Tanzania: Kenya Urges Tanzania to Release Former CJ Amid a Wave of Deportations
Nairobi — Kenya has called on Tanzanian authorities to immediately release former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and two other Kenyan activists detained in Dar es Salaam.
Kenya’s Foreign Office made the appeal on Monday amid growing concerns over an apparent clampdown on Kenyan legal observers and civil society figures attending opposition leader Tundu Lissu’s high-profile treason hearing.
Mutunga was arrested early Monday at Julius Nyerere International Airport alongside Hanifa Adan and Hussein Khalid, prominent human rights defenders from HAKI Africa and MUHURI, respectively.
The three were in Tanzania to observe court proceedings against Lissu, a vocal critic of President Samia Suluhu’s administration arrested for his ‘No Reform, No Elections’ campaign.
The arrests came amid a wave of escalating hostility toward Kenyan activists and legal observers.
Overnight, Tanzania deported Kenya’s former Minister for Constitutional Affairs Martha Karua along with lawyer Gloria Kimani and human rights campaigner Lynn Ngugi, in a move interpreted as a systematic effort to block Kenyan figures from attending Lissu’s trial.
Just hours before Mutunga’s arrest, Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi reported an attempted intrusion into his hotel room by unidentified individuals who claimed to be “friends” at 1am.
He refused to open the door and alerted hotel security. By 2am, news of the arrests at the airport broke.
EAC norms
In Nairobi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs subtly protested the arrests, invoking the principles of regional cooperation under the East African Community (EAC).
“We strongly urge the authorities in Tanzania to release the former Chief Justice of Kenya and his delegation consistent with the norms of the East African Community,” said Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei.
Despite the tensions, Kenya’s immediate former Chief Justice David Maraga arrived in Tanzania on Monday, announcing his presence to attend Lissu’s hearing.
“Safely arrived in Dar-es-Salaam. Headed to Court for the Tundu Lissu Court Case,” Maraga, a campaigner for good governance and the rule of law, announced.
His arrival coincided with mounting criticism from regional and international human rights bodies over Tanzania’s handling of the situation.
It remained unclear under what legal grounds Taznania was effective the arrests and deportations. Tanzanian authorities had not issued an official statement regarding the detention or the deportation of the Kenyan citizens by midmoring on Monday.
Mutunga, who served as Kenya’s Chief Justice from 2011 to 2016, is internationally respected for his commitment to constitutionalism and democratic governance.
His detention–alongside Adan and Khalid–has drawn outrage across the region, with civil society groups warning of a shrinking democratic space in Tanzania and the weaponization of immigration and security procedures to stifle solidarity and oversight.
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