"You may have been informed of a number of land invasions around the Arusha Area. The situation began when neighbouring villagers became increasingly distressed at the lack of grazing and water on their own smallholdings and began encroaching mainly to cut grass. The situation was exacerbated by political rhetoric in which opposition candidates vying for local seats allegedly promised villagers carte blanche access to large areas of land some of which is held by Tanzanian registered companies and others by individual landowners. With the conclusion of the elections, it would seem that villagers took them at their word and promptly broke down fencing followed by wholesale invasions.
There followed a tense week of direct threats, localised burglary and rioting, during which it must be said that the Police acquitted themselves extremely well despite the usual shortage of resources. The situation was greatly improved through a formal intervention by the Arusha RC who spoke eloquently and forcefully and reiterated that the Government is fully committed to protecting the rights of legitimate landowners and reaffirmed the Government stance on the proper value of investors and their investments. Whilst noting that there were issues that need to be legitimately addressed, he stressed that there was a proper process already in place, which needed to be respected by all.
The villagers were directed to remove their cattle immediately and to respect other people’s property and boundaries. This has had a noticeable impact but inevitably there will be some inertia while the import of the message is digested and thus rumours of further invasion on the same or other farms continues to abound. Furthermore, we need to recognise that there are other elements who will want to capitalise on the perceived vacuum created by the unrest. To that end, all affected clients are encouraged to remain vigilant and adopt an appropriate security posture.
Long term however, I am extremely heartened by the very positive adherence to the rule of law and very clear enforcement directives that came from the Government."
During the crisis, Warrior response teams were on hand to offer support and assistance, not just to clients, but to the community at large, bringing in a wave of thanks from grateful residents and landowners.
