"Desde la antigüedad las mujeres soñamos defender la tierra para un futuro próspero, donde todos tengamos los mismos derechos sea hombre o mujer"(Antonia Grefa, Comunidad Veinticuatro De Mayo)

En la actualidad en la comunidad Veinticuatro de Mayo existe un porcentaje muy similar entre dirigentes hombres y mujeres, esto ha ayudado a que se equiparen los derechos y obligaciones dentro de esta comunidad.

It is almost a decade now since the fights between Pastoralists and peasants broke out in Kilosa district Morogoro region in December 2000 claiming tens of people’s lives and causing irreparable losses and damages their properties. While the wounds of that dark record are still fresh in some of the minds of the communities in Kilosa, another very serious fight between the same or rather similar groups occurred this October prompting the media and human rights activists to find some ways to intervene in a bid to find lasting solutions for the problems.

This fact finding is based on one of the claims of a group of peri-urban dwellers in Kimere, Mapinga village in Bagamoyo District, whose land they claim have been invaded by one of the well connected elite with a view to assist them register their rights only to realise later on that he was playing a tricky game to own their land. 

A fact-finding mission team was formed as a result of consultative meetings on the land dispute between the village government and pastoralists in Vilima Vitatu village in Babati district. The team was comprised of the following members: Kassian Mshomba (LHRC), Seif Mangwangi (Majira), Diana Mawalla (PINGOs Forum), Hamadi Sadick, Emmanuel Cornel (PINGOs Forum), Asraji Mvungi (ITV), Rodgers Luhwago (The Citizen), Bakari Mnkondo (Uhuru), Bernard Baha (HakiArdhi) and Chambi Chachage (Independent Researcher).

Land use conflicts are common phenomena in Tanzania and the world at large. One major reason before going to specific cases hinges on the fact that land does not expand while people and other living organizations that depend on it keeps on increasing on the early surface. This un matching ratio between land as basic resources for livelihoods and its users constantly results into land use conflicts.

Contemporary waves of large scale land acquisitions for commercial production in developing countries in Africa and other parts of the world have been branded as ‘land grabs’ by many scholars, media and activists. Some scholars have describe this phenomena as the “new scramble for Africa” (Moyo and Yeros, 2011). However, others have refuted such a description on the grounds that the current land deals are being negotiated by sovereign African states in the exercise of powers that they have under national laws (Odhiambo, 2011).

This paper uses District Land and Housing Tribunal (DLHT) as a case study to argue that the principle conceived in the enactment of the law that established the tribunal is far from becoming a reality. It uses data of the past four years to demonstrate that DLHT is overburdened by increment of an average of 2000 pending cases every year. It further shows legal and practical challenges that hinder access to and independence of DLHT. The paper calls for drastic strategic measures to strengthen DLHT in terms of human resources and facilities.

This report springs from series of field visits.Its aim was, among others, to examine further the extent of human rights violations suffered by pastoralists in Kilombero and Rufiji valley during the evictions. It additionally makes recommendations including the need for lobbying against the State’s contempt of court orders

According to the research and follow ups made by Pingo’s Forum and LHRC indicated that, most victims were not trespassers to the land as contented by the Government. The pastoralists including Sukuma, Taturu, hunters and gatherers (Hadzabe) lawfully living within the Conservation Area resisted the government movement to evict them without paying adequate compensation.

This fact finding mission had been organised to investigate the challenges facing pastoralists in Rufiji District, the challenges which have been defined as the source of conflict in this district. Although pastoralists had arrived in Rufiji since 1990’s but they officially went there and other places in Coastal and in Lindi Regions after they had been evicted from Ihefu and Kilosa in 2006-9. The Government, through their operation, announced to prepare areas for pastoralists and also to set all necessary and potential services for them to survive In Lindi, Ruvuma and Pwani Regions. 

This is a report on TALA-Media joint mission in response to recently reported killings of 5 agro pastoralists and farmers in Maguba area Malinyi Division in Ulanga District. These people were allegedly reported to be killed by gun shots by the Tanzania Peoples Defense Forces on Saturday 17th March, 2012.