been kept while a crazy tourist cult has become state religion. A cheesy travel show is the gospel and there is a promise of 5 million tourists by 2025. Tanzania is a perfect candidate for a total tourism boycott. 

Let's hope that we will meet 2024 without these two, at least not in their capacity as head of state/emirate.

In this blog post:

The government’s continued war against land and livestock

The dropped bogus murder case

Fake and forced land use plans

The war against livestock

The chief criminal Samia and her German donors

Thomson Safaris

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Court cases

Brief Loliondo hunting block background

Briefly about 2022 threats leading up to the brutal illegal demarcation

Briefly about the brutal and illegal demarcation of a fake game reserve

Loliondo Bogus Murder Case Dropped after Over Five Months, While the Horror Worsens with Fake and Forced Land Use Plans

 

I needed to write a briefer, clearer blog post about the brutal and lawless land demarcation – robbing the Maasai of Loliondo of vitally important grazing land - committed by the entire blood-soaked and illegitimate Tanzanian government, and about the terrible (but not as terrible as reported in parts of the press) and partly inexplicable ruling by the EACJ on the 2017 mass arson. But the horrors just keep accumulating and I’m overwhelmed. State security and surveyors have been to Loliondo to redraw village boundaries and impose land use plans with heavy intimidation, and reportedly corrupted some people. On 1^st November it was announced that President Samia Suluhu Hassan on 14^th October had declared the 1,500 km² a fake and illegal “Pololeti Game Reserve”. Then the DC and an individual calling himself conservator of the illegal protected area have been threatening with further land theft, outside the 1,500 km², via WMAs.

 

Meanwhile, in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCAA, NOT to be mixed up with Loliondo), the restrictions to squeeze out the Maasai keep tightening.

 

I miss the days when I was told that they Maasai of today aren’t the Maasai of 1958, meaning that they are educated, organized, and there’s no need to worry since they will stop evil government plans. It’s such a long time ago. Help is needed. People who can target President Samia in ways that will be very acutely felt, must help stopping the cruel crimes against the Maasai. Open letters are much appreciated (see below for new ones) but words are just not enough. “Words are not enough” applies to me as a blogger as well, but I don’t know what to do.

 

When I was about to publish this blog post there was good news that the Director of Public Prosecution has dropped the obviously bogus “murder case” against 24 people – including all councillors from affected wards, except one who fled - who have been locked up in remand prison for over five months. I hope there isn’t a price for the release, but that hope is getting fainter by the hour.

 

Meanwhile, pastoralists all over Tanzania are under attack. Seven villages around Kilimanjaro International Airport have suffered illegal planting of beacons, in Mbarali there are evictions and terrible seizure of cattle, evictions and killed pastoralists in Kilombero, and violence ordered by an anti-pastoralist councillor in Morogoro has led to one death and several injuries.

 

I’ll soon write a briefer blog, hopefully with answers to some of the questions that remain.  

 

Where is mzee Oriais Oleng'iyo?

 

The horror

Fake and forced land use plans

Dismissed immigration cases

Bogus murder case dropped

The old lie

Court cases and the government’s brutal and wildly shifting lies

Ruthless hypocrites Thomson Safaris

The not at all less threatened Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Updates at the end of the blog post.

Ndumbaro Tells Dangerous Lies about Loliondo, Majaliwa Holds Fraudulent Spectacle about NCA with the Imposter Lekisongo, and Maasai Land is Attacked in Every Other Way

 

After PM Kassim Majaliwa’s agenda-driven, tricky (his kind of word), and non-listening visits to Loliondo and Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) in mid-February (see previous blog posts) there have been protest and prayer meetings in both Loliondo and NCA, statements, further contributions to the anti-Maasai ethnic hate campaign, very confused media coverage, international solidarity, and the president selling Tanzania in Dubai. Another issue that urgently should (but won't) be brought to light, is that the government has used an ill-intentioned law to kill the case against Thomson Safaris that’s older than this law. 

