An Uneasy Peace in Longido

Travelling back to Longido from Arusha yesterday I was struck by the number of young Maasai men our vehicle passed along the way – groups of them – crossing dry barren fields or walking along the roadside. It was an unusual sight and I concluded there had been a ceremony somewhere.

When I was dropped at the roadside in Longido, on my way to the TGH, I passed TEMBO Housekeeper, Rosie’s home, and asked about her weekend. “Too many Maasai in Longido,” Rosie replied. When I arrived at the guesthouse I got the story from Carolyne and Nusra.

Longido, with hydro wires in the background and a finished road.
Development is changing the town, yet an uneasy peace is felt today.

It seems there has been a dispute going on for quite sometime between the pure Maasai and the mixed Maasai in the towns and villages here in the north of Tanzania. The mixed Maasai, also called Larusha, have moved to areas where farming is possible, so they can grow crops. They bring their cattle to the pure Maasai for grazing and keeping. The pure or traditional Maasai have retained their practice of keeping herds of cattle and moving the herds around to find food. Nusra used Sanjoy as an example. “You might see that he has 50 cattle but they are not all his. Maybe only 10 are and he is taking care of the others for grazing.” The Maasai have asked for food from the Larusha in exchange for taking care of their cattle and they are refusing to return the cattle until they receive food. The Larusha are retaliating be cutting the water lines, since they claim the water belongs to them.

As a result of this, violent disputes are rotating throughout the north. Yesterday the disputes moved to this area. Hundreds of Maasai warriors armed with pangas and spears descended on Longido and other towns threatening the farmers. Nusra said the shops in Longido closed in the afternoon and no one ventured out of their house after the sun went down for fear of being harmed. Carolyne heard that people had even been killed down the highway at Oldonyo Sambu during the weekly Saturday market. Here at the TGH, one of the guests was hit with an iron pipe.

Today there are still groups of armed Maasai here in town, though I have not seen any disturbances and people are cautiously going about their work. There is, however, an atmosphere of fear pervading the usual “laid back” atmosphere. Mama Nai was just at the TGH and said she was also afraid and wanted to return to her home as quickly as possible. Mama Nai added more information about the happenings on Saturday at the Oldonyo Sambu market. The Larusha stole cattle, goods, and money from the Maasai who had gone to the market to sell. Now the Maasai are threatening revenge. The local police are only a handful of people and they, too, are afraid to get involved. Mama Nai feels the Military Police might need to be called to monitor or intervene in the situation.

Children, like Rosie'd daughter, Noella, are kept out of danger.

It’s difficult to tell who is in the right and who is in the wrong. I don’t know enough about the situation. It seems there is some relationship to water underneath it all. The harsh reality is that water is scarce and getting scarcer, and the short rains are not due to begin for many weeks, if they come at all.