OUR STRATEGIC LITIGATION
At the heart of MISA work is our conviction that the law must serve justice, equity, and the public good. We use strategic litigation to advance this vision leveraging the courts not only to defend rights but to catalyze structural change. We identify and litigate precedent-setting cases that challenge unjust and systemic government action against the Maasai community with a belief that the law can be a powerful tool for social justice. Our strategic litigation initiatives seek to achieve our collective rights and challenge decisions that affect the Maasai community as a whole. We pursue legal action against unjust laws and illegal state decisions, to set critical precedents and hold Tanzanian authorities to account. Our lawyers support different cases involving livestock confiscation, imposition of huge ransom fees for the release of livestock, and the illegal delisting of Maasai villages in Ngorongoro, disenfranchisement and manipulated voter rolls. Through carefully selected cases, we aim to protect our fundamental rights, amplify our voices, and advance legal reforms that build a more equitable society.
Our legal team assesses appropriate cases to be filed in specific legal forums, like Tanzanian Courts or the East African Court of Justice. This two-level strategy ensures that we are leveraging all available legal forums to promote justice locally rooted, regionally supported, and globally informed.
Our legal team works pro bono, and is prepared to act swiftly in defence of our rights wherever they are under threat. Every MISA legal intervention reflects the lived experiences and aspirations of the Maasai community in Tanzania.
We invite legal professionals, scholars, and activists to collaborate with us in this journey. Together, we can transform the law from a tool of exclusion into a vehicle of liberation.
You will find below a summary of key court cases, ongoing or closed.
Tanzanian Court Cases
1. Ndalamia Partareto Taiwap and 4 Others vs Minister of Natural Resource and Tourism and Another
– Misc. Civil Application No 21 of 2022 (Judgment: 19 September 2023)
Summary: Community members (the applicants) sought judicial review of government actions over 1502 sq km of land declared by the Minister as Pololeti Game Controlled Area. They contested it on grounds that it was declared without following mandatory consultation. The Court declared that the Pololeti Game Controlled Area was established without mandatory consultation and therefore contrary to law.
Read the High Court Judgement:
2. LATAN'GAMWAKI NDWATI & 7 Others Vs The Attorney General
– Misc. Civil Application No 178 of 2022 (Judgment: 22 August 2023)
The Tanzania High Court issued preservatory orders against the Government of Tanzania, directing the Maasai to be allowed to access the disputed area pending final determination of the case. However, the Government is openly disrespecting the Court orders and continues seizing livestock in the area. Ongoing charges are also being used to silence members of the communities. Despite these orders however, government continued seizing and confiscating livestocks
3. Latang'amwaki Ndwati and 7 Others v. The Attorney General
– Misc. Civil Cause No. 18 of 2023 (Judgment: 24 October 2024)
Summary: Community members (the applications) sought judicial review of the President's declaration of 1500sq km land in Loliondo as a Game Reserve. This declaration was made to preempt any Court decision challenging the Pololeti Game Controlled Area as challenged by Ndalamia and others. The Court ruled that the President did rightly upgrade the Pololeti Game Controlled Area into a Game Reserve. No mention of such an upgrade or mention of a Game Controlled Area in the President's declaration. The case is being challenged in the Tanzania Court of Appeal as there has never been any known consultation that predated the President's declaration of Pololeti Game Reserve.
Read the High Court Judgement:
4. Latang'amwaki Ndawati & 7 Others vs Raymond Mangwala & 4 Others
– Misc. Civil Application No. 106 of 2023 (Judgment: 8 April 2024)
In this case, Applicants sued government officers led by Raymond Mangwala and officers from the office of Solicitor General over disobeying Court orders in relation to Court decision to allow pastoralists to access Pololeti pending determination of the Main Application in Miscellaneous Civil Application No 18 of 2023. The court rejected Contempt Application on the ground that it does not have jurisdiction to protect its own decision from being complied. This signals the Tanzania Court's inability to dispense justice on matters that the government holds a clear interest.
Read the Ruling:
5. Ndoloi Orialisi Ng'iyo vs The Officer Commanding District for Ngorongoro District & 5 Others
– Misc. Criminal Application No. 67 of 2022 (Judgment: 17 May 2023)
In Arusha, the High Court dismissed Application for writ of habeas Corpus on enforced disappearance of Oriais Parsalange Oleng’iyo who was arrested, severely wounded by a gunshot wound in the fracas leading to the establishment of Pololeti Game Controlled Area. Ndoloi, his son, approached the Court suing police for continuing to hold his then 84 years and ailing father. The Court ruled that the applicant failed to prove that the person was in police custody, lacked identifying details of arresting officers or vehicles, and failed to cite eyewitness or collateral testimony. The Court ruled that, in absence of a report to police of a missing person, the applicant did not meet the legal burden for habeas corpus, and the application was dismissed. This Ruling demonstrates difficulties of using the judicial system in clear circumstances of state-led extrajudicial execution or enforced disappearance.
Read the ruling:
6. Julius Laitayok and 4 Others vs Minister President Office Regional Administration and Local Government and Another
– Misc. Civil Application No 21386 of 2024
Following the delisting of 11 Wards, 25 Villages and 96 hamlets in Ngorongoro division, an Application was filed challenging the validity of Government Notice No. 673 of 2024 (issued 2 August 2024) by the Minister President Office Regional Administration and Local Government regarding the reallocation of administrative boundaries in local government (village and district level). The objection filed by the government contesting the Application was rejected by the Court.
