Women members of the Maasai pastoralist community have for the first time in the history of the ethnic group in the country secured rights to own land for economic ventures, thanks to efforts of a not-for-profit company which has been fighting for their rights.

Ujamaa Community Resource Team (UCRT) has enlightened members of one of Tanzania’s most traditionalist ethnic groups in a move to dispense justice to women, particularly widows.

Founded in 1994 and registered in 2002, the UCRT supports local communities to improve their livelihood by controlling, managing and benefiting from their natural lands through sustainable management.

The team recently carried out seminars on good governance and Land Use Plans (LUPs) which saw about 50 Maasai women, mostly widows, secure a Certificate of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCRO) each.

Kiteto district commissioner Tumaini Magessa, handed over the CCROs to the women from Ngabolo and Ndedo villages in the district at the weekend.

A Maasai woman often is robbed of her family property, if not kicked out of her household, once her husband dies.

“I am now confident enough to defend my family’s land,” Nembris Alamnyak from Ndedo Village said shortly after she received her certificate.

Ms Alamnyak said the certificate was useful especially to widows with only female children who going by the Maasai traditions, were not allowed to inherit their families’ property.

Another beneficiary of the CCROs, Ms Namayan Medelal, pleaded with the government to consider scaling up the UCRT project to ensure women countrywide owned land and traditions which oppressed widows like herself were discarded.

“As a widow, I felt protected after I attended the UCRT seminars,” said Ms Elisabeth Kisau, a mother of four children, former Special Seats councillor and deputy chairperson of Makame Wildlife Management Area.