Authorities in Tanzania have ordered the eviction of 40,000 Masai people so their ancestral home can be turned into a hunting ground for Middle Eastern royals.
A 1,500sq/km ‘wildlife corridor’ around Loliondo, next to the Serengeti national park, will be handed over to a commercial hunting and safari company based in the United Arab Emirates.
Activists have accused the government of reneging on a promise after it last year said it had backed down on the plans following intense global public opposition.
Ancestral lands: Maasai dancers at sunset in the Loliondo area which the Tanzanian government is planning to sell off to a luxury hunting and safari company, near the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Now the Masai have been ordered to quit their traditional lands by the end of the year, with the only change to the original deal being an offer of 1 billion shillings compensation (£369,350) channelled into development projects.
Samwel Nangiria, co-ordinator of the local Ngonett civil society group, told The Guardian he feels ‘betrayed’.
‘One billion is very little and you cannot compare that with land. It’s inherited. Their mothers and grandmothers are buried in that land. There’s nothing you can compare with it,’ he said. Tanzania’s prime minister, Mizengo Pinda, is set to meet with Masai representatives in Dodoma on Tuesday.
The Maasai are a semi-nomadic tribe inhabiting southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. Their lives centre around their cattle, which are their primary source of food and an important measure of wealth and success.
They say the lands around Loliondo are crucial for grazing their livestock, allowing them to maintain their traditional way of life. They insist the sale of the territory will affect the livelihoods of 80,000 people.
The lands are to be sold off to the Ortelo Business Corporation (OBC), a luxury game-hunting outfit reportedly set up by an official close to a United Arab Emirates royal family. The company has operated in Loliondo for 20 years, catering to such high profile clients as Prince Andrew and the royal families of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, whose 747s touch down on a private airstrip.
Masai children in front of their mud hut: The Masai say the lands around Loliondo are crucial for grazing their livestock, and insist the sale of the territory will affect the livelihoods of 80,000 people
In September last year Tanzanian authorities announced the end to a two decade effort to expel the Masai from Loliondo, bowing to 18 months of coordinated protest and a petition signed by more than 1.7million people.
The revival of the plans has angered Mr Nagiria. ‘The Masai would like to ask the prime minister about the promise.,’ said.
‘What happened to the promise? Was it a one-year promise or forever? Perhaps he should put the promise in writing.’
Source: dailymail.co.uk