“On January 18, the government announced that it will change the legal status of the NCA and no longer permit any human settlement. This drastic move would forcibly remove approximately 100,000 people – primarily Maasai pastoralists – against their will. The government has set the goal of evacuating 20,000 people by March 2024.” (Mittal, 2024) For years now the government of Tanzania has been trying to remove local indigenous Africans from lands they deem as valuable for the tourism and hunting industries. This is absolutely devastating to the Maasai people, particularly the pastoral Maasai who are nomadic herdsmen by trade. For generations the Maasai people, whose everyday life and religion are deeply intertwined, have lived and communed with the land they are now being forcibly removed from. Many argue that not only do the nomadic tribes of the Maasai have a natural right to land they have been custodians of for many generations, but that the move entails relocating them to lands which can not support the incoming population. The government’s plan to move the Maasai away from the NCA is deeply flawed. As exposed by the Oakland Institute’s field research, relocation sites not only lack adequate water and grazing land, but the existing residents are being driven out to make way for those relocated – creating conflict. (Mittal, 2024) Many blame the World Bank Organization who has lent millions of dollars to the Tanzanian government so that they could complete investigations into claims made by the Maasai. Yet despite dumping more than $100 million into so-called ‘investigations’ of the rape, abuse, and forced evictions of the Maasai have only amplified. “It looks like instead of pressuring the government to stop its abuses, the launch of the investigation has led the government to intensify its plan for widespread evictions, letting TANAPA rangers continue their violence with impunity,” said Andy Currier, Policy Analyst at the Oakland Institute.” (Mittal, 2024) “The pastoral Maasai are fully nomadic, wandering in bands throughout the year and subsisting almost entirely on the meat, blood, and milk of their herds.” (Britannica) For the Maasai, their herds are their life, blood, and soul. The cattle they sustain their physical lives on are also what sustains them spiritually. By taking away their ability to herd their cattle on their ancestral land is denying the Maasai the right to practice their faith in their own way. Unfortunately, what took place on January 18, 2024 is just another in a long run of seizures and targeted attacks by the government on the Maasai people, as this type of harassment has been going on for quite some time. Back in 2023 ANAPA rangers seized farming equipment and fertilizer to stop people from cultivating their land during the critical beginning of the rainy season. That is when many communities decided to file their case with the regional East African Court of Justice. “Once captured, the cattle are auctioned off and exported from the area, unless the owners manage to get it back by paying a ransom to the authorities.” (Mittal, 2023) “Livestock is central to the Maasai culture and livelihoods. Losing cattle is therefore catastrophic for them. With this new tactic, the government’s goal is clearly to drive them away from their ancestral lands. (Mittal, 2023) From any outside perspective it seems clear that the government of Tanzania is trying to destabilize a community which has built its entire identity by going after its sense of security – its cattle and its grazing lands. It seems obvious, given the facts presented in the articles I read, the motives are greed. “The government is trying to suffocate the communities and make the situation uncomfortable for them,” says Denis Moses Oleshangai, a human rights lawyer at the Ramat and Jad Law Point law firm. “This is a war on the Maasai.” (Craig) “The agency called for more than 100 homes, churches, schools, medical dispensaries and administrative offices, including a police station, to be destroyed within 30 days of the order because they were built without permits, the agency claimed, even though some of the buildings were decades old, according to locals.” (Craig) Much of the protests by the Maasai has gone unheard, as the government claims they are only trying to do the right thing by the environment. “The government claims the Maasai and their herds are expanding and now represent a threat to conservation in Ngorongoro and the wider Serengeti ecosystem, home to a high concentration of endangered species including the black rhinoceros, elephant, wild dog and cheetah. “But the Maasai insist they have always lived in harmony with nature. Scientists and conservation experts agree. Last year, more than 275 researchers from around the world signed an open letter calling for a halt to eviction efforts.” (Craig) It is a catastrophic decision by the government to relocate so many people at one time. And by seizing their wealth, their cattle, as well as their lands, they have almost certainly doomed many of the tens of thousands of displaced Maasai to a generation of poverty, if not more. By taking their lands, the government is not only stripping the Maasai of their wealth, their homes, and their way of life, but also their community, their spiritual identity, and their religion (which is intrinsically tied up in their daily life as herdsmen). Through their actions the government is destroying an entire way of being – for profit. “The largest loss of land, however, has been to national parks and reserves, in which the Maasai people are restricted from accessing critical water sources, pasture, and salt lick. Subdivision of Maasailand reduced land size for cattle herding, reduced the number of cows per household, and reduced food production. As a result, the Maasai society, which once was a proud and self-sufficient society, is now facing many social-economic and political challenges.” (“Maasai Culture | Ceremonies and Rituals”) *by Raena Exe 01/28/2024 Resources: For More Read Here: https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/urgent-alert-tanzanian-government-rampage-against-indigenous-people Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Maasai". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Dec. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Maasai. Accessed 28 January 2024. Craig, Jess. ““It’s Becoming a War Zone”: Tanzania’s Maasai Speak out on “Forced” Removals.” The Guardian, 16 Jan. 2023, www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/16/tanzania-maasai-speak-out-on-forced-removals. “Maasai Culture | Ceremonies and Rituals.” Maasai-Association.org, maasai-association.org/ceremonies.html. Mittal. “URGENT ALERT: Tanzanian Government on a Rampage against Indigenous People.” Oaklandinstitute.org, 25 Jan. 2024, URGENT ALERT: Tanzanian Government on a Rampage Against Indigenous People. Accessed 28 Jan. 2024. Mittal. “URGENT ALERT: Tanzanian Government Resorts to Cattle Seizures to Further Restrict Livelihoods of Maasai Pastoralists .” Oaklandinstitute.org, 24 Jan. 2023, URGENT ALERT: Tanzanian Government Resorts to Cattle Seizures to Further Restrict Livelihoods of Maasai Pastoralists . Accessed 24 Jan. 2024.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
September 2024
Categories |