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Maasai not to be moved from Ngorongoro - Govt
2007-12-26 09:54:49
By Adam Ihucha, Ngorongoro
An imminent major eviction of 300 families from the 8,292-sq km world famous Ngorongoro Conservation Area in northern Tanzania will not affect the native Maasai, a high-ranking official has said.
``Native Maasai are here to stay. The eviction is only targeting alien families of nomadic pastoralists and their livestock,`` said Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority acting chief conservator Bernard Murunya.
According to the NCAA boss, the immigrants` families would be settled at the sparsely-populated Oldonyo Sambu area near Loliondo Township which is the headquarters of the vast Ngorongoro District.
The probably most of contentious eviction of immigrants pastoralists and their livestock herds, has been hampered by the lack of the necessary infrastructure in the new land where they would be shifted.
``But so far 167 people have voluntarily shifted at their new village and plans are underway to relocate the remaining alien`s population,`` Murunya said, explaining that the NCAA has cultivated nearly 100 acres of grains to support the shifted population.
The construction of a police station, a dispensary and other structures in the area are in the final touches, the NCAA Chief explained.
The 300 families to be moved out are those of people found to have shifted to NCA after 1975 when the government stopped additional people settle there permanently and prohibited mechanized farming.
The measure is to reduce human population in the entire NCA ecosystem, which experts say, was too fragile for increased human activities.
Early this year the NCA Authority gave the immigrants families until January 31 this year to move out after being failed to beat another deadline set by the government in 2006. They were ordered to vacate the place by last December 31.
Murunya, however, says they were not going to backtrack on its decision to move the families in question out of NCA, but admitted that a lot of care must be taken because of the sensitivity of the matter.
``We are aware that this exercise can trigger conflict between wananchi and their government. That is why we want to give them a modest send-off,`` he emphasized.
The move to evict cattle herders in question, mainly from the Maasai community, out of NCA, had the blessing of the government and the new board which was appointed in August last year, other officials said.
The matter also had the approval of the powerful Ngorongoro Pastoralist Council, an autonomous body which works with NCAA on projects targeted to livestock keepers in the area.
Available statistics indicate that the 8,292 square kilometre NCA has a human population of over 60,000 people and 117,000 head of cattle and 164,000 goats and sheep, making the area being overpopulated.
Experts fear that increased human population would put pressure on the fragile ecology of the area which is famous for natural and cultural heritage sites.
These include the Ngorongoro crater, Olduvai and Laetoli archaeological sites, montane forests and several crater lakes.
Experts say NCA, one of the leading tourist`s attractions in the country, can support not more than 100,000 people if it is to remain ecologically stable for many years to come. The current human population is estimated at 60,000.
Plans to evict selected families out of NCA to reduce pressure on the ecosystem has been on cards for many years with the government and authority attributing the delay to shortage of funds.
However, well informed sources say there had been stiff opposition from the local communities supported by the non-government and community-based organizations, some operating in the area.
There had been arguments that it was difficult to distinguish nomadic people who settled there prior or after 1975.
Other civic society groups defending those lined up for eviction argue that the livestock keepers were forced by ravaging droughts to settle in the Ngorongoro highlands.
Recently-appointed NCAA board chairman Pius Msekwa has cautioned the district authorities to ensure that the relocation exercise does not lead to crisis.
``Our aim is to control the human population and ensure it does not exceed 100,000 in the next few years.
But that can be done without any crisis if there is cooperation between various stakeholders here`` he implored on the Maasai elders few months ago.
He said NCA was a world heritage site that must be conserved for the benefit of the country and the international community and that the government would ensure that the local people benefited from tourism earnings.
Also to be moved out of the conservation area is families of the NCAA workers.
The authority has acquired 400 hectares of land near Karatu where blocks of family quarters for many of the 360 NCAA workers would be constructed starting this financial year. However, the NCAA headquarters would remain where it is; near the crater rim.
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