Govt plans to form 10 person land conflict resolution team

The government is planning to form a ten person team to manage arbitration and reconciliation of land conflicts between farmers and pastoralists in Kiteto District, Manyara Region.

Making the announcement over the weekend at the Roho Mtakatifu cathedral, an Anglican Church of the Central Tanganyika Diocese in Dodoma Region, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda admitted that land conflict in the region is a big challenge.

Pinda who was the guest of honour at the consecrating ceremony for Dr Dickson Chilongani as the sixth Bishop of the Central Tanganyika Diocese said land conflict issues in Kiteto must be resolved before the conflict escalates any further.

“The situation in Kiteto requires immediate action to find an amicable solution…this is not only as task for the government but the community in general, security organs and even the churches,” the Premier said.
Pinda said the formed arbitration team is expected to visit each and every village in the region and success achieved in Kiteto will serve as a model for other regions.
“We want Kiteto to be the pilot project to resolving land conflicts in the country,” the PM said citing the risk of conflict escalating to neighbouring five regions including Tanga (Kilindi), Morogoro (Gairo), Dodoma (Kongwa) and Manyara (Simanjiro).

Apart from formation of the team, Pinda said the government has also surveyed and divided at least 133,000 hectares that the two groups are disputing over. He explained that the land has been divided into several ranches for pastoralists and farm lands for the farmers.

The Premier also said the number of police stations and posts in the region will be increased to beef up security.

Earlier,  Arch Bishop Chimeledya had inquired as to the government’s response to the escalating conflict and how they plan to safeguard the lives of people in the affected areas. The Bishop implore the government to take immediate and decisive action to protect the people there. The Prime Minister did not however detail the composition of the ten man resolution group nor their mandate or when it would commence operations.