LOLIONDO-SALE/POLOLETI
We demand unconditional access to our land in Loliondo and the Sale Division, which was alienated with impunity by the state. We denounce livestock confiscation as a tool to stop us from organising resistance and claiming our land back.
Loliondo is a division in Tanzania’s Northern Ngorongoro District in the Arusha Region. It borders Serengeti National Park to the west and Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the south. In 1992, the Government leased the entire Loliondo District to Otterlo Business Corporation (OBC), a trophy hunting firm from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with strong ties with the Dubai Royal Family. To evict us and have more hunting space for OBC, the Tanzanian Government undertook military operations in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2022 to force us out of our ancestral land.
Malambo community demonstrates to stop the burning of pasture land by NCAA rangers at Loliondo and Sale. Credit: MISA
A beacon installed beneath the Maasai Boma in Arash Village, in Loliondo, while the government claimed to the public that the demarcated boundaries of the illegal Pololeti Game Reserve lies nearly 25 kilometers away from villages and areas where human activities take place. Credit: MISA.
The Tanzanian government set fire to Maasai homes in Loliondo, as a part of its militarized eviction plans to clear the area for the Otterlo Business Corporation, a trophy hunting firm.
On 6 June 2022, the Arusha Regional Commissioner announced the decision to change the status of a 1,500 km2 area of legally recognised Maasai land (officially designated as “village land”) in Loliondo, thus banning all human activities and triggering widespread evictions of our communities. In the following days, the Tanzanian Government deployed police and military forces to demarcate and gazette our land in Loliondo as what is now known as the Pololeti Game Controlled Area. This was done in contempt of temporary court orders issued by the East African Court of Justice.
On 10 June 2022, we resisted government attempts to evict us, and we faced a brutal police crackdown that lasted several days, forcing thousands of us to flee our homes. Dozens of us were injured, including by gunshots, and two people were killed (one Maasai and one police officer). One Maasai disappeared and is still unaccounted for, and dozens of people were arrested, including local political leaders. An estimated 2000 of us fled to Kenya in fear for their safety, and many have not returned to this day. The Tanzania Wildlife Authority has seized thousands of cows and sheep, demanding extortionate fines.
On 10 June 2022, 41 individuals were injured by live ammunition. Credit: MISA.
Cattle confiscated from Ololosokwan village by the game Rangers
Hundreds of women from Ololosokwan village in Loliondo organized a peaceful gathering from 7-11 December 2023. Holding sand as a symbol of their attachment to the land, they prayed to God Enkai to give back their ancestral land. Despite heavy rains, they met in solidarity to ask the Government to release over 1,000 cows that had been confiscated and locked up for over a week. Credit: MISA.
Community Recommendations on Village Land Dispute in Loliondo and Sale Divisions
Read the report prepared by the Maasai community in Sale and Loliondo division of the Ngorongoro district in May 2022 on the long-running land dispute in the areas bordering the Serengeti National Park. The report analysed the origin of the conflict involving a village area of 1500 square kilometers as well as the impact of conservation and hunting investments. This analysis revealed that the disputed land is village land in accordance with Tanzanian law, and the people use it for pastoral activities as well as other customary activities.
In addition to its in-depth analysis of the conflict, this citizen report contains recommendations for resolution. We recommend that hunting activities be reduced or stopped altogether on village land in order to reduce the conflicts between citizens and hunters, especially of the Otterlo Business Corporation (OBC).
In the midst of state sanctioned violence against our communities in Loliondo, an American safari company has been exploiting the Tanzanian government’s oppression of our people in order to solidify a long-contested land claim in the area. Thomson Safaris is a luxury tourism operator based out of Boston, Massachusetts. In 2006, its affiliate company, Tanzanian Conservation Limited (TCL), purchased a 96-year lease for over 12,000 acres of land that was originally acquired in 1984 by the parastatal company, Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL), without the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of our communities. Prior to Thomson Safaris’ purchase, our communities were able to use the land as we saw fit, and now we are wrongfully barred from land that we had never agreed to concede or were ever compensated for.
After years of court battles, the Tanzanian Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Thomson Safaris to keep 10,000 acres of the disputed land. The luxury tour operator excluded our communities from its resurveying and has been strictly enforcing the new boundaries. Our communities face serious impediments to daily life, including restrictions from using prime grazing land and being cut off from schools and hospitals. The company’s idea of “giving back” to the community is, unsurprisingly, mere placative gestures in exchange for vast stretches of our land and the livelihoods it supported. While Thomson Safaris hides behind its legal team, claiming no wrong-doing, it is actively complicit in destroying our way of life.
The report is available in English.
Tanzania: UN experts warn of escalating violence amidst plans to forcibly evict Maasai from ancestral lands (15 June 2022)
Read this press release raising alarms on the deadly escalations of plans to forcibly evict 70,000 Maasai from 1,500 square kilometers of village land to make way for the Loliondo Game Reserve. Security forces hired to demarcate the area fired live ammunition and lobbed teargas at us after we had removed demarcation markers and were occupying our rightful land. Far from an isolated incident, UN experts have previously raised their concerns on this issue with the Government of Tanzania, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and International Council on Monuments and Sites.
Tanzania land dispute: Protest by herders turn violent
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Capitalizing on Chaos: Thomson Safaris Tightens Its Stranglehold Over Indigenous Lands in Tanzania (2024)
Read The Oakland Institute’s report on Thomson Safaris’ landgrab of 10,000 acres of land in Loliondo. The report, based on field research, explains that the American tourism operator resurveyed this land without the participation of local communities and presents the serious impacts on daily life in the area. Strict enforcement of the new boundaries has restricted access to prime grazing areas and forced community members to walk additional hours by foot to access schools, hospitals, and other basic government services. The report also recounts the history of the contested land claim, including the lack of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) before its initial transfer and the legal battle that ensued.
Maasai Are Getting Pushed Off Their Land So Dubai Royalty Can Shoot Lions (23 May 2023)
Read a feature on the long-simmering conflict between us, the Tanzanian government, and the Otterlo Business Corporation.
