SELECTED ISSUES ON LOLIONDO CONTROLLED AREA GAME RESERVE.
Originators of this saga grabbed the Loliondo game reserve during the second term of the Mwinyi regime. Topping the list of the land grabbers was the then Arusha MP and minister in charge of defence in the president office one Kinana. Curiously, SSH tapped him in the shoulder to be second in command in CCM! This is not change anybody can believe in, at all!
Save for Mwendazake reign, this clique has been in power uninterrupted for over 3 decades. Mwendazake had severed their clout but his demise has restored them a gratitude of JK insistence that he could allow Mwendazake to succeed him only if his lackey one SSH became the vice president. Looks like JK knew Mwendazake health issues would not permit him to last and finish two mandatory terms (demands no emphasis Mwendazake died of natural causes unlike conspiracy theorists who have been propagating the contrapositives without shedding a shred of evidence)......so SSH would take over and it would be business as usual. JK emphatic calculations were spot on ...during Mwendazake regime, Kinana and JK were ostracised no wonder Loliondo land use conflicts were subdued because Mwarabu felt Mwendazake would kick him out had he attempted to rock the cradle.
Mwendazake, unlike SSH who is napping on the job, despite his many flaws would have defended the Maa land user rights there. But with the reincarnation of the JK regime through SSH, Mwarabu is now emboldened and knows his backers are back in power to the extent of resurrection of long seated land disputes. During Mwendazake, Loliondo residents quietly had restored their traditional user rights in the game reserve and Mwarabu endured them but politics have dramatically changed and he feels it is time to eviscerate indigenous land user rights. It is pathetic that we have reached this stage. Before Mwinyi presidency this conflict was nonexistent because nobody during Nyerere era had designations to land grabbing for personal reasons until Mwinyi and his mercenaries acquired power.
Kinana is one of the chief beneficiaries of the Loliondo Mwarabu quagmires. Nobody in the government can tell us how much we have benefited from handing over long term lease to Mwarabu to justify what the citizens are putting up to. It is extremely saddening that in the 21ST century we are still having this kind of debate.
Some corrections are needed!
Most activists confuse Loliondo and Ngorongoro conservation area issues. The two are different and lumping them together lead many to the ash tray.
Loliondo conflict is about land use caveats not evictions as most opposition politicians and activists have been perpetuating to the general public. The access to grazing areas, watering of livestock and building temporary huts in the controlled game reserve is fueling the conflict. Nobody wants to kick out anybody in Loliondo proper but to oust traditional land user rights in the said controlled area, period.
In Ngorongoro Conservation area evictions are under imminent consideration because of land use conflicts which threaten sustainability of wildlife. Permanent buildings, cultivation and illegal immigrants have conspired to block wild animals corridors, impeding their movements, exarcebating pollution, introducing weeds and abetting poaching.
Perplexing, the current regime which looks at JK as the power behind the throne is most unlikely to resolve the issues at stake because they have long deep seated personal interests in Loliondo. Some are even in the payroll of Mwarabu and mint cash at the expense of everybody. As a nation, Mwarabu is not adding anything substantial to the Exchequer. So, why do we preserve his dubitable activities unless, of course, the beneficiaries are too powerful to quit!
Loliondo residents have calculated that the regime lacks moral authority in the matter this is why they are upping the ante. We have said before JK and his henchmen will do some serious damage to mama administration but nobody listens until it is too late. Maybe, it is because they no longer need voters to win future elections they have become insular and out of touch with the harsh reality.
Recycling of Kinana was a poor judgment and now everybody sees why. But JK is busier reconstructing the government with his sidekicks, however, reliving the murky past ricocheted with scams after scams may rock the boat at a time we need some serious reset.
WHY IS MWARABU INCENSED WITH MAA INDIGENOUS USER RIGHTS?
There is no tangible user land conflicts between hunters and livestock keepers, henceforth, access to water points and pastures are not stoking the simmering disputes but the quest for transparency or secrecy is.
Mwarabu dubious dealings thrive in opaqueness but despise the spotlight of which the activities of the livestock keepers enshrine. Some of these pastoralists carry even smart phones which they can record illegal hunting and contrabands inside Mwarabu territory. This is what Mwarabu is hellbent to sweep under the carpet. Illegal export and hunting of endangered species are stoking the suspicions and whoever supports Mwarabu condone these broad daylight theft against the innocent people of Tanzania.
We are watching...