The People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader and former Justice Minister Martha Karua has moved to a Ugandan court seeking to overturn her deportation and secure her return to represent jailed opposition leader Kizza Besigye and his co-accused in a criminal case stemming from their 2024 arrest in Nairobi.
She wants the High Court’s Civil Division in Kampala to quash the decision and restrain immigration authorities from interfering with her entry to Uganda to discharge her professional duties as an advocate.
Ms Karua narrates that she travelled to Uganda on June 22 to represent Dr Besigye and Hajji Obeid Lutale after obtaining a Special Practising Certificate authorising her to practise before Ugandan courts. She says immigration officials denied her entry, took her phones and later served her with a notice directing her to return to Kenya.
Dr Besigye and Mr Lutale were arraigned over charges of treason and two counts of misprision of treason, with the prosecution alleging that they were involved in plans to overthrow the Ugandan government.
Ugandan Opposition leader Kizza Besigye stands in a steel dock at the Uganda Military General Court Martial in Makindye, a suburb of Kampala on December 2, 2024.
Photo credit: Reuters
The charges arose after the two were arrested in Nairobi in November 2024 and initially taken before Uganda’s General Court Martial, before being transferred to the civilian courts following a Supreme Court decision that civilians could not be tried by the military court. They were subsequently charged at Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court on February 21, 2025.
Ms Karua's case against the country's Attorney General over the Immigration officer's actions follows an earlier application by Dr Besigye and Mr Lutale over the same decision. The High Court declined to determine whether the immigration decision was lawful, holding that such a challenge should be filed through judicial review, and dismissed that application.
Ms Karua and the Uganda Law Society want the court to declare the immigration decision unlawful, arbitrary, unreasonable and procedurally improper.
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They also want the decision quashed, immigration authorities compelled to reconsider the matter, and a permanent injunction stopping further interference with her entry for professional purposes.
"The said decision is illegal, irrational and procedurally improper," they say.
In his supporting affidavit, Uganda Law Society vice-president Anthony Asiimwe says Ms Karua is a Senior Counsel and holds a Special Practising Certificate issued under Section 18 of the Advocates Act.
He says the certificate enabled her to lead the defence team in a criminal case involving Besigye and Lutale.
Mr Asiimwe says he travelled to Entebbe to receive Ms Karua after she arrived from Kenya and found that immigration officials had denied her entry.
The applicants say Karua was not given a hearing or reasons consistent with natural justice before the decision was made.
They argue that the decision breached Uganda’s Constitution and the East African Community Treaty, as well as principles governing the independence of lawyers.
The applicants say Karua has suffered professional and financial losses because she cannot return to Uganda to perform her duties.
“The second applicant has suffered and continues to suffer serious professional and reputational injury as a distinguished Senior Counsel publicly labelled ‘Persona Non Grata’ without any lawful basis, causing lasting damage to her standing within the East African legal community and beyond," he says.
The Uganda Law Society first sought administrative intervention before filing the case. Letters attached to the application show the society asked Ugandan officials to rescind the decision and allow Ms Karua to enter Uganda.
It says immigration authorities acted “in a manner that was arbitrary, oppressive and contemptuous of the rule of law”.
The Law Society says the dispute concerns its statutory duty to protect the independence of the legal profession and uphold the rule of law.
“I am aware that the second applicant is desirous of returning to Uganda to perform her professional duties and requires urgent determination of this matter to avoid irreparable prejudice to the administration of justice and the rights of the accused persons," Mr Asiimwe argues.
The immigration notice attached to the court papers identifies “persona non grata” as the reason for denying her entry and directs that she be returned to Kenya.
