Ngorongoro Maasai community meets with President of Tanzania

On 1 December 2924, 150 Maasai delegates from Ngorongoro, Loliondo and Sale met with Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the State House in Arusha. Over the last two years, different actors have been urging the Government of Tanzania to create space for dialogue between the Government and Maasai communities living in Ngorongoro and Loliondo to find durable solutions to the land disputes and threats of evictions in their areas. The six days of peaceful demonstration organised by people from Ngorongoro between 18 and 23 August triggered the Government to create a space for dialogue over the land conflicts in Ngorongoro District.

The meeting focused on the current situation in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) and the impacts of the June 2022 operation that displaced thousands of people in Loliondo to establish the Pololeti Game Reserve. Community representatives presented a detailed account of the human rights crisis in Ngorongoro, including lack of adequate school, education and health services, and requested that a process be initiated to return to them the 1500 sq. km of land taken from them to allow for hunting in the Pololeti Game Reserve.

They requested the President to halt ongoing forced relocation to Msomera and to ensure participation of the community in addressing issues related to conservation in Ngorongoro. They also urged the President to stop using the cutting of social services as a weapon to enforce relocation and to reinstate the operation of the Flying Medical Service (FMS). To avoid future mismanagement, community representatives recommended the President to appoint a Maasai representative in the Board and management of NCA. For Loliondo, the President was asked to repeal Pololeti Game Reserve and to allow unconditional access to grazing for livestock in the area until a permanent solution is found.

Posted on 16 December 2024 in Pastoralism & Extractives, Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism & Peacebuilding, Pastoralism & Services, Pastoralism, Policy & Power