Tanzania’s opposition party, the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo), has urged the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism to open talks with the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority and the Maasai pastoralists community living in the park for a fruitful reconciliation over Maasai’s displacement.

Since the proposal to vacate the Maasai from the NCAA came public, there hasn’t been a common ground between MP’s and other stakeholders, with each faction clinging to their narrative over the issue, whereas, Some believe it is time to vacate the Maasai from their ‘ancestral land’ while others are against the ideas.

ACT’s spokesperson for the Land and Human Settlements docket, Ms Bonifasia Mapunda, believes the meeting between the government (NCAA) and the Maasai community would stir a viable solution.

“We are calling for dialogue between the government [through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority – NCAA] on one side and pastoralists at the park.

“The first step, therefore, has to be identifying the problem through a detailed analysis of the challenges in the NCAA,” said Mapunda adding that the discussion should be conducted on the ground of transparency.

During the stakeholders’ opinion collection, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa addressed the community on Monday, February 14th and promised to meet with all groups interested in the subject matter.

The ACT has called for rescindment of the NCAA board for what it calls “failure to advise the government on this conservation matter.”

The NCAA report reveals a drastic increase of the Maasai population from 8,000 residents in 1959 to more than 100,000 in 2022.