PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has formed two commissions to address issues in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA).

Dr Moses Kusiluka, the chief secretary, said in statement issued on Monday that the commissions will examine land issues on the one hand, and the relocation exercise on the other, and each will have specific membership and work schedule.

One commission will address land-related concerns raised by residents, while the other will evaluate the progress of voluntary relocation efforts in the area.

This initiative follows a promise made by the president on December 1, at a meeting with Maasai traditional leaders of the area, at the State Lodge in Arusha.

The president decided at the meetingto form commissions to address the concerns raised by the elders, and in the current announcement the Land Issues Commission has nine members, while the Relocation Assessment Commission is made up of eight members.

Appeal Justice Dr Gerald Ndika will chair the Land Issues Commission, whose members include Philemon Luhanjo, a retired chief secretary. Others as Zakia Meghji, a veteran former cabinet minister, as well as Judge George Masaju, a former attorney general and lately presidential legal affairs adviser.

Other commission members are Dr Richard Muyungi, a State House adviser on environment and climate change, Ambassador Salome Sijaona, Prof. Wilbard Kombe from Ardhi University, Prof Emmanuel Luoga from the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Ngorongoro Pastoral Council secretary Mollel James Moringe, and Moi Aprakwa Sikorei, a community leader in the area.

The Relocation Assessment Commission will be chaired by former permanent secretary Musa Iyombe, with members listed as ex-permanent secretary Sihaba Nkinga and Alphayo Kidata, a former revenue authority director general. 

Its other members are Ambassador Valentino Mlowola who once headed the anti-corruption bureau, Ambassador Mohamed Mtonga as former chief internal auditor, Ambassador George Madafa and Haruna Masebu, a former director general for the National Housing Corporation (NHC).

The team also brings in two residents of the area, a teacher, Edward Maura Nduleti and Rehema Moisare, a resident of Ngorongoro.

These commissions are expected to address pressing issues in the conservation area and provide solutions that balance the needs of the residents and environmental conservation, the statement indicated.