MAASAI PEOPLES - Legal Support to Fight Illegal Land Grabs in the Serengeti

Recently the Masai’s livelihood and lives have been threatened by the Illegal livestock relocation and threats of further restrictive acts by their government. Members of the Tanzanian government are negotiating with various GCC royal family members to allow them hunting rights on the Masai ancestral lands as part of their personal hunting grounds.  These leases restrict the Masai’s use of their own land and are threatening their livelihood. Gulf Cooperation Council is a regionalintergovernmental political and economic union consisting of all Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except for Iraq. Its member states are the Islamic monarchies of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. During the Inti Raymi Fund’s attendance at the 2013 Conference of the United Nations Permanent Forum for Indigenous Peoples in New York, we discovered this breach of the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) requirement of Free, Prior and Informed Consent with the negotiations between the Tanzanian Government and the Masai. Knowing that “Land is Life” and the “Livestock is Life” for the Masai, the Inti Raymi Fund decided to financially support the Masai’s legal and social media fight for their survival.

This area of concern affects roughly 40% of their current 4,000 square kilometers of family and cattle grazing lands and affects the lives of approximately 66,000 Masai People.

As of 2013, and as a direct and indirect result of the Inti Raymi Fund’s support along with others, we discovered the Prime Minister of Tanzania announced the rescission of their previous actions on the GCC land lease within the Masai Lands. This is a wonderful example how publicity, an open mind, and a good conscience on the part of elected officials can make a difference by doing the right thing in support of the Indigenous Peoples of the world. However, as recent as mid 2017 there were incidents whereby 300 Masai homes were torched.

We wish the Masai of Tanzania & Kenya territories all the best successes with this difficult situation.

We have provided a link to our contacts within the Masai Community through their Website. We encourage you to contact them directly and support their wonderful community and development, if their message resonates with you. You can reach one of the Masai leaders with their non-profit organization by connecting with Yannik at… yannik@ramat-tz.org. Additionally, what better way to get to know the Masai than by visiting them at one of their communities in Tanzania or Kenya for a photographic safari.

The Inti Raymi Fund was inspired to visit and support the Masaai, by articles by Aljazeera.