A section of Kenyan lawmakers has reacted to their Tanzanian counterparts’ Monday comments regarding the controversial deportation of East African lawyers and activists who travelled to Dar es Salaam for opposition leader Tundu Lissu’s treason trial.
Among those deported were PLP Kenya leader and former Justice Minister Martha Karua, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Council member Gloria Kimani, as well as activists Lynn Ngugi, Hanifa Adan, and Hussein Khalid.
Meanwhile, Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and his Ugandan colleague Agather Atuhaire were arrested, held incommunicado, and reportedly tortured for days before being dumped near the Tanzanian border.
Tanzanian MPs on Monday backed President Samia Suluhu Hassan amid criticism for her comments that the rights campaigners attempted to interfere in the country’s affairs and should not be tolerated.
The Members of Parliament criticized what they described as an “imported activism” campaign aimed at sowing chaos and instability in Tanzania and called for stricter security checks on individuals entering the country.
In response, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has vowed to respond just as hard, saying that Tuesday’s Senate session should be conducted in Swahili so their Tanzanian counterparts can understand them.
“Kesho italazim Kiswahili tu bungeni ili wenzetu wa Tanzania watupate kwa njia ya uhakiki,” Sifuna wrote on X.
Karua herself reposted a video of MP Maryam Omar Zaid in which she argued Karua and her colleagues should have been “dealt with once and for all,” instead of deporting them.
