Cattle from Kajiado County graze on the Ukunda-Lungalunga road near
Tanzania. Sections of Maasai community in Tanzania said the animals were
too many and were depleting their pasture. PHOTO FILE | NMG
When a group of Maasai herdsmen from Kenya recently crossed over
to Tanzania in search of pasture for their cattle, the unexpected
happened. The herders from Loitoktok in Kajiado County were arrested by
Tanzanian authorities and some 1,325 cattle seized.
The
animals would later be auctioned in a move that set in motion a flurry
of diplomacy and strained relations between two Maasai communities.
Kajiado
County borders Tanzania to the southwest, where another Maasai
community with common cultural and linguistic ties resides.
According
to a community leader from Kajiado County Lekarokia Nang’oro, the two
groups have found a way to co-exist and often share grazing land during
drought. Conflicts are resolved amicably by officials from both sides.
“Our
herdsmen cross the border to graze their cattle alongside their
brothers on the other side during a dry a spell and vice versa,” said Mr
Nang’oro.
“That was the case in October when the herdsmen led the cattle to Tanzania as the grass began to dry up here.”
Conflict
However, a conflict
arose over the number of cows belonging to Kenyan herdsmen that had been
allowed on Tanzanian soil. Sections of the community said the animals
were too many and were depleting their pasture.
“I was
called in to help resolve the matter. I travelled with other community
officials for a meeting with our peers in Tanzania,” said Mr Nang’oro.
“It was agreed that the Kenyan herdsmen pay a fee of Tsh400,000 [$178]
as compensation for the pasture.”
The two sides also
agreed that the herdsmen would stay in Tanzania until the drought back
at home had ended. It therefore came as a surprise when the herdsmen
were arrested and the cattle seized, Mr Nang’oro said.
“We
belong to the same sub- clan with our brothers from Tanzania and
constantly interact with each other; even when we have cultural
ceremonies like circumcision or weddings we invite them and they too
extend an invitation,” said Mr Nang’oro.
He added:
“After we paid the agreed amount, we thought all was well only to hear
that our herdsmen had been arrested and our cattle seized.”
The cattle would be auctioned days later on October 16.
Tanzanian authorities said they followed the law in auctioning the cattle.
According
to an order from the Mwanga Resident Magistrate court signed on October
16, the animals were “found abandoned at Kirya Village by an unknown
owner and to date no one has claimed ownership of them….”
The
order further notes: “Therefore, this court has reasons to believe as
submitted by the applicant and is satisfied that an offence was
committed… and an order to forfeit them is hereby granted.”
Subsequently,
an auctioneer (Maripelano Auctioneers and Court Broker) was appointed
on the same day to dispose of the cattle through an auction. Kassim
Nassir Daud, a state attorney, applied to have the animals auctioned on
October 16.
Korduni Metui, the man who led the more
than 20 Kenyan herdsmen across the border told of his attempts to rescue
the animals. At the time of the auction, he was in police custody.
Fine
On
October 10, six days before the auction, the Mwanga District
Commissioner Aaron Mbogho had issued an order directing Mr Metui to pay a
fine of Tsh17,075,000, ($7,600) for the offence of taking his cows to
Tanzania without a permit. He was identified as the owner of the cows in
this document.
“I pleaded with the police to release
me so I could go home and look for the money,” said Mr Metui, adding
that they had earlier rejected his suggestion to sell a number of bulls
in the herd to offset the amount.
On being released, Mr
Metui travelled to Loitoktok some 300km away, and was back the
following morning with the money to pay the fine.
But
when he arrived at Mwanga Police Station he was told the money was no
longer required and that the animals, which were being held kilometres
away at Mgagao, would be sold at auction.
“I was told that the new order came from the Tanzanian Livestock Minister,” said Mr Metui.
He
was again placed under police custody He would spend a total of 28 days
in custody before he was eventually released. The other herdsmen too
were released.
Heavily guarded
Saruni
Muleu — who had cows in the confiscated lot — said that at the holding
grounds, the Kenyan animals were heavily guarded by armed police
officers working in two shifts, morning and evening.
“There was no way we could get near the holding grounds,” he said.
Meanwhile,
back in Kenya, the Loitoktok Deputy Commissioner Abdi Jaldesa had
appraised his senior, the then Kajiado County Commissioner Harsama Kello
of the situation, Kajiado Governor Joseph ole Lenku as well as Kajiado
South MP, Katoo ole Metito.
“At the time, Deputy President William Ruto was in Kajiado and he was told about the incident,” said Mr Jaldesa.
“The
DP promised to take up the issue with Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary
Amina Mohammed. The CS got in touch with our High Commissioner in Dar
es Salaam and asked him to follow up on the matter. She also took the
matter to the East African Secretariat in Arusha,” Mr Jaldesa added.
The
cattle owners on the other hand, on the day of the auction on October
16, travelled to Moshi, a distance of about 100 kilometres, to lodge an
appeal with the High Court sitting in Moshi, under a certificate of
urgency.
Temporary injunction
Through
lawyer Isack Samson, they pleaded for a temporary injunction on the
sale of the animals, pending hearing of the petition as well as the
outcome of the diplomatic talks between the two countries.
Mr
Jaldesa said he was instructed by the Kajiado County Commissioner to go
to Moshi and work with the Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner regarding
how the cattle would be released.
“At the diplomatic
level, it was agreed that the cattle should be released to the owners,”
said Mr Jaldesa. “The regional commissioner however told me that her
hands were tied and that a decision had been made to auction the cows. I
found this strange since the ruling by the higher court was yet to be
delivered.”
The following day, October 19, at around
midday, the judge in Moshi declined to overturn the ruling by the
magistrate in Mwanga. The cattle would be auctioned.
Mr Nang’oro told The EastAfrican ever since the auction happened, that the Kenyan Maasai have been in constant touch with their Tanzanian counterparts.
“Our
brothers on the other side have offered to donate 10 of their cows to
our people as their way of commiserating with our plight and to show
that whatever happened had nothing to do with them,” he said.
Meanwhile, the herders are waiting for the national government to keep its word and compensate them for the cows lost.
Acting
Kajiado County Commissioner David Kipkemei said that the government has
set aside funds to the tune of Ksh55 million ($532,500) for the
compensation.
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