KENYAN politician and former justice minister Martha Karua has said she was expelled from Tanzania on Sunday, where she had travelled to observe the treason trial of a high-profile opposition leader. The incident has sparked criticism of growing political repression in East Africa as key elections loom in the region.
Karua, who has declared her intention to run for Kenya’s presidency in 2027, was due to attend the court appearance of Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu. Lissu is facing treason charges that could carry the death penalty, with his trial scheduled to begin Monday. His case has drawn international attention as Tanzania heads towards general elections in October.
Speaking on social media, Karua confirmed she had been deported, writing: ‘Deportation complete! On board @KQSupport flight No 485 for Nairobi.’ She later posted that she had ‘landed at JKIA safely awaiting to disembark’.
According to her spokesperson, Karua was detained for three hours on arrival at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, where authorities also confiscated her passport. No official explanation has yet been issued by Tanzanian authorities regarding the deportation.
Rights concerns grow across East Africa
Karua, a prominent opposition figure in Kenya and leader of the newly formed People’s Liberation Party, has been a vocal critic of democratic regression in the region. She has also acted as legal counsel for Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who was allegedly abducted in Kenya last year and forcibly returned to Uganda to face treason charges of his own.
‘It’s a pattern,’ Karua said of her deportation, accusing regional governments of ‘neutering the opposition ahead of elections’. Her party issued a strong statement denouncing the move as ‘a blatant violation of the principles of the East African Community (EAC), of which both Kenya and Tanzania are founding members’.
The developments come amid mounting concerns about shrinking civic space and rising authoritarianism across East Africa. In Tanzania, Lissu’s party, Chadema, has been disqualified from participating in the upcoming polls after refusing to sign an electoral code of conduct. The party had called for reforms, accusing President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government of reverting to oppressive tactics.
Uganda and Kenya under scrutiny
Uganda, which holds elections in January, is also drawing criticism over threats from military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of long-time president Yoweri Museveni. Last week, Kainerugaba warned on X that those who do not support Museveni’s party ‘better be very careful’, adding: ‘We will deport all the traitors in public view!’
Meanwhile, Karua has continued to speak out against what she describes as the deteriorating state of governance in Kenya. In an interview with AFP earlier this month, she described the country as being in ‘total disarray’.
‘It’s as if our constitution has been suspended,’ she said. ‘We have abductions, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings… and the police and authorities fail to take responsibility.’
Rights groups estimate at least 60 people were killed during anti-tax protests in Kenya last June and July. Over 80 people were reportedly abducted by security forces, with dozens still missing. President William Ruto, whose administration was shaken by the unrest, has denied the state’s involvement and insisted that all abductees have been returned to their families.
‘I have given clarity and firm instructions that nothing of that kind of nature will happen again,’ Ruto told journalists last week.
Karua previously ran as the running mate to opposition leader Raila Odinga in Kenya’s 2022 presidential election, which they lost to Ruto. Her 2027 bid sets the stage for a crowded field of contenders vying to unseat the incumbent president.
The latest deportation incident underscores what Karua and others view as a broader campaign to stifle dissent across East Africa as multiple states gear up for pivotal elections.
