Loliondo herders against sale of their livestock

Arusha. Livestock keepers in Loliondo area within Ngorongoro district whose cattle were confiscated by the game rangers during a recent operation against grazing in protected areas have reiterated their anger over the auctioning of their animals.

They said they were paid 'peanuts' after their cattle were sold as a punishment to them for grazing them within or on the fringes of Serengeti National Park and portions of the Loliondo Game Controlled Area where grazing is prohibited.

Up to 600 head of cattle which were found in prohibited areas were auctioned on August 18th, this year through Ubapa court broker.

The minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Prof. Jumanne Maghembe has rubbished criticisms on the move, saying the operation was carried out within the law and that there would be no mercy on people who took livestock in the protected areas.

But some of the owners of the auctioned animals alleged they had been victimized during the exercise, including confiscation of their property (livestock),torching of their houses and arbitrary arrests, among others.

Those who purchased the animals claimed they  there was no transparency in the exercise. Some of them paid up to Sh.7 million for 80 heads of cattle but receipts indicating they paid a paltry Sh. 400,000.

Keri Tukunyi, the chairman of Ololosokwan, one of the three villages affected by the operation said even those who bought the auctioned animals were not sure if they will stay with the animals fearing another crackdown from the park rangers.

The chairman of Ngorongoro District Council ,Mathew Siloma claimed that there were no electronic receipts for buyers of livestock and wondered whether the exercise was genuine.

When contacted over the issue, the chief park warden of the Serengeti NP William Mwakilema said all the cattle confiscated from the herders were found grazing inside the park and that the park authorities are not concerned with auctioning of the seized animals.

The said operation took place on August 12th during which 80 cattle bomas, 463 living houses were allegedly torched at Ololosokwan and Kirtalo areas and villagers ordered to move out of the protected areas.

But minister Maghembe later stressed that eviction of pastoralists from within or close to the fringes of the Serengeti NP was final, noting that an excercise to remove large herds of livestock and human settlements from the disputed ecological zones in Loliondo area which is close to the park would continue.

The minister made the remarks when reached to comment on the exercise to evict the cattle keepers from the contested area, saying the operation was being done within the law.

Civic leaders in the sparsely-populated Ngorongoro district believe the land conflicts often reported from the remote Loliondo division have been fueled by foreign investors owning tourist lodges and hunting blocks in the area.

Residents of Loliondo repeated their pleas for urgent intervention of Presiden John Pombe Magufuli on the on-going land dispute in the area recently when the Head of State was in Arusha for the commissioning of military officers.

After hearing the pleas, President Magufuli  ordered the regional commissioner Mrisho Gambo and his officers to act on the grievances raised and keep him updated.

This was the first time, the Head of State has come face to face with the age old land conflicts in Ngorongoro district, specifically the Loliondo area, despite endless pleas by the aggrieved pastoralists for him to intervene.

In the middle of last year, for instance, they called on him to intervene and stop the security operation that was going on following the arrest of civil leaders and activists advocating for land rights for the indigenous people.