I am not going to discuss the pros and cons of the recently approved road that will cut through the Serengeti Nation Park in Tanzania. This road (the northern circuit road) is only projected to serve about 2 millions Tanzanians compared to the Southern route which will serve about 10-12 millions Tanzanians. If the main reason for building the road is to impact a bigger segment of the Tanzanian population, then why not build the southern route? It’s a no brainer to me.

If you want to learn more about the negative impacts this road will have on the Serengeti and Maasai Mara National Parks, click here and here and here. These websites have a collection of the projected pros and cons and I do not see the reasons to waste my energy duplicating the same information.

One serious impact of the just approved Mara-Arusha Road through the Serengeti would be the cutting off of the wildebeest migration. This is one of the major factors that attract tourists across the globe to come and spend their hard-earned cash in Tanzania and Kenya every year. The road will not only impact the Serengeti ecosystem and tourism industry in Tanzania but also in Kenya. I am just wondering what the Kenyans are doing to influence a different outcome?

I thought we are building an East African community that is going to embrace and protect the interests of its fellow members. Building this road will not help to foster the East Africa integration which is the aspiration of many East Africans. It will actually damage Tanzania’s standing on that regard….. Period!!!