Read the Ruling:
7. Issaya Olepose vs The Minister President's Office Regional Administration and Local Government & another
– Misc. Cause No. 20592 of 2024 (Judgment: 22 August 2024)
Following massive demonstrations in Ngorongoro after the delisting of villages and the transfer of voters, the government, in an attempt to calm demonstrators, filed an Application to challenge its own decision in delisting the villages in a similar move to Julius case above. The government used the name of a Ngorongoro resident named Isaya Olepose. The case was filed, and a ruling was delivered the same day on 22nd August 2024. The government would use such a ruling to persuade demonstrators that it's going to abide by the Court's preliminary orders. Less than two months later, the same Application was withdrawn as the purpose of calming down the demonstration was over. While an Olepose case filed by State personnel was determined the same day, a case just filed in the same Court (Julius case) a day apart would take a year without determination on the very similar preliminary issues. This shows the extent to which the state in Tanzania can play with the Court with impunity.
Read the ruling:
Maasai gathered in Arusha High Court for the Pololet Court Ruling on 11 September 2023. Credit: MISA
East African Court of Justice cases:
1. Ololosokwan Village Council and Another vs Attorney General
– Appeal No 13 of 2022
Four Maasai villages (Ololosokwan, Kirtalo, Oloirien, and Arash) filed a case (Reference 10 of 2017) against the Tanzanian AG at the EACJ, alleging forcible eviction in an operation undertaken by Tanzania security personnel and Otterlo Business Corporation security between August to November 2017.
First Instance (Sept 25, 2018): Through Application No 15 of 2017 arising from Main Reference No 10 of 2017, EACJ granted interim orders halting evictions in what is now known as Pololeti Game reserve, which was part of village land, restraining evictions, homestead destruction, livestock seizures, and police harassment.
On 30th September 2022, the first Instance division ruled that eviction was lawful and dismissed the main claim. The Court further observed that the applicants didn't discharge the burden of proof over land status and destructive eviction claims.
The First Instance Division ultimately dismissed the case, ruling that evidence was “insufficient, contradictory or hearsay” - a decision Maasai lawyers criticized - and an Appeal was immediately filed.
On Appeal No 13 of 2022 (Nov 29, 2023): The Appellate Division's ruling is a major legal triumph: it acknowledged procedural flaws by the first instance Division and ordered for retrial and directing proper judicial consideration of all material evidence by the Appellant that could have changed the decision outcome by the Court.
Read the Appellate division Judgement:
2. Ololosokwan Village Council and Another Vs Attorney General
– Application No 2 of 2022
When Reference No 10 of 2017 was pending in Court, the Tanzania government - in violation of Court orders (dated Sept 25, 2018) - mounted an operation starting on 10 June 2022 which displaced thousands of Maasai, setting homes ablaze, and confiscated livestock. In response to continued evictions and related actions, Maasai lawyers filed a contempt APPLICATION NO. 2 OF 2022 at the EACJ. They argued Tanzania violated the court's interim orders forbidding certain government actions. The First Instance Division dismissed the contempt of Court Application on November 15, 2023, stating the legal threshold hadn’t been met for contempt of Court. Maasai lawyers have filed an application against dismissal on ground that, in so far as at the time of operation June 2022 there was pendency of Reference No 10 of 2017, the government ought to have respected Court orders issued in Application No 15 of 2017.
Read the first Instance Ruling on Contempt:
3. Thadeus Clamian and Others vs Attorney General of United Republic of Tanzania
– Reference No 29 of 2022
A class action involving 1620 Maasai from the Ngorongoro division was filed on 13th June 2022 at the East African Court of Justice challenging the government's targeted defunding of essential services such as healthcare, education, and water in Ngorongoro. The Government initiated defunding of vital services as a deliberate strategy to force displacement from their ancestral lands as an alternative for its common violent eviction. The presence of massive amounts of tourists in Ngorongoro has made the government choose silent tactics of displacement.
To us, Ngorongoro is not just a place of residence, it is the spiritual, cultural, and economic heart of our people. Maasai for generations/centuries have lived, grazed livestock, practiced traditional ceremonies, and drawn sustenance in Ngorongoro. This is a struggle against forced eviction, assimilation and erasure of our identity.
The lawsuit contends that the government’s actions violate the East African Community Treaty, particularly:
Article 6(d) Upholding good governance, social justice, and the recognition of the rights of marginalized groups.
Article 7(2) Ensuring that decisions impacting citizens are based on accountability, transparency, and inclusivity.
Article 8(c) Respecting the people’s rights and maintaining the rule of law.
Article 27 Allowing individuals to challenge violations of EAC laws.
Article 30 Granting access to legal redress in cases of treaty breaches.
To MISA and Maasai, this lawsuit is not a lawsuit against development as many, including the government, argue. It is a resistance against erasing everything that makes us distinct people. Our land is who we are. Undermining our schools and clinics is not reform. It is a silent eviction tactic. Its genocidal intentis forbidden under international law.
Read Reference Application No 29 of 2022 :
4. Megweri Mokinga Mako and 5 Others vs Attorney General of United Republic of Tanzania
– Reference No 37 of 2022
The Maasai community in Loliondo has taken legal action at the East African Court of Justice against the state’s use of armed security forces to forcibly remove Maasai pastoralists from their ancestral land and establish Pololeti Game Area for exclusive Trophy Hunting. Since June 2022, the government has displaced thousands of Maasai, destroyed homes, seized and confiscated over sixty-two thousand livestock, and physically assaulted hundreds of herders. We argue that such actions not only violate basic human rights but also jeopardize our community’s cultural survival and economic livelihood. The case was filed with East Africa Court of Justice citing violation of East Africa treaty and specifically:
Article 6(d) – Respect for human rights and equitable treatment of all communities.
Article 7(2) – Participation and accountability in state actions.
Article 8(c) – Obligation to adhere to rule of law and protect citizens.
Article 27 & 30 – Enabling individuals to challenge unlawful state conduct before the East Africa Court of Justice.
Read Reference Application No 37 of 2022 :
