Medical Assistance to Ngorongoro Maasai, Tanzania
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“It started with tear gas, and it turned to live bullets,” Joseph
Oleshangay, a Maasai lawyer, activist and resident of Ngorongoro, who witnessed the scene told Climate Home.
I want to draw your awareness to the Urgent Crisis happening in Tanzania as it is not making the news cycle headlines of the world. One of the reasons for this, Senator Ledama Ole Kina, Kenya (Maasai) says in a social media post, ‘They (Tanzanian Government) have bought off all media houses, in TZ, not to report the real situation on the ground.’ Luckily
some international news media, like The Guardian, are picking up this
crisis.
May I take some time to share how you can assist this crisis on
the medicine and food front. First, let me explain a bit more from some
articles and my direct feed from the ground via a Maasai Junior Chief
from the Maasai Mara in Kenya, from whom I sponsor his education.
I feel I cannot stand on the sidelines of the abuse and human rights of indigenous people and all humanity. And in this instance. the Maasai
people. My heart says it needs to help.
Crisis
From: Climate Change News, By Chloé Farand, 10/06/2022
Tanzanian authorities seen opening fire on Maasai people in game
reserve dispute
'Rights NGO Survival International has accused the government of “shocking violence” and evicting Maasai people from their land to make way for trophy hunting.'
June 8, 2022
The Tanzanian government started using live bullets on the Ngorongoro Maasai and harassment, beatings, razing the villages, stealing cattle, and destroying motorbikes.
Why
The Government is forcefully evicting over 75,000 pastoral Maasai and over 200,000 livestock from 1500sqkm of their ancestral land in Loliondo, bordering on Serengeti National Park, for a luxury game reserve under the guise of ‘conservation’.
In the article by
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, January 27, 2022, they identify the reason is
‘to clear the area to be leased and operated by wildlife/trophy hunting firm Otterlo Business Corporation (OBC) owned by Dubai Royals under
Prince Brigadier Mohamad Al-Ali has been exploiting this land for
multiple years.
Indeed this should be outlawed, especially in this day and age. Not for
some.
What has happened
1. ‘Ten Maasai leaders were detained. The leaders arrested last week have not been seen since they were detained. The NGO Pan-African Living Cultures Alliance said it plans to stage a mass protest on Wednesday unless they are released.’ The Guardian
2. “At least ten people have been wounded. Eight of them are women, and two are men, including one who is 70 years old. These are not people
who were there to fight,” Oleshangay said.
3. “People are still being tracked by police, especially the educated, those with phones and evidence. Eight young men were taken away for putting photos on social media. We are under a lot of pressure.”
The Guardian
4. 1000’s of people are fleeing for cover in Kenya. A forced migration.
Now you may think, so what, compared to the war in Ukraine. There is
no comparison when people use spears, bows, arrows against guns and live bullets. It is still humanity – and senseless. Will we as humans ever learn?
Violation of International Laws
Anuradha Mittal, of the environmental think tank Oakland Institute. “
International mobilization on these developments is imperative to help
stop this disastrous and illegal move.”
What the government is doing is in apparent blatant violation of various laws, and seemingly the OBC is ‘hushing’ this whole situation and their involvement. The laws are further identified in the IWGIA article,
‘Violation of international law Under international law, forced evictions are considered a gross violation of human rights that can only be justified in the most exceptional circumstances, and only then if they comply with specific standards and respect specific legal processes. None of this is the case for the emerging forced evictions in Loliondo, which constitute a clear violation of numerous international human rights instruments, including, among others,
• African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, which include the Right to Food and the Right to Adequate Housing
• Covenant for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
• 2018 East African Court of Justice injunction prohibiting the Tanzanian government from evicting Maasai people or engaging in harassment against those living on the contested land.’
