Park wardens accused of illegal livestock seizures

Arusha. The conflict involving Loliondo villagers with the Serengeti National Park (Senapa) took a new twist this week when the wardens were accused of confiscating livestock outside the protected area.

Residents of Ololosokwan, Soitsambu and Kirtalo wards claimed that some of the livestock seized were not found grazing inside the park.

“The herds were on village land, and were driven into the protected area where they were later confiscated by the authorities who now claim that their owners were to blame,” the villagers told reporters early this week.

They aired their complaints during a public meeting held at Ololosokwan Village which was attended by local leaders and a team of journalists from Arusha.

Complaints by the Loliondo villagers came only days after the newly-installed minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Hamis Kigwangalla, stopped seizure of livestock and torching of homes of livestock owners.

The crackdown by Senapa game wardens in collaboration with the police started in August this year following allegations that some livestock keepers from the adjacent Loliondo division grazed their animals illegally in the protected area.

However, when contacted, Senapa chief game warden William Mwakilema denied that the wardens had confiscated cattle outside park boundaries.

“These are pure lies. There is nothing of that sort. No ‘askari’ from our park has ever gone to the village to seize cattle,” he vehemently denied, saying that he was aware of the livestock held for illegally being grazed inside Senapa.

Kirtalo Village chairman Yohana Toroge claimed that 1,000 head of his cattle were confiscated on November 4 when they were at a water hole in the village. The animals were then forcibly driven inside the park by some park rangers.

In an earlier operation ordered by the former minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Prof Jumanne Maghembe, Toroge claimed that he was forced to pay Sh17 million in order to recover the animals. The chairman of the Ngorongoro District Council, Mr Mathew Siloma, also castigated park wardens for alleged harassment against the traditional livestock keepers.

There had also been claims that the game wardens have confiscated motor cycles belonging to villagers as part of their crackdown against cattle herders who seem to be in perpetual conflict with the park authorities.

Recently, the nomadic herders in Loliondo appealed to the newly-appointed minister, Dr Kingwangalla, to heed their grievances against the decades-old land conflict between the them and the foreign tourist companies and the conservation agencies in the area.

The conflict has revolved on the Loliondo Game-Controlled Area which borders Senapa. The area has of late attracted huge human and livestock populations.