The Ngorongoro MP Spoke Up in Parliament About the Shocking Transfer to Handeni of Funds for Public Services, in Loliondo the Intimidation of Local Leaders Continues, and The Royal Tour is Used as Expected

 

Rest in peace Anny Daniel Laizer. My condolences to family and friends.

 

In the latest blog post, among several other issues, I mentioned that in addition to decades of other restrictions and harassment, obviously meant to drive the Maasai out of Ngorongoro Conservation Area, since 2021 the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) has been blocking all new, already funded, public service projects. While writing (now long ago), I was asking for more details about what projects were being blocked, and since then such a list has been shared, and later letters were made public in which schools in Ngorongoro Conservation Area were being ordered to send Covid-19 funds already in their accounts to the account of Handeni District Council. On 13^th April, the Ngorongoro MP Emmanuel Oleshangai, spoke up in the national assembly, and in a confident way fought off several intervening ministers.

Update: on 6th May, Lendukai Kimaay, who was one of those writing the report on community views to be handed to PM Majaliwa, was arrested in Karatu and then taken to Arusha for interrogation. He was released on the 7th.

Update: On 6^th May. the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues called on the government of Tanzania to immediately cease efforts to evict the Maasai people from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

 

Meanwhile, I’m worried that not enough attention is given to protect the 1,500 km² in Loliondo that this year has been seriously threatened by both the Arusha RC, the PM and the former Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, and as reported in the latest blog post, in a new turn of the Loliondo police state the councillor of Arash was arrested, or abducted, by his own CCM party for speaking up. On Easter Eve the illegal arrests of councillors continued with those from Malambo, Piyaya, and Maaloni. The councillors of Arash and Malambo must keep reporting to the police. The latest I heard is that the Malambo village chairman and a traditional leader are summoned to the Loliondo police tomorrow, 6th May.

 

In President Samia’s own “documentary” The Royal Tour, the words about the Maasai were as if preparing for evictions from Ngorongoro, and in a related interview she now also mentioned Loliondo, trying to engage in the usual anti-Loliondo rhetoric by the MNRT and investors, without getting even that right.  

 

In this blog post:

Blocked public services in Ngorongoro Division

Ngorongoro Conservation Area brief background

NCA developments since 2021

Public services as weapon of war

Intimidation continues, but Loliondo is not back to silence, I hope

Brief reminder about the efforts to rob the Maasai of 1,500 km² in Loliondo

The Royal Tour

Illegal Arrests Again in Loliondo, German Ambassador Supports the Government’s Efforts, UNESCO Denies Responsibility, Ndumbaro is Removed from the MNRT and His Successor Makes Sure to Look as Bad as Possible in the Shortest Time

 

After years of – like many others - painting a disappointing figure, Methew Siloma, councillor of Arash (Loliondo division) spoke up, with unexpected bravery, calling a spade a spade in a way I thought could no longer happen in Loliondo, and subsequently he was arrested by his own CCM party. Several other local leaders and NGO people suffer from increased police harassment.

 

There’s no end to the ethnic hate campaign (allegedly funded by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority) against the Maasai in parts of media (and most of parliament). PM Majaliwa and – now former - Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Ndumbaro have kept appearing in fake spectacles and telling outrageous lies about NCA and Loliondo in a tempo that’s hard to keep up with. Before being moved to the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs - Ndumbaro announced that he would hold regular meetings with diplomatic missions to “inform” them about NCA and Loliondo. It looks like the government has full support from the German ambassador. Meanwhile, UNESCO say that they have never asked for the displacement of the Maasai of Ngorongoro. And it seems like the NCAA has finally found some real traitors instead of only using actors.

 

The new minister, Pindi Chana, was installed on 2^nd April, met with the German ambassador on the 5^th, and made a militaristic visit to Ngorongoro on the 6^th.

 

Again, this blog post is too long and delayed, since too much is happening, while some important information is hard to obtain. It should be even longer, with more detail to avoid misunderstandings, but then nobody would read it.