Even the Opposition leader Tundu Antiphas Lissu, of the Chadema party, in Tanzania, has accused the Tanzanian government of “waging a violent war” against the Maasai people, saying
“The international community has a responsibility to intervene & end these human rights abuses & hold the govt accountable!”
What do you think?
Request: Medicine and Food
Today as I write, the growing number of casualties of the Maasai from the current aggression by the Tanzanian authorities, police and game wardens is growing. They are in dire need of medicine, medical help and
food. Medical assistance is now coming from the volunteer Maasai
doctors from Kenya.
The injured are not able to go to hospitals in Tanzanian for fear of retribution of being taken away or further abused. They are heading to the
Kenyan border, where volunteer doctors and medics are there to help
the wounded and transport them to Narok Hospital for further care.
Over the past two days, the number has risen from 20 to 120 and
growing.
This has frightened the people, and they are hiding out in the bushes – if it is not, the bullets and beating the wildlife are also attacking them.
Bigger Picture
There is always a bigger picture to what is happening, especially today if we look at climate change, animal conservation/protection, biodiversity degradation and generally conservation greenwashing so that countries can get funding.
Fiore Longo, campaigner with the NGO Survival International, told Climate Home: “I think that what is happening to the Maasai today should be put in the wider context of human rights abuses in the name of conservation. This violence that we see in Tanzania is the reality of conservation in Africa and Asia: daily violations of the human rights of indigenous peoples and local communities so that the rich can hunt and do safari in peace.”
My Role in Sharing This Funding Request
As the author of the leadership book, The Nomadic Mindset: Never Settle…for Too Long, I spent time in Mongolia, Kenya with the Maasai and Morocco in the Sahara of Southern Morocco, researching ancient wisdom and how this can help us today in contemporary leadership.
The premise for my book is that the world has become to narrow,
greedy, power-hungry and we must expand, be more human and planetary-centric if we are to evolve and prosper in this world.
My time with the Maasai was not only magical but intensely rewarding, rich and enlightening. I found these beautiful human beings to be peaceful, thoughtful and fully interconnected with nature. We have lost what they have in the way of interconnectivity and real humanity, which is
community-based – helping each other as we grow together.
To repay them for their generosity, I sponsor children/young adults to education. One of them, who I wish to keep anonymous for personal reasons, is one of the youngest Junior Chiefs on the Maasai Mara where
many Maasai in Kenya live, which borders the Serengeti of
Tanzania.
He has been sharing pictures, videos and comments about what is
happening daily. He shared with me today that he would give his land in Kenya to some of the fleeing Maasai so they could survive. This is what I found as the graciousness of the tribe and community. They all come together and are together.
How can you Help: Your Invitation
In the name of the Maasai, and all my other Maasai ‘brothers’, I invite
you to become aware of this situation and if you find it in your heart, to
help with a little donation to provide medicine, medical help and some
food for the Ngorongoro Maasai, I know they will be truly grateful and
honoured for your support. I know I shall be.
How will your money be spent:
1. Buying medicine, bandages, hospital treatments
2. Food for the fleeing individuals and their children
3. Help setting up a makeshift Clinic on the border of Kenya and
Tanzania
How will your money be delivered:
1. Money will be sent to my student
2. I will instruct him to buy, deliver, and ensure everything gets to the
people.
3. He will supply me with pictures and invoices of what he has bought and where it has been delivered. We will update this page as the crisis continues
As Benson Muntere, a Maasai Warrior said to me during my interview with him.
‘When you face a lion you must be ready for the difficult truth.’
This goes for everyone one of us. Follow the truth not the lies, misconceptions, power and greed. If Covid has taught us anything, we must care for all humanity, no matter how poor, on this planet as we live in a small world. Expand!
What do you think?
Peace is what we want as humans.
Thank you for reading through our request and for your support in
advance.
In the name of the Maasai,
I remain
Kevin,
a concerned and passionate supporter of Indigenous People
Further reading
Organizer
Kevin Cottam
Organizer
Victoria, BC