Abolition of villages in Ngorongoro District

On August 19, 2024, the Tanzania Land Alliance (TALA), NLC platform, and other Tanzanians discussed Government Notice No. 673, regarding amendments to the demarcation of administrative areas.

The schedule reveals the deletion of 25 villages with 96 sub-villages in Ngorongoro district, Arusha region. Two villages with 12 sub-villages in Bahi District, Dodoma region; one Ward with one village with six sub-villages in Chemba district, Dodoma region; one Ward with two villages and 11 sub-villages, Kasulu district, Kigoma region; one village with six sub-villages in Kakonko DC district; one village with four sub-villages in Hai district, Kilimanjaro region; and Motambaru and Kitendeni Wards in Kilimanjaro region.

It is clear that despite this deletion in seven districts of our country, it is evident that the Ngorongoro district has been targeted the most, and it seems clear that others have been set up to remove complaints about why one Ngorongoro district has been targeted. Upon encountering this, the TALA Board of Directors convened to undertake a thorough examination of the validity and impact of this Government Notice. The Board is content that this Statement was issued by the Minister of State-Office of the President RALG, Mohamed Omary Mchengerwa, on 26th June 2024 under section 30 of the Local Government Act (District Authority) Cap. 287 of 2002. Our reading of the article has established that the Minister has the authority to establish a district council by Decree after obtaining the consent of the President, which must be published in the Government Gazette. The decree is supposed to divide all areas or parts of the district and ward councils by the numbers mentioned in the decree. In addition, section 30(3) directs that the village area can be divided into no more than five sub-villages with the number of residences as may have been ordered by the village council and approved by the District Council. The Minister is mandated through section 30(5) to create new villages from those with more than five sub-villages.

So, what the government notice stipulates to have been done is incorrect and needs to be corrected. The law does not give the Minister of State, President's Office—RALG, the powers to abolish villages but to divide those that exceed five sub-villages. Not only that, the Land Act No. 4 of 1999 and the Village Land Act No. 5 of 1999 recognise and protect the right to own land for every citizen of our country, regardless of sex, tribe, race, religion, or place of origin, as long as they are citizens of the United Republic of Tanzania. This right is further protected by articles 24(1) and (2) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. The constitution, which Minister Mchengerewa and the President promised under oath to protect, preserve, and defend when they took the oath of their offices. Since land ownership is a right in the country, land acquisition by a Tanzanian must comply with the principles and guidelines of land acquisition.

This announcement by the government has a very big impact constitutionally, legally, socially, and culturally, which are:

1. Constitutional: it violates articles 13(1)-(5); 14; 15 (1); 16(1); 17(1); 24(1)-(2); and 29(5) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania:

i. Article 13 provides the right to equality before the law; by any law, to discriminate against people or a person is discriminated against by any person or authority that carries out duties in accordance with the law that gives it its powers;

ii. Article 14 provides the right to live and to the protection of his life by society. The right to live includes having the right to work, to own a house and residence, to live in the area and community of origin, and not be disturbed and confiscated property or means of livelihood.

iii. Article 15 the right to have freedom and live as a free person in his country;

iv. Article 16(1) respecting his personal life and his family, as well as the respect and protection of his residence and his private communications;

v. Article 17(1) the right to freedom of movement and live anywhere in the United Republic of Tanzania;

vi. Article 24(1)-(2) the right to own property and the right to the protection of his property without being confiscated with no fair and appropriate compensation;

vii. Article 29(5) the right to obtain and enjoy all the rights listed in the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania.

2. Legal: It clearly violates Section 30 of the Local Government Act (District Authority) Cap. 287 of 2002 because the law does not give the Minister the powers, even the slightest, to abolish villages. But through this, the Government will be able to declare that since those villages do not exist, the residents of those areas do not have the right to exist and even decide to declare those villages as protected areas.

In addition, this announcement clearly violates the Village Land Act Cap. 114, revised in 2019, which protects the right to own land and sets the procedure for transferring it to reserve or general land.

The ulterior motive of this announcement is that the Government will be able to declare that this land does not belong to the village and, therefore, will not have to follow the process set by the Village Land Law for transferring and converting the village land into reserve or general land.

1. Social: It aims to erase the original villages of the Maasai community under the pretext of deleting the villages and justifying what the Government has been claiming to be the voluntary migration of the Ngorongoro Residents to Msomera, Handeni.

2. Economic: The government's plan will inflict severe economic hardship on the Maasai community. Displacement from their agricultural and grazing lands will force them to start anew, leading to financial instability. All their economic activities and income sources will be severely disrupted.

3. Cultural: Removing people from their native places greatly impacts their culture. People's culture involves many things, including their places. To make the Maasai not coexist with wildlife reserves is to kill their culture, and this cannot be compensated in any way.

4. Political: This announcement aims to deprive the citizens of all the mentioned villages and sub-villages of the right to elect and be elected as leaders, which means the right to suffrage. Since the respective villages and sub-villages have been abolished, their deletion means there will be no election of village and sub-village chairpersons during the forthcoming Local Government Elections expected to be held this year. This strategic hidden plan aims to deprive the people of the constitutional right to vote as enshrined and protected by Article 5(1) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Due to this Background, TALA declares that:

1. That Government Notice No. 637 of 2024 is void and invalid not only for violating the Local Government Act (District Authority) Cap. 287 of 2002, but also contravenes the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Village Land Act;
2. The notice directly deprives the citizens of the respective villages and neighbourhoods of the right to suffrage and to elect their leaders;
3. Minister Mchengerwa did not have and does not have the powers to delete the registered villages;
4. The government should immediately revoke the notice and apologise to all Tanzanians for issuing it;
5. It is imperative that civil and non-governmental organizations unite with all affected citizens to condemn the notice and assist them in initiating legal action against the violations of constitutional and legal provisions.
6. The government should acknowledge the fact that development is brought by the people and not by the government itself. The role of the government is to enable Tanzanians to bring about development of the people and not be used as a supporter or a cheerleader for the so-called investors.
7. TALA exhorts all Tanzanians to firmly protect and defend their land and constitutional rights and not to condone plight or disregard abuses done to certain communities or ethnic groups in the country as not concerning them. Let's remember the famous quote of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."