I may have written this before, but at calmer times, these developments could all have got their own blog post. Now, I’m not even keeping up. Then Ndumbaro started telling full-blown Kagasheki-style lies about Loliondo to Deutsche Welle, and the following day Majaliwa held a misleading spectacle with traditional leaders not from Ngorongoro to receive a list of households willing to “voluntarily” relocate from NCA. I hope I haven't missed anything important and that this blog post will be read depite its length.

 

Reportedly, Majaliwa will very soon visit Ngorongoro.

Update 15th March: Majaliwa's visit has been postponed. 

 

While the anti-Maasai hate campaign is speeding and spinning with its more malicious disinformation, not enough of an effort is made to at least make serious people and allies keep to facts. Those who don’t know anything make up their own “facts”, and those who know are too polite to correct them, or worse ... I’ve almost myself stopped telling writers about their mistakes after publication, since corrections are never made, and too often misconceptions are kept even when information is received before publication.

 

These are three different, but closely related problems:

In Loliondo OBC, that organises hunting for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai, have for years lobbied to have 1,500 km² of important grazing land, village land belonging to the local Maasai, turned into a protected area. A local police state had, until recently, silenced all local leaders and activists, and still people from Loliondo are much more silent in the debate than those from NCA.

 

In NCA, an 8,292 km² multiple land use area, the Maasai live under the purposeful poverty-inducing rule and restrictions of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, and since 2019 there’s a genocidal eviction plan, that extends to annexing some surrounding areas, the area under threat in Loliondo included. Current government efforts focus on “voluntary” relocation and disinformation, while an ethnic hate campaign rages in media and in the parliament.

In Loliondo, but outside the 1,500 km2 area, the American Thomson Safaris claim ownership of a 12,617 acres private nature refuge and have copied OBC’s use of the local police state. Sadly, for years it’s been basically impossible to get information about this land grab. 

 

In this blog post:

Loliondo after Majaliwa’s trick

Ndumbaro lying about the 1,500 km²

The government’s many tricks to grab the 1,500 km²

Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Majaliwa keeps tricking

The anti-Maasai hate campaign does not stop

The president selling Tanzania in Dubai

Government kills the Thomson Safaris case in the court of appeal

 

Deputy Minister Masanja's caravan of women on 5th March. The MNRT's ideal land use. 

November of Terror and Silence in Loliondo has Turned into Christmas of Terror and Silence

Fear and silence have continued into December. In November Tanzanian soldiers could torture and chase away people, and burn their bomas, in serious violation of interim orders issued by the East Africa Court of Justice, while all leaders in Loliondo stayed silent – and cattle were illegally detained on village land.

Beatings continue, and on 21^st December 12 bomas (or per other accounts 11 bomas/24 houses) were burned in the Leken area of Kirtalo village.

This blog post has kept being unacceptably delayed and contains some parts that may to some seem irrelevant considering currents atrocities.

The situation is far, far too painful and help is needed from anyone with some influence.

Update: people are again illegally arrested and I’m working on a blog post, even if information is scarce. THRDC have published a brief news alert.  

In this blog post:

Crimes of November

Christmas crimes

The DC comments

The silence

Manongi and the Jamhuri anti-Maasai rag

Charity as a very dirty weapon

The EU

Summary of developments of the past decades

Silence, Torture, Stupidity, Affidavits, and Soldiers in Loliondo

In this blog post:

The bizarre case of mistaken identity and illegal arrests

Thomson Safaris back to violence (if they ever stopped), using soldiers

Reported arrests of OBC rangers, but details are scarce and confused…

Attack by soldiers at orpul in Ololosokwan

The government’s affidavits

More articles

Now

Summary of osero and OBC developments of the past decades

Update 25/9: At last some good news! The East African Court of Justice has issued interim orders against both last years illegal operation on village land that led to arson, seizing of cattle, beatings and rape, and against the intimidation campaign launched in May this year to derail the case. The office of the Inspector General of Police is restrained from harassing or intimidating the applicants pending Reference No. 10 of 2017. Better late than never...

