- PM wants human settlements, reserves isolated
- Two killed as pastoralists, farmers clash
CLASHES pitting farmers and pastoralists in Rufiji District have claimed at least two lives amid a 70-day ultimatum by Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, to have forest reserves isolated from human settlements.
Premier Majaliwa has directed all heads
of forest reserves in the country to clearly define their boundaries by
putting up beacons to avoid disputes with surrounding villagers.
Speaking to senior officials from the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and heads of forest reserves
in Dodoma, he said: “Land disputes between pastoralists, farmers,
regional and district security committees should be addressed ... you
should go to your respective areas after this meeting and define your
boundaries to the villagers.”
Mr Majaliwa reminded the officials about
President John Magufuli’s speech at the inauguration of the 11th
Parliament in which he identified clashes over land, poaching and
increased revenue collection as his major areas of focus.
“The president put emphasis on clearly
demarcated boundaries because the current ones are not clear ...
officials have been talking about buffer zones that are not well
understood by the citizens,” he said, giving the officials until January
31, 2017 to complete boundary setting task.
He said if the Tanzania National Roads
Agency has fixed beacons across the country to indicate the road
reserves, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism can as well
manage, “We must put beacons in each forest reserve to avoid the
recurrence of disputes.
” After fixing the beacons, the
officials have to inform the villagers on the space they have to spare
from the beacons, the premier directed, ordering postponement of the
village registration by the President’s Office, Regional Administration
and Local Government, pending the boundary setting.
“I hereby suspend the registration of
villages, effective today,” ordered Mr Majaliwa. He told the Heads of
Forest Reserves to identify villages that were registered inside the
forest reserves and the number of villages that have not been
registered.
As the premier gave directives on the
control of land disputes, at least two people were reported dead in
Coast Region’s Rufiji District in clashes between farmers and
pastoralists.
The killings occurred after the
pastoralists allegedly grazed their animals on farmers’ land. Rufiji MP,
Mohammed Mchengerwa, visited the scene and talked to the two fighting
groups in attempt to ease the tension.
The dispute reportedly emerged on
November 19, 2016 after the pastoralists killed 22-year old Mwidini
Saidi, a resident of Kilimani area in the district. The killing was
described as a revenge after his father, Mr Omary Mpange seized the
pastoralists’ animals and reported the matter to the police, demanding
compensation for the damage caused.
One of the deceased’s relative, Bashiri
Saidi told the visiting legislator that earlier, the pastoralists had
captured his father, Mpange, who, however, escaped and reported the
matter to the police.
He said after the father’s escape, the
pastoralists met the deceased whom they commanded to disclose the
whereabouts of his father but declined, leading to his murder.
Bashir alleged that after the killing,
farmers mobilised themselves to revenge and killed one pastoralist
before setting the body on fire. Coast Regional Crime Officer, Anael
Mbise, confirmed the incident, saying she had met with the residents and
ordered them to stop taking the law into their own hands. Mr Mchengerwa
consoled the residents, urging them to remain patient as the village
and district leaders were working to end the fights.
“You are supposed to be patient and
build a culture of accompanying one another when you are going for your
activities, we are working on the matter,” said the MP, blaming the
situation on the large number of animals in the district. A total of
50,000 herds of cattle were in 2007 approved in the district, which
currently accommodates 450,000 animals.
The MP said the Full Council meeting
last week issued a 30-day ultimatum to pastoralists who had illegally
entered the district with their animals to vacate the area.
Earlier, the residents accused the District Commissioner (DC), Juma Njwayo, of failure to address the disputes.
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