Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina has sought the intervention of Tanzanian President Samia Hassan in stopping the forceful eviction of members of the Maaa community from their ancestral land in Loliondo District, Northern Tanzania.
The evictions are being effected to pave way for wildlife conservation.
“Today I call upon the Tanzanian Government led by President Samia Suluhu to save our people of Loliondo District from being forcefully deported/evicted from their ancestral land to pave way fro wildlife conservation,” Ledama said in a tweet.
Prior to the tweet, Ledama warned on Tuesday during Senate proceedings that failure to stop the evictions would have a ripple effect to the Kenyan side.
He said fleeing members of the Maa community would likely seek refuge in Narok and Kajiado counties, straining the counties' economy.
His fears came even after Tanzania’s Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa's proposal for voluntary relocation of the affected communities.
Majaliwa said the evictees would be relocated to 162,000 hectares of government land in Handeni district.
In 2021, President Hassan claimed that human population in Ngorongoro was suffocating the wildlife population, hence the eviction order.
The eviction is also meant to pave way for elite tourism and trophy hunting.
The Tanzania government started preparations on January 21 to delimit the 1500 square-kilometer land which lies within the Serengeti ecosystem.
The eviction will affect over 80,000 residents, Senator Ledama stated.
The Maa community living within Ngorongoro will also face the eviction as the area lies within the same location as Loliondo.
Ledama expressed hope that East African member states would come together and help stop the planned evictions.
“I do hope that because of the interest of the East African Community, our Tanzanian brothers in the government will save these Maasai from eviction.”