In memory of Yohana Saing’eu, many people’s father and legendary chairman of Ololosokwan for 33 years, who sadly passed away on 27^th August 2018. In 2011, I saw the defender of the village in a street of Arusha, in the company of a lawyer, and on the way to Dar es Salaam after receiving a letter that demanded that the village certificate be handed in. In 2013, I saw the father sitting on a log in Mairowa with a small girl on his lap. Even if it doesn’t seem so right now, I believe that the legends of the future could be walking around in Loliondo.

This blog post is very delayed, not because there isn’t anything happening, but because multiple bad developments that nobody who hasn’t been silenced has exact information about are taking place.

A Decade since Trent Keegan was Murdered and Thomson Safaris Continue Occupying Maasai Land

In this blog post:

Tanzania Breweries Limited

Thomson Safaris take Maasai land as their nature refuge

Lesinko shot at Enashiva Nature Refuge

Trent murdered

2009 drought

The sign

First international article

The PM’s “report”

Unanswered UN letters

The court cases

Becoming a blogger

The negotiations

Children beaten

Five herders prosecuted for trespass

Killing a website

More journalists in trouble

Olunjai shot

The big intimidation campaign in Loliondo

Charity as a weapon – and recently buying who could not be bought

Current silence

Read the most recent blog posts to understand what’s going on with OBC and the 1,500 km2, and the further increased intimidation campaign. Thomson Safaris is about another, unrelated, tourism company in Loliondo, but with the same “friends”, and benefitting from the same lawlessness and repression.

This blog post is far too delayed, and it’s because of unexpected bad news, both about OBC and Thomson, and because it’s been impossible, and continue being impossible, to get hold of people whose view I need to hear.

Thomson Safaris, a Boston-based safari company that furiously insists that Maasai grazing land is their own Enashiva Nature Refuge (a.k.a Eastern Serengeti Nature Refuge), and with a police state at their service to silence their critics feel sorry for themselves because nobody listens to their side…

Repression Against Land Rights Activists in Loliondo is Worse Than Ever

The past month there have been several illegal arrests of pastoralist human rights defenders in Loliondo division of Ngorongoro District, Tanzania – where foreign investors threaten land rights – and four people have been charged with baseless charges. Even a lawyer assisting these victims of ridiculous, but very dangerous, malicious prosecution has been targeted. Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition is calling for wider condemnation of the ongoing harassment.

Update 2 September: The case was postponed until 17^th October.

The Public Prosecutor despite of having been ordered by the Court to deliver complainant statement according to section 9 (3) of Criminal Procedure , failed to  deliver this, but the case will come on 17^th October 2016 to see the status of the prosecution case. There’s an agreement that this case needs to be conducted on speed.

Multiple Illegal Arrests of Innocent People in Loliondo for the Sole Sake of Intimidation

Help is needed.

updates at the end.
Clinton Eng’wes Kairung – secondary school teacher from Kirtalo, working in Digodigo - was arrested on 13^th July, and was then out (temporarily) on 15^th July. Clinton is my friend and the purported reason for this arrest was having met me in Olpusimoru, Kenya, which obviously isn’t a crime in any way. As usual, coordination and information sharing has left a lot to be desired. Clinton was arrested again on 19^th July.

Supuk Maoi – secondary school teacher working in Loliondo - was arrested on 14^th July and continues locked up. Also his arrest is said to have to do with me. I have not met Supuk during my recent trip to Kenya. Unlike Clinton, Supuk often speaks up publicly and online about various Loliondo issues.

