Maasai traditional council in Loliondo meet president

Laanoi Munge, secretary of Maasai traditional council in Loliondo, represents members of the council in reading a report on land disputes in the area at a press conference held in Dar es Salaam 17th May 2013

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Maasai elders from Loliondo in Ngorongoro District and their secretary are in Dar es Salaam where they were demanding to convene with President Jakaya Kikwete over claims that their land has been grabbed by the government.

They have warned that tensions are mounting and threat of violence is imminent should the authorities remain silent.

“MPs and other ministers have failed to work on the issue quickly so that we could be assured of what steps have been taken to solve the problem,” complained Laanoi Munge, the elders’ secretary.

Briefing journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Munge, accompanied by 13 elders from various areas of Loliondo, complained further that the elders, who serve as their community’s traditional leaders have been forced to stop performing development issues due to the growing unrest.

“We have stopped doing economic and development activities in an attempt to restore peace but we are tired of the same story everyday … we want action,” Munge asserted on the elders behalf.

Expounding, he said, their people have been abandoned and left hopeless even after recent promising statements by various government leaders which have apparently proved fruitless. That being the case, Munge called on the President organise an urgent meeting with them to discuss the matter.

The elders’ group Chairman, Joseph Tiripai, cautioned that if their efforts will not be acknowledged then they will be forced to seek aid from international organizations to help them resolve the matter.

“We believe that by seeking international organisations’ help, the matter will be resolved and the government will quickly work on our demands,” he said, cautioning that their villagers will fight to the end rather than stand by and lose their land to investors.

“We are doing all we can to calm them down but they are tired of waiting on empty promises … what they want is a quick resolution to the matter,” Tiripai said.

The land dispute is related to the recent announcement by Natural Resources and Tourism minister Khamis Kagasheki to foreign diplomats in Tanzania that the government has finally resolved the over 20-year-old disputed area.

Recently Kagasheki said that to the Loliondo villagers, 2,500 sq kms of land has been allocated and the remaining 1500 sq kms has been set aside as a reserve to conserve wildlife, flora and fauna.

“The government’s intention over the 1,500 sq kms of land is to protect a breeding area and a corridor for iconic great migration of wildlife and a critical water catchment area for Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area,” the minister had elaborated.

But the elders want further clarification and they now seek it from the President himself.