PM Majaliwa directs two districts to manage Msomera village

SEVERAL months after a successful exercise to relocate some of Ngorongoro residents to Msomera Village, the government has officially placed the area under the administration of Handeni and Kilindi districts in Tanga Region to further develop it.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa made this statement yesterday during a meeting with sector ministers, regional commissioners for Tanga and Arusha, traditional leaders, and representatives of Msomera village residents.

“Today, we are officially placing this village under the districts, so that they can manage its operation and integrate it into their development plans,” he said.

He added, “Various social services were made available in the village before the people relocated to the area through the efforts of the central government, but now the villages will be managed by the districts.”

Mr Majaliwa added that it is crucial for the leaders of the two districts to unite in order to offer development to the village inhabitants, while the relocation exercise is still going on.

The exercise to register people willing to move from Ngorongoro to Msomera began in June last year and at the start of this month, a total of 523 households of 2,808 people and 14,757 livestock had already moved to the village.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister stated that the government’s goal is to make the village a model in the livestock sector through commercial farming.

“The districts must manage these plans so they can provide positive results for the people,” said Mr Majaliwa, adding: “The government has made a large investment, including preparing areas for grazing and commercial livestock farming.”

Nonetheless, he directed that the Handeni and Kilindi District Commissioners to handle and settle land disputes, so that they would not have an effect in the future.

Similarly, he stated that it is not permitted to evict the people who have lived in the area in the past while the land surveying exercise, including formalisation, is taking place there; nonetheless, they must be taken into account in the plan.

The government’s initiative to relocate them to the village, according to the former Deputy Minister for Livestock Kaika Ole Telele, who relocated from Ngorongoro, was a move that will have a significant impact for future generations.

He added that the Ngorongoro inhabitants’ relocation exercise was carried out in accordance with human rights requirements and that the rest of their neighbours should consider joining them to live at the new place.

“Even human rights organisations were able to visit us and acknowledge that we are in a safe place, he added. “For any Ngorongoro residents who have yet to decide to relocate, I encourage them to do so,” he said.

At the event, the Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Mr Abdallah Ulega stated that in order to achieve the government’s objective of encouraging livestock keepers to embark on commercial livestock farming, animal feed blocks had already been set in the area.

“The goal is to have 227 blocks that generate high-quality livestock fodder, we have already built 112 blocks, including seven animal dips,” said Mr Ulega.

On his part, Water Minister Jumaa Aweso said that the water sources in the area were already producing surplus, the biggest challenge was the installation of infrastructure to deliver water to people who are far from the source.

“The government has already disbursed funds amounting to 500m/- for the implementation of the construction of projects to improve the water infrastructure, so that it reaches the new housing that continues to be built by the government,” he said.