Maasai in Loliondo win important appeal
On 29 November, four Maasai Indigenous communities in Loliondo, Tanzania celebrated a rare win on their long road to justice as the Appellate Division of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) upheld their appeal of a September 2022 case.
The judges sided with the four villages and their lawyers stating that there was a failure in examining and hearing evidence in the original judgment, which included affidavits and an expert witness report.
Additionally, the judgment also awarded costs to the appellants, not just for this appeal process, but for the original trial as well, meaning that the government is responsible for all costs incurred in both proceedings for both parties.
This is an important next step in the long journey towards justice that Indigenous Peoples in Tanzania have been fighting for years
This ruling is also significant as it now sets a powerful precedent for the courts which will be responsible for examined all evidence that is presented.
The September 2022 case in question concerns the dismissal of a case holding the Government of Tanzania to account for the violent evictions by authorities of Indigenous people in four villages in 2017. The evictions left 20,000 Maasai individuals homeless and damaged 5,800 homes, some of which were damaged by burning.
>> Read the full press release here
>> Read the full court ruling here
>> For more on Loliondo and the many government-led actions, including forcible evictions, read our coverage here:
- 02 June 2023 | Maasai delegation meets with European governments and politicians on eviction crisis
- 05 July 2022 | Situation of Maasai in Loliondo and Sale in Tanzania dangerous and desperate
- 13 June 2022 | Urgent Alert: New serious threats towards the Maasai people of Loliondo in Tanzania
- 23 February 2023 | Threats of forced eviction of the Maasai indigenous pastoralists of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) and Ngorongoro District in Tanzania
- 27 January 2022 | Urgent Alert: 70,000 Maasai in Loliondo, Tanzania, face another forceful eviction
- 11 September 2017 | Tanzania: Forced evictions of Maasai people in Loliondo
Tags: Land rights
