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FYI: Ifuatayo ni ripoti ya 'Gazeti la Serikali' kuhusu majibu ya Waziri anayehusika na Utalii/Uwindaji kuhusu sakata la Loliondo. Chini kabisa kuna taarifa kutoka kwenye Gazeti la Mwananchi inayoonesha kuwa kuna Wamaasai wameshaanza kukamatwa wakidaiwa kuwa sio raia wa Tanzania. Hili suala tete la uraia linaanza kuibuka tena.
Government blasts NGOs on Loliondo
By PIUS RUGONZIBWA and MARC NKWAME, 14th September 2009 @ 23:53
THE government has blasted Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), activists and some media institutions for blowing conflicts in the Loliondo Game Controlled Area out of proportion to meet their interests.
The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ms Shamsa Mwangunga, yesterday said that many of the people claiming to have been evicted from the area were the Maasai from Kenya who had entered the country illegally.
Ms Mwangunga told a news conference in Dar es Salaam, that allegations of abuse of human rights during the eviction exercise raised by various human right activists were manifestly exaggerated.
The minister added that it had to take immediate action to make sure the conservation area remained calm and safe for the Ortello Business Corporation (OBC) from United Arab Emirates (UAE) to conduct hunting activities as per agreed contract with the government authorities.
The minister's clarification comes following allegations that the government tortured, abused human rights and has evicted a huge number of villagers of seven villages surrounding the conservation area in favour of OBC in July, this year.
"Loliondo is the conservation area with 4,500 square metres and the remaining part is small and allocated to residents. It is not true that all villagers were evicted, but we had to remove some of them who moved in from the neighbouring country," she said.
The minister said villagers of Ololosokwon, Soitsambu, Oloipiri, Oloiripin-Manoni, Arash and Piyaya were not affected by the exercise and they were peacefully going on with their activities following the eviction of illegal immigrants.
She did not mention the actual number of evictees, but said initially, the exercise was aimed at conserving wildlife as well as ensuring security during tourist hunting activities which contributed heftly to the national economy.
Ms Mwangunga said the government has discovered that there were over 30 NGOs operating in Loliondo, mostly disrupting peace and causing conflicts among villagers.
"We are thoroughly investigating the legitimacy of those NGOs and we will hold them accountable when satisfied they are breaching peace," he pointed out.
Feminists Activist Coalition (FemAct) said it recently visited the villages in Loliondo and discovered massive abuse of human and civil rights that included the torching of Maasai houses without providing alternative shelter to victims.
The minister rubbished the allegations adding the activists didn't even bother to balance their story with her ministry for the sake of impartiality.
The Arusha Regional Commissioner, Isidori Leka Shirima, said the Regional Security Committee recently resolved to audit all NGOs in Ngorongoro District.
"From our list here there are 13 NGOs, including PINGOs, Matada, Kidupo, Ramat, OXFAM, Lado, PWC, Ngome, Accord, Help-for-the-Maasai, Pliset, Ujamaa, Laigwanan-union and Ngorongoro-NGONET," said the RC.
He added that there are also 17 ward-based Community based organizations most of which were operating under the now defunct ERETO.
Source: http://www.dailynews.co.tz/home/?n=3793&cat=home
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Govt: It's Kenyan herders who are being kicked outMinister says pastoralists crossed border in search of water and food for their cattle
By Mkinga Mkinga
People affected by the controversial evictions in Ngorongoro District were pastoralists from Kenya who had illegally settled in the game controlled area, a Cabinet minister said yesterday.
Addressing a press conference in Dar es Salaam, Natural Resources and Tourism minister Shamsa Mwangunga said most of those who were evicted were herders who had crossed the border from Kenya in search of pasture for their livestock.
However, there was no immediate response from the Kenya High Commission when contacted for comment yesterday.
The minister's statement come in the wake of reports that at least four women who were among a group that had staged a sit-in at outside State House in Dar es Salaam last week had been arrested in Arusha on suspicion of being illegal immigrants.
The group wanted to be granted audience with President Jakaya Kikwete and air their grievances after their houses were demolished during evictions in Loliondo, Ngorongoro District.
But Ms Mwangunga defended the evictions in the Ngorongoro Game Controlled Area, and quoted the Wildlife Act, which states in part that no person can undertake any activity inside a game controlled area except with written permission of the director of wildlife.
She said Maasai herders from Kenya invaded the area last March, and the Government decided to evict them out four months later, adding that the operation was carried out legally.
The minister dismissed reports that human rights had been violated during the exercise, saying investigations had established that the removal of people who had encroached on the protected area was within the confines of the law.
In Arusha, four women, including a CCM special seats councillor, who were among those who had demonstrated outside State House last weekend, were arrested by Immigration Department officers on the grounds they were illegal immigrants.
Ms Manda Ngoitika, Ms Pilias Maingu and Ms Pamela Kereri were among those arrested on Sunday at Mbulu Lodge in Kaloleni area.
The deputy regional immigration officer, Mr Faustine Nyaki, said the arrests might have something do with immigration issues.
"If it's indeed true that they have been arrested by immigration officers, then it is possible that they might have violated the country's immigration rules. If they have been arrested for offences that have nothing to do with immigration issues, then that�s a police matter," he said.
He said the regional immigration officer, Mr Justin Kabigumila, would issue more information today. However, Mr Kabigumila said when contacted later yesterday that the arrests followed an "order from above".
He added that the issue was being handled by a special task force led by Arusha Regional Commander Basilio Matei.
Ms Mwangunga said most of the pastoralists from Kenya were received in Loliondo by their Tanzanian counterparts, who did not, however, inform the Government of the presence of their "guests".
"It's difficult for a person who is not a Maasai to differentiate between Tanzanian and Kenyan Maasais. But it's not very difficult for the Maasais themselves to know where other tribesmen come from," Ms Mwangunga said.
Last Wednesday, victims of the evictions urged the Government to immediately stop the operation and provide them with basic needs such as water and food. 