 

In this blog post:

The meeting in Arash and the CCM arrest/abduction

Brief reminder about the efforts to rob the Maasai of 1,500 km² in Loliondo

New “article” by OBC’s “journalist”

The old trick of public services as a weapon of war in Loliondo and NCA

Brief summary of NCA, including latest news

UNESCO denying responsibility for the genocidal Multiple Land Use Model review proposal and everything else

Ndumbaro meeting ambassadors and Germany is discreetly anti-Maasai as usual

Support by Kenyan senator

Bye, bye Ndumbaro

 

Pindi Chana in Ngorongoro on 6th April

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. 

After Loliondo, PM Majaliwa Visits Ngorongoro Conservation Area and There he Makes a Lawless Statement about Loliondo, Ordering Beacons to be Erected in Contempt of Court

 

Just when I had scrambled through a night to finish a blog post about Loliondo before Majaliwa’s visit to Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), to manage to treat the Loliondo and NCA issues separately, the PM makes a terrifying statement about Loliondo - when in NCA! It has become necessary to keep the issues separate after increased national and international interest has led to a flood of mixed-up articles.

 

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.

 

In NCA, an 8,292 km² multiple land use area, the Maasai live under the 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.

 

For further confusion Loliondo is one of the three divisions of Ngorongoro district, while NCA is the same as Ngorongoro division of the district. The 4,000 km² Loliondo Game Controlled Area, that delineates the hunting block, is the whole of Loliondo division, plus part of Sale. This isn’t that hard to understand. If you google Loliondo, you may find articles about the neighbouring Longido district, since Tanzanian journalists very often mix up Loliondo and Longido, but even when geographically correct, almost all articles will be confused in some way, even the most serious ones. When this blog is confused, I say so.

 

In this blog post:

Majaliwa in NCA issuing illegal orders about Loliondo

OBC and the 1,500 km² Osero

Points of what has happened so far this year

About NCA in the PM’s meeting in NCA

Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the MLUM review proposal

 

PM Majaliwa in Loliondo – Comparison with Earlier Intervention that had Catastrophic Results

 

 

Tomorrow PM Majaliwa is supposed to visit Ngorongoro Conservation Area, so this blog post about his visit to Loliondo must be published now tonight, even if I'd liked to work more on it.

 

I just don’t know how to stop people from mixing up the two closely related issues (following my blog would be a good idea though) or from creating more inexplicable confusion.

 

In this blog post:

Majaliwa in Loliondo

The 1,500 km2, OBC, and Majaliwa’s destructive intervention in 2016-2017 – compare with what’s happening now

Anti-Maasai press conference

 

Anti-Maasai Genocidal Frenzy in the Tanzanian Parliament when Discussing Ngorongoro

 

Genocidal anti-Maasai frenzy has been exhibited in parliament, almost without pushback. The plan is now to review the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Act, and to receive more lecturing from the biggest enemies of the Maasai.

 

Remember that Loliondo and Ngorongoro Conservation Area are two different, but closely related issues.

 

In this blog post:

Loathsome spectacle in parliament

Statements

Adulterated saltlicks

Permanent Secretaries have arrived in Loliondo

Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the MLUM review proposal

Ndumbaro

Leaked Short-Term Eviction Plan for Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Vicious Anti-Maasai Hate Campaign in Media

 

It’s time to write about the leaked short-term plan for “voluntary” relocation from Ngorongoro Conservation Area. As known, the medium-term plan is for a cultural genocide, turning most of NCA and much of surrounding areas into no-go zones for people and livestock. Everyone has now got the information anyway, so there must have been more than one leak. Then there has been terrible incitement in Tanzanian media against the Ngorongoro Maasai – led by Habib Mchange of the Jamvi la Habari, and picked up by Maulid Kitenge who ran away with it like a pig in heat (I got that perfect image from a dear friend) but those people are also a distraction from the real threat

 

I hope I won’t have any news from Loliondo to write about other than something good about the RC backtracking, or a win in the East African Court of Justice. On 1^st February, Loliondo representatives who were in Dodoma to attend the swearing in of Emmanuel Oleshangai as MP, met with former PM Mizengo Pinda who is in the highest organs of the CCM ruling party. Pinda reassured them that the government hadn’t made any decision about the 1,500 km² and advised them about meeting people. Why did the RC, the central government’s highest representative in Arusha region then issue a land alienation threat on 11^th January? I’m glad that there has been so much international solidarity, much more than at more threatening times, and the reporting has got better, even if some incorrect information still gets through.  

