Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
Murder case involving twenty Loliondo residents postponed to July 14
The murder case involving over twenty Maasai from Loliondo was on Thursday postponed at the Arusha Resident Magistrate’s Court as the investigation of the case was incomplete. The hearing of the case is now pushed to July 14, 2022.
The defence counsel led by Advocate Jeremiah Mtobesya, Advocate Jebra Kambole, Advocate Peter Madeleka alongside Advocate Joseph Oleshangai, William Ernest, Yonas Masiaya and Denis Mosses asked the prosecution to speed up the investigation process as the case involves people who are very old and students.
The Maasai people who are charged with murder include Molongo Daniel Paschal, Albert Kiseya Selembo, Simeli Parmwati, Lekayoko Parmwati, Sapati Parmwati, Ngoi Olkedenyi Kanjwel, Sangau Morongeti, Muroui Ngoisa Parmati, Morongeti Meeki and Kambatai Lulu.
Others are Moloimeti Yohana, Ndirango Senge Laizer, Joel Clemes Lessomu, Simoni Nairiam Orosikiria, Damiani Rago Laiza, Mathew Eliakimu, Luka Kursas, Taleng’o Twambie Leshoko, Kijoolu Kakeya and Shengeni Joseph Killel.
Other persons who were added to the case yesterday include Wilson Kilong’, Memusi Taki, Fredy Ledidi, Oloodo Koiyie and Kelvin Nairoti, making a total of twenty-five (25) accused persons in the case.
The accused are charged with the death of Police Officer Garlus Mwita Garlus who was reportedly attacked with a spear during an altercation between security organs and indigenous Maasai people of Loliondo that took place on the afternoon of June 10, 2022.
The altercation followed authorities’ beacon placing exercise on the 1,500 square kilometres of 4,000 square kilometres of designated village land comprising the Loliondo Game Controlled Area. The resident considers this exercise would mean that the land would not be available for daily village use, while the area is important for pasture and water to villages during drought season.
The accused include local government leaders who were arrested on June 9, 2022, after they were called into a consultative meeting with the Ngorongoro District Commissioner, this includes; Luka Kursas (Councillor Oloipir ward), Joel Clemes Lessomu (Councillor Malambo ward), Kijoolu Kakeya (Councillor Piyaya Ward, Special seat), Simoni Nairiam Orosikiria (Councillor Piyaya Ward), Shengeni Joseph Killel (Councillor Oloirien ward) and Mathew Siloma (Councillor Arash ward).
Others are Talengo Twambei Leshoko (Councillor Oloipir ward, special seat), Damiani Rago Laiza (Councillor Maalon ward), Moloimet Yohana (Councillor Ololosokwani ward) and Ndirango Olesenge Laizer who is the ruling party (CCM) Chairperson Ngorongoro Districts.
According to the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism through notice no 421 of June 17, 2022, the 1500 square kilometre area in Loliondo is now Poloreti Game Controlled Area, and beacon placing exercising has been concluded.
USAID provides $9 million to WFP to help feed refugees in Tanzania
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Thursday provided the World Food Program with $9 million in critical food assistance to bring immediate relief to the most vulnerable people in Tanzania.
The aid is expected to help WFP to provide life-saving food assistance to 204,000 refugees hosted at camps in north-western Tanzania.
“We are grateful for this continued and timely assistance from the United States,” said Sarah Gordon-Gibson, WFP Country Director and Representative in a statement. “This contribution is critical not only because of the value of food going to refugees but also because of the economic impact it will make to Tanzania through the local procurement of food.”
WFP Tanzania has faced significant funding shortfalls since 2020 when rations had to be reduced to 68 per cent of the minimum required needs, according to the press release.
Prolonged ration cuts compromise refugees’ food consumption, nutrition and health, the statement added.
Despite this new funding, WFP is still unable to provide full rations for refugees due to chronic funding shortages related to the scale and number of humanitarian crises globally.
USAID is the largest donor to WFP’s refugee operation in Tanzania, providing approximately one-third of its annual refugee budget.