The Anti-Loliondo ”Journalist” Manyerere Jackton Again Defames this Blogger in the Jamhuri

Manyerere Jackton, who by now has written over twenty articles inciting against the Maasai of Loliondo as destructive “Kenyans” whose NGOs harass beneficial investors, has again written about me… Manyerere has earlier gone to the extreme of claiming that 70 percent of the population of Loliondo is “Kenyan” and published lists of names of supposed “Kenyans”. His latest piece was to, together with the two most corrupt persons in Loliondo, engage in defamation of the activist Maanda Ngoitiko, adding “fantasies” about how I would have worked for her NGO (I wish…). The occasion for the latest article is that the unbelievably incompetent, now ex-DC, Hashim Shaibu Mgandilwa must have got my first, and as advised, brief request for revocation of my prohibited immigrant status, to ex-minister Kitwanga, and then sent it to the anti-Loliondo “journalist”. The ex-DC was in social media sarcastically telling me “nimeskia unataka unataka ku revoke PI njoo nikusaidie” and shortly after did Manyerere Jackton email me my first letter requesting revocation, together with his rather juvenile comments ending with, “Finally, you will know who is the worst journalist and who is the worst mzungu!”. He would have had some more material with my more detailed request, but since he’s also lazy, maybe he doesn’t want it. In the recent article – that at least in the online version doesn’t even carry the “journalist’s” name – Manyerere claims that it’s “investigations” by the Jamhuri that have revealed my request for revocation…

Much Silence from Loliondo and then Extreme Defamation in the Jamhuri

A good man passed away.

There was an appeal hearing.

OBC donated school desks.

The worst of the worst joined up for defamation.

I haven’t posted any new blog post in a very long time, and the reason is that obtaining information is harder than ever. Some are corrupted and many – maybe all - are intimidated. Others say that things are calm and the “investors” aren’t doing anything at the moment. When a new Jamhuri “article” appeared in mid-June I had urgent reasons to write, but have been delayed due to travelling and mostly waiting in vain for help with information.

First some short other news.

Brief and Delayed News about more Vicious Incitement and Charity as a Weapon

Meeting about land in February.

The Jamhuri attacked insanely again.

OBC had guests.

Big propaganda number with donation to hospital.

As mentioned in this blog, in January there was the most horrible media incitement against Kirtalo, after the DC took journalists there and lied to them that people would have “invaded” their own land cultivating, and that obvious village land would be some kind of “investor area” or “protected area” – which the “journalists” readily reported. OBC’s own DC Hashim Mgandilwa announced that there would be a meeting on 18^th January. The incitement died down, and since the local leaders weren’t ready, there never was a meeting.

My article about Thomson Safaris in Third World Resurgence magazine

The new issue, with a focus on tourism, of Third World Resurgence magazine has an article that I’ve written about Thomson Safaris. It serves as the summary I should have written some time ago.

http://www.twn.my/title2/resurgence/2015/301-302/cover05.htm

Other articles in the magazine are:

Tourism – a driver of inequality and displacement - Anita Pleumarom

Tourism and the biosphere crisis: Provisions for inter-generational care - Alison M Johnston

Rise of the aerotropolis – Rose Bridger

Tourism for women’s rights? – Albertina Almeida

The puputan struggle against the Benoa Bay reclamation project – Anton Muhajir

Tourism, the extractive industry and social conflict in Peru – Rodrigo Ruiz Rubio

Tourism and the consumption of Goa – Claude Alvares

The occidentalisation of the Everest – Vaishna Roy

The getthoisation of Palestine – tourism as a tool of oppression and resistance – Freya Higgins-Desbiolles

The bitter irony of ‘1 billion tourists – 1 billion opportunities’

http://www.twn.my/title2/resurgence/2015/301-302.htm

Maasai fight eviction from Tanzanian community land by US-based ecotourism company

Pastoralist land in Tanzania is under threat because of commercial agriculture and conservation. In some places 'philanthropic' ecotourism companies also add to the problem. This article focuses on a case in Loliondo.

Susanna Nordlund

---

Politics and Injustice in Loliondo

There are election results.

An unbelievable unjust – but not unexpected -court ruling was delivered, and there will be an appeal.

