Security has been beefed at Loita area at the Kenya- Tanzania common border following violence experienced at Ngoro Ngoro area in Tanzania side where a number of pastoralists were reportedly killed and scores injured during a clash with authorities
Narok County Commissioner Isaac Masinde told a committee on Election Preparedness that the violence in Tanzania will not affect the Kenyan side as the country was vigilant to protect its people.
“We are very alert so that what is happening at the Tanzania side will not spill over to the Kenyan side. We ask our people not to worry because security is tight in the area,” he said.
The violence is said to have been fueled by land dispute between the Maa community and an Arabian Company that is seeking to develop at Ngoro Ngoro Conservation Area.
Meanwhile, a section of Maasai leaders aligned to the Azimio la Umoja coalition have condemned the fracas asking Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu to resolve the violence so that more people will not be killed.
Led by gubernatorial aspirant Moitalel Ole Kenta, the leaders vowed to sue the Tanzanian Government over the atrocities committed if no action is taken.
Ole Kenta who was accompanied by a number of his supporters termed the action as barbaric, inhuman and discriminatory saying they will stand in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Ngorongoro Conservation area.
“We also have information that the Tanzanian Government has granted a permit to the United Arab Emirates government through the Safari Company Tele Business Cooperation without taking into account the Rights of the Maasai community who are the original owners of the land,” he alleged.
Kenta said it was unfortunate that the community that has been protecting the land and wildlife was being punished after protecting the heritage calling upon the international community led by the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to intervene and end the matter
“We shall seek legal redress that the Tanzanian authorities should address and respect the Rights of 40,000 pastoralists living in the country who are at a risk of being evicted from their ancestral land,” said Kenta.
Lawyer Martin Ole Kamwaro said they had constituted a team that shall be filing a case at the ICC because the matter a serious violation of Human Rights.
Maasai Council of Elder Chairperson Kelena Ole Nchoe called upon the international community to intervene noting that the Maasai community in Tanzania was the same as the Kenyan one.
“We call upon President Uhuru Kenyatta to talk to his Tanzanian counterpart over the same matter as the maasai people are being oppressed. It pains us very much,” he said.
