The Maasai International Solidarity Alliance (MISA) has rejected the recommendations of two Presidential Commissions on land use and relocation policies in Tanzania, asserting the Maasai community’s right to remain on their ancestral lands.
The commissions, established in December 2024, were tasked with addressing land-use disputes in Ngorongoro, Loliondo, Sale, and Msomera. However, MISA claims the process was flawed from the start, with the Terms of Reference (ToR) designed to rubber-stamp pre-determined decisions.
“We categorically reject the recommendations of these commissions,” said MISA in a statement. “The reports are neither independent nor credible assessments of the factual realities of the people living in these areas.”
According to MISA, the commissions’ reports rely heavily on contested policy documents, including the 2019 Multiple Land Use Model (MLUM) Report, and ignore scientific evidence contradicting the state narrative. The reports also allegedly ignore residents’ opinions, inflating population projections and selectively using data to justify the displacement of Maasai pastoralists.
“The Maasai have lived in Ngorongoro in a system of co-existence with wildlife for generations,” said MISA. “Our traditional knowledge and communal land management practices have sustained this ecosystem for centuries.”
The commissions’ recommendations, if implemented, would increase existing land-use disputes instead of resolving them, MISA warns. The organization is particularly concerned about the impact on Lake Natron, which it says is village land under Tanzanian law, not a Game Controlled Area (GCA).
“We reaffirm that Lake Natron is not a GCA and is village land under the law,” said MISA. “We reject the statement proposing the upgrading of Lake Natron into a Game Reserve as Lake Natron Game Reserve does not exist in law.”
MISA is also calling for an end to harassment of herders across Pololet, Ndutu, Oldupai, and other areas in the name of conservation. The organization demands that the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) management be placed in the hands of Indigenous Peoples.
“We are not enemies of conservation,” said MISA. “We are its custodians. Our communities have managed and protected wildlife and landscapes for centuries, through systems rooted in culture, strategic mobility, and communal land use.”
The statement comes amid concerns about ongoing human rights abuses against the Maasai community. MISA cites the arrest of three Ngorongoro residents in the Ndutu area on March 15, 2026, and the production of a documentary by the Tanzanian Broadcast Corporation (TBC) that promotes degrading narratives about NCA residents.
“We will not accept any relocation from our ancestral lands,” said MISA. “We reaffirm our right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and our legitimate right to remain in Ngorongoro District and continue our pastoral way of life.”
The organization is calling on the Government of Tanzania to recognize and protect Maasai rights, and for the international community to support the Maasai Conservation Vision and stop promoting conservation models that disregard Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
“We will remain on our land,” said MISA. “We want genuine dialogue, not oppression.”
The statement has been endorsed by various organizations and individuals, including Tanzania’s first President, Julius Nyerere, who is quoted as saying: “You can’t turn round and say we no longer want you; you are no longer citizens of our country. What are you going to do? To return them alone or return them with a piece of land? You can’t say go home, home where? We couldn’t in Tanzania, fed up with the Maasai, and tell the Maasai to go back to Kenya. Kenya is not their home. These are the Maasai of Tanzania.”
As the situation continues to unfold, the Maasai community remains steadfast in its resolve to protect its rights and way of life.