Speaking at a gender festival in Dar es Salaam, they accused the Government of treating them "inhumanely". They accused the police and district authorities of teaming up with Ortelo Business Company (OBC) to illegally remove them from their ancestral land. 

Following the evictions, there have been reports of missing children.
A village representative recently alleged that four women had suffered miscarriage due to stress. 

He also claimed that an unidentified police officer had raped a woman during the evictions, but no legal action had been taken against him.
The Citizen reported exclusively a fortnight ago that scores of Kenya pastoralists were among herders affected by drought in Loliondo.
Hundreds of animals have died due to lack of pasture and water in the district, which has in recent months been overwhelmed by an influx of starving cattle from other parts of the region and as far afield as Kenya. 

Despite losing hundreds of animals, devastated pastoralist communities fear that the worst has yet to come, and that humans too would soon run out of food in the district. 


The ravages of the drought are clear in areas around Lake Natron and Oldonyo Lengai which used to be lush pasture but which have now been reduced to desolate stretches of bare land.
Ngorongoro District Commissioner Raymond Wawalali told The Citizen that that the district had not received adequate rainfall since last year, making it increasingly difficult for herders to find food for their large herds. 


"This problem is not confined to Ngorongoro herders are coming from as far as Longido District and southern Kenya to look for food and water for their animals," he said. 

He added that the district administration was preventing herders from encroaching on water catchments in protected areas. 


But the Danish ambassador Mr Bjarne Sorensen, last week called the government to launch a special investigation on the matter, which he depicted as violation of human rights.
He called the Government to launch an independent investigation into the human rights abuses witnessed during the recent operation to remove Maasai pastoralists.
Source: http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/newe.php?id=15098
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Walioandamana hadi Ikulu Dar wakamatwa Arusha
Na Mussa Juma, Arusha
WANAWAKE watatu wa kimasai akiwemo diwani wa viti maalumu (CCM),Manda Ngoitika, waliondamana wiki iliyopita kwenda Ikulu jijini Dar es Salaam wanashikiliwa na idara ya uhamiaji mjini hapa kwa tuhuma kuwa sio raia wa Tanzania.
Wanawake hao , waliwasili juzi jioni mjini hapa kwa mafungu na kundi la kwanza walikamatwa jana saa tano asubuhi katika nyumba ya kulala wageni ya Mbulu iliyopo eneo la Kaloleni katika manispaa ya Arusha.
Hadi kufikia juzi mchana, Ngoitika na wenzake,Pilias Maingu ambaye ndiye alisoma risala katika mkutano wao na waandishi habari jijini Dar es Salaam na Pamela Kereri, walikuwa wakihojiwa na maofisa wa idara ya uhamiaji mkoani hapa.
Hata hivyo, hakuna taarifa rasmi iliyotolewa kuhusu tuhuma zinazowakabili, ingawa Naibu afisa uhamiani wa Mkoa wa Arusha, Faustini Nyaki, alisema kwa namna yoyote, watakuwa wanahusishwa na masuala ya uraia ama kuishi nchini kinyume cha sheria.
"Kama wamefikishwa na kuhojiwa hapa uhamiaji, suala lao litakuwa linahusiana na uraia ama kuishi nchini kinyume cha sheria, lakini ikiwa kutaibuka mambo mengine basi hilo litakuwa jukumu la polisi," alisema Nyaki.
Nyaki alisema taarifa zaidi ya kukamatwa wanawake hao, zingetolewa na afisa uhamiaji mkoa wa Arusha,Justin Kabigumila ambaye awali ndiye alimpa idhini Nyaki kuzungumza na waandishi wa habari..
Hata hivyo, mara baada ya kufuatwa na waandishi wa habari nje ya ofisi yake, Kabigumila alisema maelekezo ya kuwakamata wanawake hao yametoka ngazi za juu bila kuzitaja.
Juzi hiyo saa 9:00 mchana wanawake hao, walipelekwa kituo kikuu cha polisi kwa mahojiano zaidi kwa kutumia gari STJ 1678 wakiwa chini ya ulinzi mkali wa maafisa uhamiaji.
Wakizungumzia kukamatwa wanawake hao, baadhi ya madiwani wa CCM wilaya ya Ngorongoro na wanaharakati mjini hapa walionyesha wasiwasi wao juu ya matumizi mabaya ya vyombo vya dola.
Diwani Jamboi Baramaegu wa kata ya Digodigo akizungumza nje ya ofisi za uhamiaji alisema kitendo cha kuanza kukamatwa wanawake waliokwenda jijini Dar es salaam kulalamikia zoezi la kuchomwa moto makazi yao ni ukiukwaji wa sheria.
Alisema anadhani mpango wa kukamatwa wanawake hao unalenga kuwatisha wananchi wasiendelee kutetea haki yao na inakwenda kinyume na kauli ya Rais Kikwete aliyoitoa hivi karibuni kutaka wananchi watoe malalamiko yao.
Hadi kufikia juzi jioni, wanawake hao walikuwa bado wanahojiwa lakini kulikuwa na mkakati wa kumpa dhamana diwani Ngoitika ambaye alisema yeye hakuwepo kwenye maandamano ya Ikulu.
Chanzo: http://mwananchi.co.tz/newsrids.asp?id=14626
