RESIDENTS at Mkiwa village in Ikungi District, Singida Region, took to the road yesterday, blocking the Dodoma-Singida-Mwanza highway with logs for over two hours.

Their protest aimed to demand urgent government action to remove a herd of elephants that had invaded their area, causing extensive damage to homes and food supplies.

In response to the blockade, Singida East legislator Miraji Mtaturu and the district commissioner, Thomas Apson arrived at the scene to address the residents as the roadblock caused significant traffic congestion, impacting travelers on the busy highway.

In his remarks, the MP said that the entire Mkiwa and Isuna wards lie within an elephant migration route, making it challenging to prevent such incidents.

However, he assured them that the government is actively working to manage the situation, underlining that wildlife and people need to coexist. “I assure you that the government is making efforts to address this issue;” he stated, insisting that there is no deliberate negligence as residents mostly felt. 

“I will contact the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism immediately to request that she or her representatives come here to resolve the matter,” he stated.

The MP has earlier informed the Information, Communication and Information Technology minister Jerry Silaa about the pace of elephant invasions in Mkiwa and Isuna wards, as the minister was rounding up his five-day tour of the region,.

The elephants have consistently wreaked havoc on crops and, in some instances, caused fatalities as they move through the area en route to the Rungwa Game Reserve located in Itigi District.

Speaking at the scene, some residents said that the elephants entered the village around 4pm, triggering panic among residents as they destroyed houses and devoured crops. The unexpected invasion left the community in distress, with people fleeing in all directions to escape the danger, with Ramadhani Ally, a resident at Mkiwa village, saying that the elephants damaged trees, destroyed his cassava field, house, leaving his family in a dire situation.

Another resident, Halima Shabani, said that prople decided to block the highway to pressure the government into taking action. These elephants keep invading our homes, and the government has done nothing to control them. Every time they come, they destroy our belongings and leave us in poverty. We have had enough,” the villager declared.