There’s some good, some bad and some downright ugly news, and this blog post has been somewhat delayed due to confusion.

Grabbers of Pastoralist Land Join Forces and Loliondo is Misused in the Election Campaign

A partnership between AWF and Thomson Safaris has been loudly announced.

Sheikh Mohammed visited and this was used in a dishonest way in the election campaign.

Since everyone who has some information is busy with politics it's even harder than usual to obtain information from Loliondo.

Some Kind of Loliondo Update and Delayed News About Abuse in NCA

I was contacted by the worst anti-Loliondo journalist.

There was a very bad article in the Raia Tanzania

Everyone is busy with the elections.

There isn’t many news about the “investors”.

The dry season has brought serious problems with rangers, especially in areas of NCA.

I have not been able to get many updates, reportedly because everyone is busy with the coming elections and the "investors" are keeping a low profile. When I was about to publish a blog post about nothing I was informed about abuse committed by NCAA rangers in Ndutu.

I’m happy to say that my arrest report has been translated to Swahili by Evarist Chahali. http://www.chahali.com/2015/08/mkasa-wa-kusikitisha-kuhusu-susanna.html

Brief Report about How I Was Arrested in Loliondo

I was locked up two nights at Loliondo police station and one night at Arusha police station.

Not allowed to contact anyone.

My computer was destroyed.

Instead of a court case I was deported to Kenya.

Then the usual journalist wrote an article full of lies about me.

Updated below.

Last week my latest trip to Loliondo – a part of the world that’s always on my mind - was cut short in a quite abrupt way when someone reported me to authorities. I wanted to meet some of the people who are not online, but who have information about the land threats caused by “investors”.

Some Good News and a Lot More Abuse and Insanity from Loliondo

More articles inciting against the Maasai of Loliondo

Fear about the anti-Kenyan operation           .

Mass arrests after extremely corrupt police were beaten by warriors at Ololosokwan market.

Youths arrested for “environmental destruction” in area where OBC are active

Demonstrations at Thomson Safaris’ PR spectacle inaugurating the Sukenya dispensary.

Excellent article about Thomson Safaris in Vice Magazine.

Attack on Kirtalo by police incited by William Alais’ investor-friendly gang.

Not too clever journalists.

Not too clever DC.

UAE Water Project. 

There have been very worrying developments, but also some promising news, and an excellent international article. As usual it’s been unreasonably difficult to get exact information.

Excellent Article about Thomson Safaris in Vice Magazine

This post was to be part of next blog update, but since that post is getting too long and too delayed due to too much happening and problems getting exact information, the article gets its own blog post. I hope to soon write about developments in Kirtalo and add that to the delayed update that also has some other important news.

On 12th May Vice Magazine uploaded an article from their May issue called, The EcotourismIndustry Is Saving Tanzania’s Animals and Threatening Its Indigenous People, and despite the title the article is entirely about Thomson Safaris’ “Enashiva Nature Refuge”. Some short videos are embedded in the article.

Betrayal and Abuse Continue in Loliondo

Nothing was done about the human rights abuse of February.

The RC came.

Kidupo kept getting worse.

A surveying team came and left.

Channel 10 attacked again.

Then Kenyans and those “helping Kenyans” were attacked.

Updates on the human rights abuse in February

The people whose houses were burned 10^th-14^th February did, according to reports I've got, not get any help.

The Aggressively Litigious Thomson Safaris with their Dollars Manage to Silence a Very Important Website

An alarm against injustice has been silenced. Armed with multiple lawyers, multiple law firms Thomson Safaris set out to stop the truth from being told, and the Stop Thomson Safaris website is no more.

To keep their anonymity – for explicable reasons being based in Tanzania - the creators of the website Stop Thomson Safaris have been forced to make a settlement with the land grabbing tour operator that sued them for “defamation and tortious interference with prospective economic advantage” and used a subpoena to try to make the web host Weebly disclose their identity.