 

Remember that Loliondo and NCA are two separate but closely related issues. They are not as detached as some local people may think but can’t be mixed up as is sometimes done by outsiders. The Maasai in NCA live under harsh restrictions that don’t exist in Loliondo. It’s Loliondo that’s my area of expertise.

 

Much of this blog post is ongoing events and questions.

 

But enough is enough! Stop inciting against and threatening people who already lost massive land when evicted from Serengeti National Park, and on whose land the wildlife is found that every opportunist wants to make money off!

 

In this blog post:

Leaked short-term eviction plan for NCA

Anti-Maasai hate campaign in media

Ngorongoro people explaining and explaining

Journalists detained after attending community meeting in Nainokanoka

Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the MLUM review proposal

Ndumbaro signing 30-year leases with criminals

New MP

Photo: Jamvi la Habari (this is supposed to make you upset)

 

Loliondo and Ngorongoro Attacked from Every Angle, and People Have Spoken Up

 

The Tanzanian government must stop threatening and abusing the Maasai of Ngorongoro District, whether it’s for the old “Loliondogate” issue in Loliondo and Sale Division and the hunters’ wish for a “protected area”, or for the even older wish to for the love of tourism money further dispossess and strangle those in Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Now the Arusha RC John Mongella must backtrack on his (the government’s) terrible threat described in the previous blog post.

 

In this blog post:

Application for stop order in EACJ after the RC’s threats

The case

The crime

Worrying developments, confusion and protest in Sanjan, Malambo

Maasai eloquence and police stupidity in Endulen

The anti-Maasai press

Support from national and international organisations

Ndumbaro in Las Vegas

 

The Arusha RC Sends a Message that the Government Must Grab Land in Loliondo to Please Investor for the Broader Interest of the Nation – He can Forget About it!

 

The Tanzanian government is again preparing to grab grazing land in Loliondo for the benefit of the “investor” and this time it’s the Arusha Regional Commissioner who’s been sent as the messenger. Let’s stop any such plan!

 

The RC was also expected to drop a terrible message about Ngorongoro Conservation Area. He didn’t, but let’s prepare to stop that as well!

 

The enemies of the Maasai are very repetitive, but don’t let that divert your focus. There is a pattern of violence from authorities when local leaders are weak and ready to compromise, and when the rains fail and the dry season turns terrible, like now, but for some reason the Maasai are leavened up and ready to defend their land, after years of lying flat.

 

The Osero will never be grabbed!

Oloirien 13th January 2022

 

In this blog post:

The visit by the RC and the threat

Community Press statement delivered in Oloirien

The president appoints a human rights criminal as head of TANAPA

Despite credible information beforehand the RC was silent about NCA

Update: on 21^st January the villages of Ololosokwan, Kirtalo, Oloirien, and Arash filed an application in the East African Court of Justice.

In Malambo there were very worrying developments.

I’ll write a new blog post as soon as I’ve got more details.

 

A Reminder, Recent Activities, and New Fears about Loliondo and NCA

 

This brief blog post was supposed to be published before the end of 2021, but I’ve lacked focus, had some computer problems, and most importantly - waited in vain for more detailed information about various issues, like several meetings by the enemies of the Maasai of Ngorongoro and Loliondo. Though now it looks like there could be a new post quite soon, and that’s not good.

 

In this blog post

Terrible rumour about cabinet meeting and demand for Ololosokwan village certificate

OBC and the Osero very briefly

The official December activities by the enemies of Ngorongoro

New MP

Visit by the RC?

Update: the RC's visit was BAD: 
https://termitemoundview.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-arusha-rc-sends-message-that.html

There was a Press Conference by Ngorongoro Representatives to Respond to the Imposter Lekisongo, It’s Over a Year Since the Election Murder that Killed Salula Ngorisiolo, and the DED Works Hard for the Loliondo Police State

 

The press conference protesting the behaviour of the imposter Lekisongo is old news, maybe a diversion, and I haven’t been able to get much of a background on this individual, or much information what he’s done after being told off.

I should have published on 28^th October about last year’s election murder, but keep getting delayed and am un-focused.

