A Tanzanian court on Tuesday ordered the release of 24 members of the Maasai community after the prosecution decided to drop murder charges against them following the June death of a policeman during a land demarcation process.
A court in the city of Arusha has taken the decision after the prosecution officially notified that it will not continue with the case over the death of Ganus Mwita in an incident in the village of Orloloskwani, located in the Ngorongoro district, according to the Tanzanian daily ‘Habari Leo’.
The incidents broke out amid government efforts to demarcate 1,500 square kilometers of land in northern Tanzania as a game reserve, triggering tensions within the Maasai community, with the epicenter in Loliondo, on the fringes of the Serengeti National Park.
Maasai leaders had already demanded in April in a letter to the governments of the United States, United Kingdom and European Union (EU) countries that they work to preserve their ancestral lands in the face of the plan for this game reserve, which would be managed by a company owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
For their part, United Nations experts expressed their concern in June about «the continued encroachment on the traditional lands and dwellings of the Maasai», while criticizing the «lack of transparency» on the part of the Tanzanian authorities.
However, a court in October rejected a lawsuit filed by a group of Maasai who denounced the authorities for the use of violence in eviction procedures around the Serengeti National Park.
