The Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs is investigating the detention of People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. According to Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei, the Kenyan High Commission in Dar es Salaam, led by High Commissioner Isaac Njenga, is engaging with Tanzanian authorities and will issue a detailed update shortly.
Karua, a prominent politician and human rights advocate, was denied entry into Tanzania on Sunday morning and held at the airport alongside fellow lawyers Lynn Ngugi and Gloria Kimani. The trio had travelled to Tanzania as guests of the East Africa Law Society (EALS) and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), reportedly to attend proceedings involving detained Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu, who is facing treason charges.
“I have been denied entry into Tanzania and I and two colleagues are awaiting deportation,” Karua said in a statement. She revealed that her passport was confiscated and that immigration officials referred her case to a supervisor, leaving her in limbo for over an hour without explanation.
Karua expressed alarm over what she views as an unjustified restriction of her right to free movement within the East African Community (EAC). “I am concerned that, as a citizen of Jumuiya, my access within the East African Community appears inexplicably restricted,” she said.
The politician suspects that the denial of entry is politically motivated and linked to her group’s interest in the legal proceedings against Lissu. “All visitors who may be interested in the politically motivated case against Tundu Lissu are being denied entry,” she asserted.
The move has drawn condemnation from various quarters, including former LSK President Nelson Havi, who questioned the utility of the EAC if legal practitioners from member states can be arbitrarily blocked.
“What is the purpose of the East African Community if Martha Karua is denied entry into Tanzania to practice law, and is instead deported?” Havi asked, urging President William Ruto to engage his Tanzanian counterpart Samia Suluhu directly to resolve the matter.