Then there were worries that NCAA were trying to influence the by-election, but now there is a candidate who is a lesser evil (I hope …) and will become MP, since a real by-election won’t be held anyway.

When I finally was about to publish this blog post, more worrying information reached me that the new DED (not that the old one was any better …) isn’t lazy at all in his contribution to the Loliondo police state at the service of unethical “investors”, this time the horrible Thomson Safaris.

 

In this blog post:

The imposter Lekisongo

A reminder about the genocidal Multiple Land Use Model review proposal

A year since election murder

Salula Ngorisiolo

Confusion about the by-election

DED at the service of Thomson Safaris

 

Protests Against Violence in Endulen, the New DED Added to the Loliondo Police State, and then Samia again Showed off her Dangerous Ignorance about Ngorongoro

 

Rest in peace dad, Alf Nordlund.

And, rest in peace MP and deputy minister, Willliam Olenasha.

 

I’m unfocused and am again posting far, far too late about important issues. I was writing about the new DED’s contribution to the Loliondo police state, but also needed to return to the president’s “Royal Tour”. Then protests erupted in Endulen against abuse and violence by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority.

 

On 27^th September the Ngorongoro MP and Deputy Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (Investment) William Tate Olenasha passed away far too young at 49. I will write about him later, or maybe I won’t. He was of invaluable help for this blog up until 13^th August 2017. I would like to extend my condolences to William’s family and friends.

 

Then we suffered a shocking, but not unexpected, family tragedy.

 

And then President Samia once again made an ignorant and threatening statement about Ngorongoro.

 

This blog post is about two, or more, different land threats in Loliondo and NCA, but that are united by the threat of a genocidal Multiple Land Use Model review proposal (in case new readers are confused).

 

In this blog post:

More about The Royal Tour

Petition

Protests against ranger violence in Endulen

A most unsuitable district executive director

The Germans again

Samia again showing off her dangerous ignorance

By-election?

Two Press Statements in One Day by Village Chairs from Loliondo/Sale and NCA – and Manongi Openly Declares War on Ngorongoro Pastoralists

 

On Friday 27^th August 2021, two statements about land threats in Ngorongoro district were issued by village chairpersons – and then there was a long and frustrating time of waiting before anything was broadcast. One statement was about Ngorongoro Division (Ngorongoro Conservation Area, NCA), which was one of many since the genocidal Multiple Land Use Model review proposal was revealed by chief conservator Freddy Manongi in September 2019. It’s significant that the other statement was issued by village chairmen and other representatives from Loliondo and Sale. Other than two statements by all ward councillors in the district (in October 2019 and June 2021) basically nothing has been heard from Loliondo leaders and activists since those who had not already been silenced in one way or other were silenced by the terror of 2018 when soldiers from the Tanzania People’s Defence Force – without any kind of official order, unlike the illegal mass arson operations in 2009 and 2017 that were ordered by the DC – were in some way contracted to commit violent crime, arson included, for OBC that organize hunting for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai.  

 

This double press conference follows a most illogical, inhumane and very, very illegal order, or ultimatum – which I wrote about in the latest blog post - from Minister Ndumbaro to hunting firms telling them to remove livestock from their hunting blocks, many of which, like Loliondo, are on village land, and this was one of the reasons for the Loliondo statement. How can Ndumbaro order the hunters to commit a crime that they’re already far too inclined to commit and which OBC has for a long time lobbied for? This has included the funding of a rejected draft district land use plan that proposed turning their 1,500 km2 core hunting area into a protected area, and this lobbying has led to several major illegal invasions of village land, human rights crimes, and to a local police state at the service of OBC (and the American Thomson Safaris) that finally silenced almost everyone.

 

Then there hasn’t been any further explanation from Ndambaro and nobody, other than some social media posts and my blog post, spoke up demanding accountability and retraction of the statement. Though I was told that the councillors wrote a statement early on protesting Ndumbaro’s order, but that they lacked funds for a press conference. The village chairpersons were assisted by NGO’s (PINGOs Forum and others) to hold their press conference on 27^th August. Television coverage was expected for the weekend, but didn’t appear, and then in a very brief form, until a week later.

