Tanzania tourism leading private sector organisation has strongly faulted as unfounded recent allegations of human rights abuses by the country's conservation and tourism agency.
The allegations raised by foreign-based non-governmental
organisations, claim that, Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) forcibly evicted
local communities from Usangu wetland within Ruaha National Park to pave ways
for tourism ventures.
In the course, the Tourism Confederation of Tanzania (TCT)
along with Ruaha National Park tourism stakeholders forged a united front to
express their unwavering support for TANAPA.
They denounced the accusations as baseless and misleading.
TCT Chief Executive Officer, Ms Lathifa Sykes, issued the statement emphasising
that the claims distort the historical and factual context out of proportion.
“This, we feel, is highly misleading in the realm of facts
and history,” Sykes asserted.
The controversy centres on the Usangu water catchment, which
was incorporated into Ruaha National Park in 2008. TCT and Ruaha National Park
tourism players find it perplexing that these allegations are surfacing 16
years after the annexation.
Historical data indicates that by 2003, most rivers in
Tanzania recorded flows at merely one-third of their 1988 levels.
The decline was primarily attributed to agricultural and
pastoral activities, not historic human habitation. The Great Ruaha River (GRR)
was similarly affected, exacerbating the issue.
The Usangu region's original pastoral community, the Wasangu
tribe, historically had minimal impact on the area due to their low population
and limited cattle numbers.
GRR’s dwindling water flow severely affected Tanzania’s
hydroelectric power generation, which supplied two-thirds of the nation’s
electricity from dams situated downstream.
The resultant water shortages led to chronic electricity
deficits, disrupting industry, commerce and governmental operations.
Additionally, wildlife populations within the park, such as
buffalo, experienced significant declines during the same period, a fact
documented by Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI)’s census.
The population of German East Africa, which included Rwanda
and Burundi, was only about eight million people in 1911 and that of Tanzania
was nine million people in 1964 as opposed to over 61 million people at the
moment, which is estimated to double come 2050.
In addition to the population swelling, pastoralists alone
in the Ihefu and Usangu water catchment areas are estimated to own between
3,000 and 7,000 each, let alone millions of other varied water users downstream
the Great Ruaha River.
Moreover, it takes 2,000 litres of water to produce a litre
of milk, 5,000 litres a kilo of rice and 22,000 litres a kilo of beef; all of
which lasting barely one meal to a Tanzania’s average household.
“In this situation of Ihefu and Usangu catchment areas, the
interventions of the government of the naturalresource-rich nation in the
region and on the continent, if not in the world, should be understood among
wellwishers,” the TCT CEO says.
The massive unsustainable agricultural and pastoral
malpractices justify the Tanzania government’s decision to urgently relocate
pastoralists and their cows to elsewhere, says Lathifa, stressing that the
alleged human rights abuses ought to be dealt with on case-by-case basis
instead of ‘blanket’ statements.
“As Ruaha National Park players, we never condone human
rights abuses, but we rather encourage close and meaningful consultations
between government departments and all stakeholders,” chipped in CEO of Hotel
Association of Tanzania (HAT) Mr Kennedy Edward, explaining: “We do not
consider punishing current and future populations for transgressions by a few
individuals to anyone’s interest as the right thing, if such lapses did even
take place.”