Cows seeking pasture in Upper Hill, Nairobi on January 2017. [Photo: The Star]A Tanzania court has ordered the auctioning of 1,305 cows from Kenya impounded in Mwanga district last Friday.According to the Star, the court in Arusha on Tuesday ordered the cows auctioned on Friday and the proceeds handed to the state if the herders fail to pay a trespass penalty of TSh500 million (Sh23 million).The owner of the cows, Ngunyi ole Ngunja, told the court he does not have money to pay the fine. Four Kenyan herders, the livestock owner and five elders who had crossed to Tanzania to negotiate the release of the cows were thrown into remand upon arrival.The herders have been charged with being in Tanzania without valid travel documents which were confirmed by Livestock and Fisheries minister Luhaga Mpina on Tuesday's 9pm news from Dar-es-Salaam."The government has already appointed a broker to facilitate the sale," Mpina told Tanzania's ITV television channel.The court decision, the Star adds, has strained relations between the Kisonko Maasai from Kenya and Tanzania who share a common border.Last Thursday Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed is said to have attempted to secure the livestock, but the country's leadership refused to engage her.Mohamed had reportedly said negotiations were at 'high level' and the cows would be released on Tuesday, the same day th e court ruled they be auctioned.

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