Escalating discrimination ahead of elections in Tanzania

The Society for Threatened Peoples warns of a new escalation of discrimination against the indigenous Maasai in Tanzania ahead of the upcoming local elections and the presidential and parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for 2025. “Tens of thousands of people in Tanzania, most of them members of the Maasai, were excluded from the process of voter registration. This affects 25 villages, all of which are located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area,” stated Sarah Reinke, head of human rights work at the STP, in Göttingen on Friday.

“The decision to deprive the Maasai of one of their fundamental rights is part of an expulsion campaign against the Maasai in Ngorongoro. This once again shows how far the Tanzanian government under President Samia Suluhu Hassan is willing to go in order to achieve its goals,” Reinke said. 

The STP appealed to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell to condemn this decision by the Tanzanian government and to emphasize that the Maasai must be allowed to vote. “The EU had funded programs to promote democracy and the rule of law in Tanzania for years. Thus, the EU must not tolerate this violation of fundamental democratic principles by the Tanzanian government. How can its programs and financial support be justified if an entire population group is simply deprived of its basic rights regarding democratic participation,” Reinke asked.

The Tanzanian government has been driving the Maasai out of two conservation areas within the Serengeti ecosystem since 2019. They are displaced from their homes – sometimes through the use of direct violence, sometimes by withdrawing social welfare.

Together with the MISA network (Maasai International Solidarity Alliance) – in which local and international organizations such as FIAN, Survival International, and the Society for Threatened Peoples are organized – the Maasai are calling on the Tanzanian government to immediately reverse its decision, to put all residents of the 25 affected villages on the voter lists, and to stop all measures aimed at displacing the Maasai.