Commission says that regional court erred in dismissing eviction case
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has condemned last week’s judgement by the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), which dismissed a case challenging the forceful eviction of the Maasai community in Tanzania.
Speaking to the press in Nairobi, KHRC Programme Manager for Natural Resource Governance and Trade Justice Mary Kambo termed the decision a travesty.
“This is an injustice to indigenous communities who have been disenfranchised of their land, livestock, and livelihoods,” she said.
The case had been filed by Ololosokwan Village Council, Oloirien Village Council, Kirtalo Village Council and Arashi Village Council on September 21, 2017, challenging forceful eviction of their residents and livestock from land bordering the Serengeti National Park and Loliondo Game Controlled Area.
The East African Court of Justice dismissed the case on the basis that the four villages had not adduced sufficient evidence to demonstrate that they had been evicted from village land.
Yesterday, Stephen Owoko, a Tanzanian Maasai refugee in Kenya alongside KHRC criticied the court’s decision to dismiss expert evidence by a Kenyan Geospatial expert on the basis that he had not secured a work permit to carry out surveys in Tanzania. “That is not true. We hired a Kenyan expert after a Tanzanian dropped the case because of intimidation,” Owoko said.
Also present were Manyoito Pastoralists Integrated Development Organisation, Maasai Unity Agenda, Kenya Land Alliance and Tanzanian Maasai refugees in Kenya.
Judgement is the latest development in the protracted border dispute between the villages and the Tanzanian government.
Sufficient evidence
In its decision, EACJ termed the evidence brought by the villages as hearsay and found that they had failed to prove that the evictions took place outside the borders of Serengeti National Park. “We are unable to receive sufficient evidence from the petitioners, and we dismiss the reference,” judge Charles Nyachae read.
MPIDO Assistant Executive Director Ann Samante read a statement in solidarity with the applicants. “We demand the immediate and unconditional release of the 24 Maasai elders who were arbitrarily arrested in June and remain illegally detained to date,” she said.
