Tanzania denies plan to evict Maasai for UAE royal hunting ground

[nngu007]

Government says 750,000 signatories to online petition are 'misled', as campaigners attack 'policy from another century'l

• David Smith in Johannesburg
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 August 2012 11.04 EDT

Migrating wildebeest in the Serengeti, Tanzania. Photograph: Getty

Tanzania is facing a global protest campaign over claims that it wants to force Maasai pastoralists off their land to make way for game hunting by royals from the United Arab Emirates.

Nearly 750,000 people have signed the Stop the Serengeti Sell-Off petition on the online activism site Avaaz.org, which says government ministers' Twitter and email accounts are also being swamped by messages from its members. But the Tanzanian government vehemently denies the allegations, maintaining that those who sign the petition are being misled by an "unfounded and nonexistent eviction claim".

Disputes over the land on which the Maasai live and herd their cattlehave been running for 20 years.

Seeking income from tourism, the government has welcomed foreign investors including the Ortelo Business Corporation (OBC), a safari company set up by a UAE official close to the Dubai royal family.

Up to 48,000 Maasai living in the Loliondo area face eviction in a deal that could hand over huge swaths of land for the commercial hunting of prize game such as leopards and lions by UAE royals, claims Avaaz.

Mzee Orosikos, a Maasai elder, said: "For us, our land is everything, but these Arab princes have no respect for the animals or our rights. Many of us would rather die than be forced to move again."

Another local pastoralist and campaigner, Samwel Nangiria, accused the government of planning to create a corridor of 1,500 sq km for use by UAE hunters. "This is a shock," he said. "The government is telling us to compromise but people say they have given up enough. Giving up the Serengeti national park was a lifelong compromise then. They will not be pushed again."

Nangiria, co-ordinator of the Ngonett civil society group, added: "The government is saying to pastoralists go back where you came from."

He said the last mass evictions took place in 2009, forcing thousands of Maasai to surrender land where they had grazed cattle for generations. Avaaz added that some 350 homes were burnt to the ground, 25 people beaten by the police and tens of thousands of animals starved.

Representatives of the Maasai appealed to Avaaz for help in opposing any deal. The petition is addressed to Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete, but the government insists that there are no plans to force the Maasai out.

George Matiko, spokesman for the resources and tourism ministry, said: "Such a move cannot be taken by the United Republic of Tanzania in the Serengeti as it is a national parkwhere people do not settle. Moreover, no eviction exercise has been planned for the Serengeti district, which is one of the districts in Mara region. In the Serengeti there is no hunting bloc allocated to Middle Eastern kings and princes to hunt lions and leopards."

Emma Ruby-Sachs, campaign director at Avaaz, said: "Rather than address the substance of the Avaaz campaign and the concerns of the Maasai, the Tanzanian government is playing cynical word games – the Maasai lands in question are commonly understood to be within the Serengeti ecosystem. If the government does not believe there is any threat to the Maasai lands, it should be easy for it to commit to a policy of not forcibly evicting any of its people to make way for foreign interests."

 

[nngu007]

Kweli Tunahitaji Utawala wa CHAMA Kingine... Mizizi ya CCM itatudhuri Vibaya Sana...

Nilipiga kura - CCM inasema kura haikufanya Chochote...

 

[CHASHA FARMING]

Hiki chama mpaka KIKWETE AOUNDOKE Nchi itakuwa imebakia tupu, Jamaa anauza nchi kama hana akili nzuri vile,

 

[Bukyanagandi]

Hivi Viongozi/Serikali yenye watu wenye akili timamu wanaweza kweli kuhamisha wakazi emass kwa ajili ya kumfurahisha mtu mmoja tu mgeni, na kibaya zaidi wanasema jamaa huyo aji kuwekeza kwenye ujenzi wa Mahoteli bali KUWINDA!!

Binafsi naona jambo hili alija kaa sawa i.e kuna maswali mengi kuliko majibu: Nilisoma somewhere kwamba Rais Kikwete aliwahi kukataza Wamasai wasihamishwe kutoka katika makazi yao, sasa nikitu gani tena kimejiri kumtilia mashaka kwamba anaweza kweli kuruhusu mambo ya ajabu kama hayo kutokea NCHINI. Yaani akajikuta anashabikia kuruhusu wawindaji wamalize wanyama wetu kuliko kujenga Mahoteli ya kisasa ya kitalii na kuboresha miundo mbinu mbugani, mimi naona kuna walakini fulani katika taharifa hizi - na sijuhi zina madhumuni gani na ni nani yuko nyuma ya hili sakata kama ni za kweli.

Mambo kama haya yaliwahi kutokea ya kutaka watu walete mambo ya petition, kuja kupeleleza ikaja gundulika kwamba mkubwa wa NGO iliyokuwa ina-instigate mambo hayo alikuwa kumbe ni Mkenya, watu/nchi nyingine zina mbinu nyingi ya kufanya watu wasielewane hivyo kutaka kukwamisha maendeleo au kutaka kupaka matope nchi nyingine - tunapaswa kuwa wa angalifu sana wakati mwingine.

Juzi hapa nilikuwa na angalia CCTV channel ya Africa wakisema kwamba Wamasai walio kuwa karibu na Masai Mara Kenya waliamishwa kwenda mbali kidogo ya reserve ili wapishe ujenzi wa mahoteli na mambo mengine ya kitalii, mbona hatua hiyo aikupigiwa kelele na raia au kupingwa na International Community? Kenya imejenga mahoteli zaidi ya mia na ushee upande wao, lakini hapa Tanzania palikuwepo na uchonganishi wa chini chini eti Tanzania isijenge ma-hotel mengi kwenye Mbuga ya Serengeti, eti taa za umeme zisije kuwatisha Wanyama, lakini kwa wenzetu suala kama hilo alipo na sio kwamba wanawasha chemli au mishumaa - mambo ya ajabu kweli kweli.

Mwisho nirudie kusema kwamba, mimi si amini kama kuna Rais yeyote duniani anayeweza kuruhusu raia wake wahamishwe kutoka makazi yao ya kudumu na kupelekwa kwingine kabisa. Kama Mwaarabu huyu anakuja kuwekeza katika ujenzi wa mahotel na mihundo mbinu mimi naona hiyo ni kheli, kama ni commercial hunting awekewe idadi ya wanyawa wa kuwinda kila mwaka lakini sio kuachiwa eneo kubwa la kuwinda kwa kuwatimuwa RAIA eneo hilo; mkuu JK ni smarter zaidi hawezi kufanya blunder kama hiyo.

 

[Kimbunga]

Hivi ni Liliondo au Serengeti?

 

[Ndahani]

Kwanini tuwafukuze wamasai kwa ajiri ya waarabu wa Emirayes kwenye eneo lao la asili?

 

[Ame]

Hivi ni Liliondo au Serengeti?

Nami nabaki mdomo wazi....