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Tanzania denounced on Thursday as “unfounded” charges of massacres, rapes, and planned evictions of over 20,000 people, prompting the World Bank to withhold funding for a $150 million conservation project.
The World Bank launched the Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth Project (REGROW) to improve the management of natural resources and tourism assets in southern Tanzania.
At least $100 million has been disbursed for the project, which began in 2017.
However, in September, the Oakland Institute, a California-based think tank, raised charges of forced evictions and human rights violations, including the killing and sexual assault of communities residing near Ruaha national park, which the government intends to extend as part of the plan.
“Park rangers, funded through REGROW, are implicated in murders of several villagers and numerous incidents of violence since the project began in 2017. Field research collected heart wrenching testimonies from those who have faced sexual violence, brutal assaults, and inhumane treatment by rangers,” it had said.
“Government agencies are also seizing and auctioning cattle in large numbers,” the Oakland Institute added.
“Our preliminary investigations have revealed that the allegations are not true. We are now waiting for our colleagues at the World Bank to supply their proof on the subject,” government spokesman Mobhare Matinyi told AFP, calling the allegations “unfounded”.
Tanzania “does not violate human rights in any development project. We are seriously concerned about people’s rights and dignity,” he added.
After obtaining information indicating “breaches of our policies” on the project, the World Bank announced on Tuesday that it will withdraw funding “with immediate effect”.
According to the Oakland Institute, the Tanzanian government intended to forcefully relocate over 20,000 people to enlarge the park.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who took office in 2021, moved away from her predecessor John Magufuli’s authoritarian policies, intending to loosen limits on freedom and encourage international economic investment.
However, the arrests of major political opponents in July 2021 have impacted these decisions.
The East African country is well-known for its beautiful wildlife parks, including the Serengeti, as well as Africa’s tallest peak, Kilimanjaro, and Indian Ocean islands like Zanzibar.
According to official estimates, the tourist sector produced $3.37 billion in income in 2023, with overseas visitors up 24 percent to 1.8 million.