 

Then a video of Manongi and deputy minister Masanja openly declaring war on the Ngorongoro pastoralists was uploaded to the Youtube account of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.

 

President Samia is soon to visit Ngorongoro on her “Royal Tour”, maybe even tomorrow (Monday).

Update: Samia is in Ngorongoro. 

Update Tuesday 7th September: Yesterday several special seats councillors, NGO-people, and activists were arrested until dark to prevent them from reaching Samia on her Royal Tour They are suspected of being in possession of placards and will have to present themselves at the police on Friday. I'm searching for more details. 

In this blog post:

The Loliondo/Sale statement

Ngorongoro Conservation Area Statement

Open declaration of war by Deputy Minister and Chief Conservator against Ngorongoro pastoralists

Samia’s Royal Tour

 

Ndumbaro Makes a Criminally Clueless and Dangerous Statement Urging Hunting Investors to Commit More Crime Against Rural People

 

Poleni sana wanangoile …

 

On 5th August, the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Damas Ndumbaro, made a most inflammatory statement totally ignoring rule of law, human rights, land rights and common sense.

In this blog post:

Ndumbaro’s Criminally Clueless and Dangerous Statement

Summary about OBC and the Osero in Loliondo

 

First, please sign this petition by Rainforest Rescue and the Oakland Institute against eviction in Ngorongoro.

Guest blogger Tubulu Nebasi: The Failure of the Manongi Regime of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority and the Maasai as Natural Conservationists

 

By Tubulu Lerug Sokoine Nebasi (Diwani Nje ya Halmashauri/Councillor outside the District Council).

 

(Tubulu is the first guest blogger here at View from the Termite Mound, but any serious voice for Ngorongoro land rights – not least including Loliondo, if anyone would be brave enough - is more than welcome.

/Susanna)

 

Ngorongoro, particularly the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, is legally known to be a Multiple Land Use Area and it was by early 1959 when the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority Act (formerly Ordinance) No.14 of 1959 was initiated and defined the three main functions of the Area: Conservation, Tourism and Development of Indigenous People. The Maasai people are known to be the owners of the land and Ngorongoro is the Land of Maasai people, followed by the agreement of the Maasai to vacate the Western Serengeti on 13^th, 14^th March and 20^th April 1958 by the Laigwanak (elders) of Ngorongoro and Loliondo division of the Maasai District (Munge Ole Keyamba, Ole Pose, Olong'oyu and others agreed on behalf of all Maasai).

 

Today Ngorongoro is not better than before, the life of the indigenous people is not better, employment of Maasai people to the NCAA is not better, Multiple Land Use is not better, Ngorongoro Pastoralist Council, NPC, is not better, only militarism thrives.

A Brief Reminder of Rashid Mfaume Taka's Crimes, a Statement by Ngorongoro Councillors, and Manongi’s War against the Maasai Continues

 

Ngorongoro has a new DC after the human rights criminal and perjurer Rashid Mfaume Taka has been retired. I must remind of the crimes committed by the old DC, but know very little about the new one. On 27^thJune, the Ngorongoro councillors issued a statement about the land conflicts in the district. This is an improvement that I must write about. As feared when I was writing the latest blog post, at least 35 MPs visited Ngorongoro. As usual, this post could have been published several days ago.

 

In this blog post:

A reminder of the crimes committed by former DC Rashid Mfaume Taka

Statement by the councillors of Ngorongoro District Council about land conflict in the divisions of Sale, Ngorongoro, and Loliondo

Tourism by parliamentarians, and soldiers

 

While Ndumbaro and the MNRT Lull Ngorongoro Leaders to Sleep, Manongi Prepares Full War on the Maasai

 

There have been some developments since the latest blog post. Sadly, the silence in Loliondo continues and the only thing anyone will say is that OBC are busy repairing roads, and back in business, preparing for a visit by Sheikh Mohammed. It may also be of interest that Ndumbaro on 29^th May met with the UAE ambassador to Tanzania. Then Loliondo was mentioned in Ndumbaro’s budget speech as if belonging to NCAA. The delays in the EACJ case are most worrying and some people must become more active …

Ngorongoro Conservation Area, on the other hand, has been in the news. First as meetings, delegations, and Ngorongoro politicians expressing their gratitude to Minister Ndumbaro for talking to them. Then Manongi arranged a NCAA propaganda spectacle at parliament grounds in Dodoma.

