OBC Violations of Maasai Rights
The purpose of this report is two-fold–to highlight the plight of Maasai communities in LGCA, as well as that of the area’s wildlife and environment. However, because of the interdependency of all life forms, it is MERC’s view that the two are inseparable. The ill treatment of Maasai in Loliondo and the appropriation of their lands to create hunting concessions go hand-in-hand with the environmental harm inflicted by OBC.
The killing of wildlife for sport is in itself an offense to the Maasai worldview. Maasai traditionally believe that the present generations hold all natural resources, including the land, in trust for future generations. The killing of wildlife for pleasure or commercial purposes is not permitted. Maasai believe that trophy hunting leads to greed, over-exploitation of wildlife resources, and often irreversible damage to delicate ecosystems. As was mentioned earlier, today’s East Africa owes much of its wildlife prosperity to traditional Maasai conservation practices. This invaluable conservation role has gone largely unappreciated. And worse, in the name of modernity, it continues to be undermined and targeted for elimination.
Many Maasai also feel that tourist hunting jeopardizes a relationship they have developed with wildlife over centuries. Cattle and wildlife have shared water and grass throughout Maasai history; ungulates, smaller animals, and cattle often graze together freely. In the company of Maasai, the animals feel safe from predators. However, hunting practices used by OBC and other companies have caused wildlife to become unpredictable, hostile, and fearful of all humans. Some predators, especially lions, have become more aggressive due to baiting at watering holes. This practice leads them to attack cattle when they previously would not, as the lions have come to expect food at such places.
The hundreds of Maasai whom MERC interviewed told of arrests, beatings, and psychological torture inflicted on those said to have violated OBC’s imposed "grazing restrictions." Tanzanian police harass Maasai for trespassing and illegal grazing activities. OBC security personnel usually make the arrests. In most cases, those detained are not charged but released with a stern warning to other Maasai to observe restrictions. Such harsh treatment has created widespread fear and a sense of helplessness on both sides of the border. The following two incidents are examples of a pattern that is unfortunately all too common in Loliondo.
In July 2000, OBC staff caught two Kenyan Maasai grazing cattle on the Tanzania-Kenya border. The people in this area dread encounters with OBC. (It should be noted that Maasai on the Tanzania-Kenya border regularly cross country lines to graze their cattle. In fact, few people are aware of where the actual borderline is located.) In this particular incident, one man escaped but the other did not. The one captured was physically assaulted and held overnight at an OBC camp. The next day, he was driven to a different village and handed over to the police. He was further beaten for entering Tanzania illegally with his cattle and detained for two months. He was released with a heavy fine only after becoming very ill. Throughout this period, authorities would not tell his family his whereabouts.
In another case, a Loliondo resident attempted to document the negative impacts of OBC’s hunting operation. Accompanied by two others, he ventured within one kilometer of an OBC camp to take photographs and to interview people. After taking two photos, the three Maasai were confronted by seven men demanding an explanation of their presence. The three Maasai were then forced into a truck and beaten on the OBC camp premises by security personnel. The two elderly companions of the man taking photographs were released, but he was delivered to the police on trespassing charges. According to several village residents, the man was in police custody for almost two months, being moved from one prison to another before finally being released with a heavy fine and a stern warning that the authorities would monitor his activities lest he engage again in such "illegal activities."
Moreover, people often cannot feel safe even within their own homes. Many Maasai reported incidents of OBC hunting within one mile of their homestead, jeopardizing the security of their children and livestock.
OBC has not only impinged on Maasai grazing rights, the company has attempted to restrict freedom of human movement regardless of the presence of cattle. In 1998, OBC erected a gate on the only road to the northern part of LGCA. They controlled access to the road. Those living north of Loliondo town needed special permission to go through the gate; otherwise, they would have to take a route that was twice as long. The road was finally opened in 1999, after complaints by members of Parliament.
Corruption is widespread in Tanzania in general, and is especially evident in the circumstances surrounding OBC. OBC is reported to have co-opted a number of village leaders previously vocally opposed to their practices. OBC is believed to have rewarded these leaders with money, employment opportunities for relatives, and other benefits. Many such leaders have built large modern houses. Village leaders are also said to enjoy unlimited access to OBC camp managers. In return, these leaders act as the mouthpiece of OBC at the community level. They silence dissenting voices among village members and, when necessary, report them to the police and government authorities for further disciplinary action.
The Tanzanian newspaper The Guardian reported that the area’s regional commissioner "denied that there was a land dispute between the company and the villagers … saying that the row, between top district leaders, was political." MERC tried to interview the district head of Loliondo but was turned away with a warning not to interfere with OBC operations and to desist from further investigation of problems associated with hunting in Loliondo. Likewise, the Community Resource Management Team, a regional human rights NGO, has been completely stymied by the district and national-level government in their efforts to secure the land sale agreement in a controversial arrangement with a UAE prince.
Numerous mosques have also sprung up in Loliondo in recent years. Maasai report being paid up to US$40 by OBC management to convert to Islam and abandon Maasai traditional beliefs and culture.
OBC can claim a few token benefits to the community, some of them disputed. Several schools have been built and a number of boreholes sunk. But widespread complaints exist of undelivered promises, such as plans to build and complete Loliondo Secondary School and to sink 32 boreholes. When compared, the costs seem to far outweigh the benefits of OBC’s presence in Loliondo.