Nairobi Martha Karua, a prominent Kenyan politician and human rights lawyer, says she was deported from Tanzania over the weekend while attempting to attend a court hearing for Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
Speaking to reporters shortly after landing back in Nairobi on Saturday night, Karua described hours of interrogation and what she called a deliberate move by Tanzanian authorities to block her from observing the treason case against Lissu, one of the most outspoken critics of the ruling party.
“I was there in solidarity with a fellow lawyer and a believer in democracy,” Karua said. “There was no lawful reason to detain and deport us.”
She was accompanied by Kenyan lawyer Gloria Kimani and rights activist Lynn Ngugi, both of whom were also expelled from the country.
Detained, Questioned, Sent Home
According to Karua’s newly formed opposition party, the People’s Liberation Party (PLP), the three were subjected to “hours of unwarranted interrogation” before being escorted back to the airport and placed on a return flight to Kenya.
Tanzanian officials have so far remained silent on the matter.
Lissu, head of the main opposition party Chadema, is due in court Monday to face treason charges. He was arrested in April after leading a rally under the banner “No Reforms, No Election”. He insists the charges are politically driven. The government denies this.
Speaking from Dar es Salaam, Chadema’s Secretary-General John Mnyika said the deportations were part of a broader attempt to silence scrutiny. “The answer to the embarrassment of a trumped-up treason case is not deporting foreign observers,” he said. “It’s to drop the case.”
More Kenyan Activists Blocked
Former Kenyan Chief Justice Willy Mutunga was also reportedly detained upon arrival in Dar es Salaam on Sunday, alongside lawyer Hussein Khalid and activist Hanifa Adan, known for organizing youth-led protests in Kenya.
In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), Khalid said their passports had been seized at the airport. “We travelled in solidarity with Tanzanian lawyers and human rights defenders,” he said.
Adan, speaking from the airport at 3am, said, “We’re being held without explanation. It’s cold and frustrating. This is just petty.”
Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi said men claiming to be police officers attempted to enter his hotel room in Dar es Salaam late Sunday. He refused to open the door and waited in the lobby for local lawyers to arrive.
“I’m ready to leave if need be, but I’m not stepping out without proper legal protection,” Mwangi posted online.
Rising Concern Ahead of Elections
Tanzania is heading into presidential and parliamentary elections in October. Human rights groups say there is growing evidence of a crackdown on dissent.
Since Lissu’s arrest, his Chadema party has been barred from participating in the upcoming polls. The electoral commission disqualified them after the party refused to sign a mandatory code of conduct requiring parties to “behave well” and “maintain peace and harmony”.
Chadema argues the code is being used to muzzle the opposition. Supporters of the ruling CCM party, in power since 1977, say the measures are necessary to prevent unrest.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, widely expected to seek re-election, was initially praised for opening up civic space when she assumed office in 2021 following the death of John Magufuli. But critics now accuse her government of sliding back into repression.
Karua, who once served as Kenya’s Minister of Justice and was the running mate to Raila Odinga in the 2022 election, has remained a staunch defender of democratic rights in the region.
She has also represented Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye, who was abducted in Kenya last year and returned to Uganda to face treason charges. Like Lissu, Besigye claims the charges are politically motivated.
Kenya’s top foreign affairs official, Dr Korir Sing’oei, on Sunday said Nairobi had “strongly urged” Tanzanian authorities to release any detained Kenyan citizens and explain their actions.
As of Monday morning, neither the Tanzanian government nor its immigration department had issued a statement.
