Martha Karua, 2 Kenyan Lawyers Detained In Tanzania
Senior Counsel and former Justice Minister Martha Karua, along with human rights campaigners and lawyers Lynn Ngugi and Gloria Kimani, has expressed concern over being denied admission into neighboring Tanzania.
The vocal opposition member took to social media on Sunday morning, claiming that her passport had been seized.
She was then referred to a supervisor at the Julius Nyerere International Airport, where she had been kept for more than an hour.
Despite her status as a famous Kenyan and member of the East African Community (EAC), the lawyer stated that she had no idea why she was being treated so harshly.
The situation at Dar pic.twitter.com/wAum7n60N5
— Martha Karua SC (@MarthaKarua) May 18, 2025
“I arrived at Dar es Salaam Mwalimu Julius Nyerere International airport at nine am, and immigration referred my passport to the supervisor, who has kept me waiting for an hour as she consults her superiors,” she stated.
“I am concerned that as a citizen of Jumuiya, my access within the East African Community (EAC) country appears inexplicably restricted.”
Karua added: “Apart from me, Gloria Kimani and Ngugi Lynn are also detained. The common thread that binds us is that we are all guests of the East Africa Law Society (EALS), Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Faith Odhiambo and Uganda Law Society.”
The People’s Liberation Party Leader, who has spoken out against the oppression of opposition leaders in the region, was in the East African country to protest the incarceration of its opposition leader, Tundu Lissu.
She further said that the three were awaiting expulsion from the airport after their entry was prohibited owing to their involvement in the case.
“The common thread between Gloria Kimani, a council member of LSK and Ngugi Lynn is that we are guests of EALS, and I guess all visitors who may be interested in the politically motivated case against Tundu Lissu,” she claimed.
Karua has thrown her support behind Tanzania’s Tundu Lissu since his arrest on treason accusations, and she hopes to be able to represent him as well.
Awaiting deportation after retrieving our bags with @ngugi_lynn @gloria_kimani pic.twitter.com/vravSNhF2C
— Martha Karua SC (@MarthaKarua) May 18, 2025
The famed lawyer is currently representing Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye.
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Lissu, the national chair of Tanzania’s major opposition party, the Chadema, was captured a day after holding an election reform demonstration in South Tanzania and charged with treason.
Subsequently, human rights defenders across Africa came to his defence, with a Karua-led lobby group seeking to have the charges, which she termed as politically motivated, dropped.
This is quite unfortunate that though we should be enjoying free movement of persons within the East African region, Kenyans can be detained for merely being lawyers. I hope @SingoeiAKorir can urgently intervene. https://t.co/4GJsThg9QL
— Faith Odhiambo (@FaithOdhiambo8) May 18, 2025
“As a member of the African Union (AU), the East African community and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Tanzania is bound by foundational commitments to uphold the rule of law, democracy and human dignity,” Karua said in a later statement.
“The current administration’s conduct flagrantly contradicts these obligations.”
Martha Karua, 2 Kenyan Lawyers Detained In Tanzania
