Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and two activists are the latest high-profile Kenyans to be detained by Tanzanian authorities at the Julius Nyerere Airport, Dar es Salaam.
Dr Mutunga was detained on Sunday alongside activists Hanifa Adan and Hussein Khalid, barely hours after People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua was also detained at the same facility before being deported back to Nairobi.
Separately, activist Boniface Mwangi, who is also in Tanzania, has claimed that his life is in danger after armed individuals claiming to be police officers staged a siege at his hotel room in Dar es Salaam on Sunday night.
“My life is in danger. I'm at Serena Hotel, Dar es Salaam, and they're armed men in civilian clothes outside my room. They claim they are police officers, but they have refused to identify themselves. They will have to break the door to remove me here. I'm not going to open it,” Mr Mwangi posted on his X account.
And in a separate X post, Mr Khalid, a lawyer and a human rights activist, said they were detained at the airport and denied entry into the country. The three, he said, travelled to Tanzania “in solidarity with Tanzanian lawyers and human rights defenders”.
"We, Willy Mutunga, Hanifa, and I, have been detained at Julius Nyerere Airport, Dar es Salaam, as we came in for the observance of Tundu Lissu’s case. The trip was in solidarity with Tanzanian lawyers and human rights defenders.
They have not given reasons for the detention," he posted.
Ms Karua on Sunday claimed that there is an increasing attempt by the East African member states to curtail the voice of the opposition parties in the region.
Speaking at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after being deported by the Tanzanian authority, Ms Karua said that the recent pattern of events targeting the opposition is a matter of concern to the state of democracy in the region.
“We notice that it is like there is now collaboration in oppressing the citizens. We want to tell you that the citizens of East Africa, and I am one of them. We are not going to take it lightly. We will, we should be, and we shall not surrender to the tyranny regimes,” Ms Karua said.
She has accused President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania of violating the rights of East African citizens by denying her and her colleagues the right to enter the court and follow the proceedings, a move that she said is against the treaties of the East Africa Community, Jumiya.
Mr Karua, together with Law Society of Kenya Council Member Gloria Kimani and Lynn Ngugi, among other activists, were set to attend the hearing of opposition leader's case, Tundu Lissu, who will be arraigned on Monday after spending weeks in police custody.
However, upon arriving at Julius Nyerere International Airport on Sunday morning, she was detained alongside her two colleagues, only to be informed that they were being booked for the next flight back home.
According to Ms Karua, the ongoing crackdown of opposition leaders in Tanzania is an attempt by President Suluhu to derail the campaigns of the opposition ahead of the October election, whereby the opposition party of CHADEMA will front Mr Lissu to battle the incumbent president.
“Tanzania will be having a presidential election in October this year, and the main challenger to Mama Suluhu is Tundu Lissu. It is clear that the CCM authorities under her candidate Mama Suluhu are subverting the law to lock up the main contender so that they can sail through unopposed.”
She also stated that Mr Lissu was being silenced by the government for leading calls to have reforms in the Tanzanian constitution ahead of the election.
“What law has he broken by asking that there be reforms in Tanzania? And if indeed he has broken the law, why do they fear observers going to watch the trial and see that it is free and fair? My call to the government of Tanzania and Mama Samia Suluhu, drop the charges against Tundu Lissu, stop chasing around shadows.”
In regards to the October election, Ms Karua said that the people of Tanzania will decide who will be their next leader, a role that she said will not be decided by observers, and that the government should not be afraid of them.
“I want to remind Mama Samia and the CCM government that the East Africa treaty obliges all the states to follow the rule of law. Following the rule of law means, according to Tundu Lissu, a fair and impartial public trial and therefore admitting observers like ourselves.”
At the same time, Ms Karua has called out the Tanzanian government following the brutal arrest of Tanzanian activist Mpaluka Said Nyangali, who has never been arraigned since he went missing.
She termed her detention, which lasted for about six hours, as an iron, which is against the spirit of the founding leaders of Tanzania.
“Let democracy reign in Tanzania. It was very ironic for us to be detained at Mwalimu Julius Nyerere International Airport. Tanzania was the refuge for all people in Africa, not just in East Africa, who were fleeing an authoritarian regime.
The ANC of South Africa was hiding in Africa and many other places. Today, at an airport named after the great leader of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, we were detained for no offence. For merely seeking to go and stand in solidarity and observe the trial of Tundu Lissu.”
Ms Karua arrived with Ms Ngugi, who was also detained. LSK Council member Ms Kimani was booked for another flight, which would arrive later in the evening.
During the address, Ms Karua revealed that she spoke to the Kenyan ambassador to Tanzania, Isaac Njenga, who assured her that Kenya will follow up on the matter.
“I spoke to the Ambassador of Kenya to Tanzania. He told me that he was in Kenya. He sought to speak to them through the airline desk, and he said that they were looking into it. If Kenya has not issued any note of protest, then they are collaborating.”
While reacting to Ms Karua’s deportation, Kenyan Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs Dr Korir Sing'Oei said that the government is reaching out to the Tanzanian authority over the matter.
“Our Mission in Dar es Salaam has reached out to relevant authorities in the United Republic of Tanzania and will be apprising further on the matter shortly,” PS Sing'Oei said through a post on the X platform.
