Tanzanian security personnel have been condemned by top UN- appointed independent rights experts after firing live ammunition towards the Maasai ethnic group over disputed land. This brief eruption of hostility resulted in the death of a police officer. The Maasai are nomadic herders with a population of 150,000.
On June 6, a private conference held by the Arusha Regional Commissioner declared a verdict to convert a 1,500 square kilometers of 4,000 square kilometers of land that has long belonged to the Maasai into a game reserve. This particular ancestral land in Northern Tanzania in the Loliondo Division of Ngorongoro District has been the Loliondo Game Controlled Area.
The transition from a controlled area to a game reserve would lead to the eviction of 70,000 indigenous Maasai inhabitants from Ololosokwan, Oloirien, Kirtalo, and Arash villages in the North.
Around 700 security member forces were deployed to five locations of the Northern region on June 7 and 8, and on the 9 established markers to set forth the outline for the game reserve. The local Maasai group dissented by removing the markers, and remained on location overnight to defend the area. The government-appointed security forces returned at the break of dawn, fired like ammunition, and lobbed teargas at the tribal group.
According to the UN experts, around 30 people endured injuries.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have reported that Maasai representatives claim to have never been consulted apropos to the operations, and have only received information from leaked documents.
A game controlled area, and home to the Maasai people being turned into a game reserve “could jeopardize the Maasai’s physical and cultural survival in the name of ‘nature conservation’, safari tourism and trophy hunting, ignoring the relationship that the Maasai have traditionally had with their lands, territories and resources and their stewardship role in protecting biodiversity” (UN experts).
As one of the most well-known sites in Africa for visitors, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in the Serengeti ecosystem is one of the largest volcanic calderas in the world, which provides a haven for wildlife. The site was recognized by UNESCO World Heritage Committee as a World Heritage site for its cultural value. UNESCO therefore reserves the right to instruct the government on their approach to any plans concerning the heritage site.