UN Condemns Reported Violence Against Maasai at Ngorongoro

The reported use of live ammunition by security forces in Tanzania, against ethnic Maasai herders, and the death of a police officer, have been condemned by top UN-appointed independent rights experts, UN News reports. The development follows the alleged encroachment on traditional Maasai lands and housing and the potential eviction of 150,000 tribespeople, to make way for a game reserve in the north of the country.

In a statement, the group of nine rights experts cited reports that on June 10, 2022 Tanzanian security personnel had fired live bullets and "lobbed tear gas" at Maasai individuals who were guarding the land earmarked for development in Ngorongoro District. The clash resulted in the death of a police officer and left around 30 people injured, according to the experts, who said that Maasai representatives alleged that there had been "no genuine efforts to consult them" and that they have learned details of the planned eviction from leaked documents.

On June 13, 2022, Tanzania's Daily News carried a report saying that allegations of the forced eviction of indigenous communities in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) in northern Tanzania were spurious and misleading.

Freddy Manongi, conservation commissioner of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority and Kaush Arha who previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Wildlife and Parks, said that the the government's proposal of making 521,000 hectares of prime land available for voluntary resettlement outside of the NCA protected area in 2022, will see approximately 40,000 people from 8,000 households take up the offer which they say, will benefit their communities.

The NCA is recognised as a World Heritage Site, World Biosphere Reserve and Global Geopark covering 8,292 square kilometres. Its southern rim is marked by the world-famous trio of extinct volcanic craters - Ngorongoro, Olmoti and Empakai - and unique cloud highland forests.