Thursday’s $9 million cash contribution – which is in addition to $4 million provided by USAID to WFP in February 2022 – will be used to purchase over 12,000 metric tonnes of locally produced fortified maize meal to be included in the food basket that supports refugees living in Tanzania’s two refugee camps.
CRDB, climate change fund agree on climate resilience for farmers
The Green Climate Fund (GCF), a fund created to support the efforts of developing countries in responding to the challenge of climate change, has signed an agreement with CRDB Bank to implement a climate change adaptation financing programme for smallholder farmers in Tanzania, a statement released Thursday said.
The deal was closed between the two institutions on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that ended a few days ago in Kigali, Rwanda. The signed Tanzania Climate Adaptation Technology Deployment Programme (TACATDP) initiative aims to strengthen the climate resilience of smallholder farmers and agribusinesses.
The agreement will allow GCF to transfer its $100 million co-investment to CRDB Bank in this $200 million programme. Under the TACATDP, the commercial bank will market new financial products that support farmers’ climate resilience.
The statement quoted Mr Abdulmajid Mussa Nsekela, Chief Executive Officer of CRDB Bank, as saying that the programme aims to reach over 6.1 million direct and indirect beneficiaries by transforming the country’s climate finance processes to better accommodate affordable climate adaptation technologies in the agricultural sector.
“This will ultimately boost food security and strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers, thereby improving the livelihoods and quality of life of our citizens,” Mr Nsekela said.
Nsekela also added that the $100 million Green Climate Fund grant will fund technical assistance to help government institutions integrate climate risks into national planning and to support agribusinesses in understanding best practices for climate-resilient agriculture.
Govt earmarks 400,000 hectares of land for wheat cultivation
Minister for Agriculture Hussein Bashe said Thursday that the government has earmarked a total of 400,000 hectares of land for the cultivation of wheat, a move aimed at ending the shortage of the crop in the country, according to Xinhua.
Mr Bashe said the 400,000 hectares of land will be cultivated with wheat in wheat-growing regions within three years beginning in 2022.
He said Tanzania produced 70,000 tons of wheat in 2021 while the country imports between 800,000 tons and 1 million tons of wheat annually.
Speaking to stakeholders of the crop from various regions that met in the capital Dodoma, Bashe said the Ministry of Agriculture is in the process of distributing 50,000 tons of wheat seeds to farmers.
He urged regional commissioners from wheat-producing regions to oversee the massive cultivation of the cereal without fail.
Omary Mgumba, the Songwe regional commissioner, said wheat farmers in the region abandoned cultivating the crop and shifted to growing other crops after prices of wheat had dropped.
Wild animals killed 49 in Ngorongoro in 2021, govt says
Director of Wildlife from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism Dr Maurus Msuha told journalists on Wednesday that wild animals have killed at least 49 people within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) between January and September 2021.
The information comes amidst an exercise to ‘relocate’ indigenous people of Ngorongoro to a designated area in Handeni, Tanga in what authorities say is part of preserving the UNESCO-inscribed World Heritage Site.
The exercise has been widely criticised by natives and rights activists who describe the exercise as “eviction.” However, the government is pressing forward with its plans, arguing that it cannot allow wild animals to co-exist with humans in the 21st century.
Briefing journalists on the exercise, Dr Msuha singled out elephants, hyenas, leopards, buffaloes and lions as animals behind the sheer number of human fatalities.
“Cases of humans getting killed by wild animals became so rampant in the area,” the government-owned Daily News newspaper quoted him as saying. “Anyone has the right to live anywhere in Tanzania, but the number of such incidents is alarming.”
Over 170 residents were also injured by the said animals while going about their daily activities within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA).
Livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys were also not spared in the killing spree by the wild animals, with the number hitting 842 by September last year, Dr Msuha said.
“The ongoing voluntary relocation, therefore, is aimed at shielding them from more human and livestock losses,” clarified Dr Msuha.
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