In this blog post:

The eviction notices that were withdrawn

Insistence on eviction notices

Petition

Delegation to Dodoma

Abrupt NCAA HQ relocation

Delegation arranged by the MP

CCM meeting in Endulen

Manongi on parliament grounds

Loliondo in Ndumbaro’s budget speech

Unfair ruling in the case against victims of election violence

New report by the Oakland Institute

Ngorongoro and the genocidal MLUM review proposal

After the President’s Speech Mentioning Ngorongoro Strange Eviction Notices were Issued and then Withdrawn

 

After the terror - that since 2016 (worsened in 2018) had made the defenders of land and pastoralists almost useless - finally seemed to have started to subside, there have been some setbacks caused by newcomers (not least, as mentioned in the latest blog post, the new president) repeating the NCAA’s and MNRT’s anti-Ngorongoro rhetoric. Then, Minister Ndumbaro visited Ngorongoro, avoided meeting local representatives that had been waiting since early morning, and almost 150 families got illegal “eviction notices” or orders to demolish their houses. Fortunately, these were withdrawn after protests. At last, a small victory.

 

Meanwhile in Loliondo, OBC are busy, and nobody is saying anything at all.

 

In this blog post:

NCAA/MNRT talk in the president’s speech and elsewhere

Response by Joseph Oleshangay and others

Ndumbaro’s visit to Ngorongoro, illegal eviction notices, and the re-emergence of the MP

Press statement in Arusha

Eviction notices withdrawn

State of the nation speech

Ngorongoro and the MLUM review proposal

 

A Reminder about Loliondo

Maasai in Loliondo have for years been at risk of losing 1,500 km2 of important grazing land, suffered all kinds of abuse, including illegal mass arson operations, and a local police state. I’ve tried to make this article as brief as possible, too much have been left out, but there’s just too much to say – even when some is unknown.

Initially the plan was to publish this blog post somewhere else, but I’ll write another kind of article for that purpose.

 

While this post has kept being delayed hopes have first been raised with the change at the highest level of government, and then plummeted on 6^th April when President Samia mentioned Ngorongoro in a speech showing that she’d swallowed the lies by the MNRT hook, line and sinker. This can still be salvaged, and I hope to very soon be able to write a blog post about the responses that will set record straight for her (more about this at the end of the blog post). Meanwhile, read what Ngorongoro youths in February had to say about the plans by the MNRT.

In this blog post:

Rest in peace Emmanuel Saringe ole Naronyo

Loliondogate to today

Invasion of village land and mass arson of 2009

The draft District Land Use Plan

Kagasheki’s attempt at imposing OBC’s land use plan

OBC’s journalist

Worsened divide and rule with Nyalandu

Proxy wars for OBC

My illegal arrest

Illegal arrests to silence everyone

Gambo’s committee

Invasion of village land and illegal mass arson operation of 2017

Kigwangalla became a hero and then U-turned

Intimidation drive to derail the case in the EACJ, unbelievable perjury, and interim orders that were soon violated

The bizarre case of mistaken identity

JWTZ soldiers working for OBC committed human rights crimes

The unexpected arrest of OBC’s director

JWTZ soldiers killing Yohana "Babuche" Saidea in Wasso town

A genocidal NCA Multiple Land Use Model review proposal includes the land wanted by OBC

Current state and the speech of nightmares

Press Conference by Ngorongoro Youths in Dar es Salaam

In this blog post:

Press conference

The threat of the MLUM review proposal

 

After the press conference in Arusha on 21^st January, held by ward councillors and customary leaders from Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), Ngorongoro youths in Dar es Salaam – all of them university students except one who’s a lawyer - followed up with their own press conference on 8^th February. They continued the work to set the record straight about bad policy in NCA including serious human rights issues, the current atrocious management of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) under chief conservator Freddy Manongi, misleading information from the NCAA and in the press (like Manongi’s workshop for journalists in late December, in which he drummed up urgency about population growth and was quoted uncritically in the press, which prompted the first press conference), and threatening proposals. Already the following day, Global tv and E Habari reported about the youths’ press conference, but further news coverage is so far nowhere to be seen.

Ngorongoro councillors and customary leaders send a message once again to President Magufuli

On 21^st January 2021 in Arusha, a delegation representing ward councillors and customary leaders from Ngorongoro District (specifically from Ngorongoro division/Ngorongoro Conservation Area), on behalf of the Ngorongoro residents, met the press and read a statement prepared in Endulen on the 16^th January. The statement urges President Magufuli to disregard recent reports from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT) about Ngorongoro, particularly the Multiple Land Use Model (MLUM) review report.  The councillors and customary leaders insist that these reports were compiled and written without the informed or full involvement of communities, but rather with the aim of evicting these communities from their land. They reminded the president that the multiple land use model that makes the area unique has been effective because of the traditional way of life of the indigenous pastoralist community and their support for the model. They also reminded him that the pastoralist communities in NCA are not land invaders, but rather they are the lawful residents of legally registered villages, with their land and legal rights recognised, amongst others in the NCA Ordinance of 1959. 

 

The councillors and customary leaders finish the statement with emphasis on the fact that the people of Ngorongoro do not agree with the process adopted by the MLUM team or the General Management Plan (GMP) team, and that they also reject the results of these studies, including the proposals. They therefore ask the president not to agree to proposals that do not have the consent or blessings of local people. They are ready to seek solutions, but the participation should be genuine and not hateful, fraudulent or with pressure from the NCAA.

“Therefore, we ward councillors and customary leaders, on behalf of the people of Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with great humility ask the president to keep an eye on this area so that if possible, he will change the leadership of the NCAA and completely expose the whole institution because it has failed to manage the area, and is the source of conflicts and deteriorating relations between communities and conservationists.”

 

The delegation from Ngorongoro. 

Last Reports of the Year about Injustice and Land Threats in Loliondo and Ngorongoro

When few hours, minutes in Tanzania, remain of this year 2020, the only thing I can say is, at least Ref No. 10 of 2017, Ololosokwan Village Council & 3 Others (Kirtalo, Oloirien and Arash) vs the Attorney General of the United Republic of Tanzania continues in the East African Court of Justice …

 

In this blog post:

The horror of the state of things

NCAA workshop to incite journalists against the Maasai of Ngorongoro

Criminal rangers again seizing cattle on village land in Arash

A reminder of the case in the East African Court of Justice

Vote rigging and murder in Ngorongoro

On Election Day, in Ngorongoro ward of Ngorongoro district, police and Ngorongoro Conservation Area rangers opened fire shooting innocent, unarmed voters who were standing up for democracy, trying to stop election fraud. 23-year old Salula Ngorisiolo was killed. Then the injured victims were arrested, and so was the CHADEMA ward councillor candidate, and the former CCM councillor (who was on the side of justice), and they were locked up illegally for a week and are now facing charges, while the murderers and vote riggers walk free.

 

In this blog post:

Stolen elections in Tanzania

Murder and illegal arrests in Ngorongoro

 

This blog is about “investors” that threaten land rights in Loliondo and the local police state at their service, a police state that was terrifying long before the whole of Tanzania turned into something similar, and it’s about the current genocidal Multiple Land Use Model review proposal. Though this particular post is about a not entirely unrelated heinous crime. There are still some information gaps, but I can’t wait longer to publish this.

Delayed Blog Post About a Lost PR Opportunity for PM Majaliwa in Ngorongoro

 

On Friday 16^th October, the old enemy of Loliondo and Ngorongoro, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, visited Wasso as part of the election campaign. On the stage, with incumbent Ngorongoro MP William Olenasha and CCM’s councillor candidate for Orgosorok ward, Mohammed “Marekani” Bayo who also is OBC’s community liaison (and who received much praise from the MP), Majaliwa, unlike what would have been expected, did not declare that the horrible proposal by the Multiple Land Use Model review team had been stopped.

In this blog post:

The MLUM review proposal

Reactions to the MLUM review proposal

Majaliwa/Olenasha/Marekani horror show in Wasso

Now

If you still haven’t, please read my long blog post about the horrors of the past five years. http://termitemoundview.blogspot.com/2020/10/five-years-of-disappointment-and-terror.html