Tense Kenya-Tanzania ties leave traders counting losses

• Tanzanian traders afraid to go to Kenya fearing potential attacks.
• Fears sparked by recent cases of abduction, torture and deportation visited on Kenyan activists by authorities in Tanzania.
• President William Ruto apologized to Tanzania. 

Following the torture, inhumane treatment and deportation visited on Kenyan and Ugandan activists in Tanzania recently, a number of cross-border traders in Tanzania are afraid to go to Kenya fearing potential attacks. In an exclusive interview with The Exchange, several Tanzanian business persons, mostly women, have expressed their concerns over potential attacks on Tanzanians.

“I usually go to Nairobi every week to collect goods for my shop, but I am now afraid to go,” laments a business woman in Arusha (name withheld). The trader deals in second hand clothes and kitchenware, which she buys in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, for resale in Arusha, Tanzania.

She is one of several traders interviewed by this paper, who have expressed fear of Kenyan attacks on Tanzanians. This development comes in the wake of reports of deportation and torture of activists from Kenya and Uganda, after they visited Tanzania to show solidarity with opposition leader Tundu Lissu following his arrest and prosecution for charges of treason.

At the height of the deportation saga, a section of Kenyans took to social media, posting offensive language against Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

To counter the worsening relations between the two trading partners, President William Ruto of Kenya took issued an apology during a national prayer meeting. “To our neighbours from Tanzania, if we have wronged you in any way, forgive us,” the President noted.

“If there is anything that Kenyans have done that is not right, we want to apologise,” Ruto added. His public apology followed a call by visiting American preacher Rickey Allen Bolden, who advised leaders of the nation to seek reconciliation.

Lately, Nairobi has evolved into arguably the “abduction capital” of East Africa, with key figures who are perceived to be critical of both Tanzania and Uganda abducted and deported. For instance, in mid-November 2024, Uganda opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye was rounded up by gunmen in Nairobi and deported to Uganda. Since then, he has been in held in detention facing a myriad of accusations.

Early this year, Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai, who has been a vocal critic of President Samia Suluhi, was abducted in Kenya by four unknown assailants and later left by a road amid heightening calls for her unconditional release from various authorities, including the United Nations.

Since then, East African nations have been experiencing escalation of attacks on people deemed critical of the authorities. The latest escalation came after Ugandan activist, Agather Atuhaire, was arrested and subjected to inhumane treatment by authorities in Tanzania. Also subjected to similar awful treatment was vocal Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi. You can read his harrowing account of torture here.

“The two said they were held incommunicado for several days and tortured, before they were left at the border by Tanzanian security forces, sparking widespread condemnation across the region and from international rights groups,” local media reported.

The Ugandan activist told BBC that she was raped while in detention. Agather Atuhaire alleged that people dressed in plain clothes blindfolded her, after which she was beaten, stripped and sexually assaulted.

Other Kenyans in the alleged deportation saga were opposition leader and former Justice Minister Martha Karua, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Council member Gloria Kimani, and activists Lynn Ngugi, Hanifa Adan, and Hussein Khalid.

Since then, local media across the EAC has been awash with awful accounts of their suffering. Some international media has also picked up the developing story with headlines like: “Why Samia’s hesitant reforms are fuelling Tanzanian political anger.”

“They aimed to kill” BBC wrote in regards to an incident where Kenyan security forces allegedly shot at Kenyan anti-tax protesters. “Tanzania is not a public toilet…”

These and other stories have gained social media traction raising questions of the EAC unity.

Read also: Tanzania’s X blockade signals deepening purge on opposition chiefs ahead of elections

Kenya-Tanzania attacks on social media

Aggravated by the deportation and torture allegations, Kenyans took to social media targeting Tanzania’s President Samia vehemently wording their disapproval. Angered by the social media bombardment, Tanzanian MPs decried what they described as “Kenyans’ cyberbullying and disrespecting Tanzanian sovereignty.”

The Tanzanian MPs warned of Kenyans “meddling in domestic affairs” of their country and demanded an immediate halt of the literal onslaught.

During the national prayer breakfast, President Ruto also apologised to Kenyan youth, Gen-Zs, “who have been critical of his administration since the deadly anti-tax protesters last June.”

However, Kenya’s Gen-Z have dismissed Ruto’s apology, and gone on to call for his resignation.

On the other hand, Kenyan diplomats also reacted to their Tanzanian counterparts. “Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has vowed to respond just as hard,” media reported. He called for a Senate session in Kenya to be conducted in Swahili so their Tanzanian counterparts can understand them.

To date, Tanzania is yet to comment on the torture reports. President Samia has, however, warned that she will not allow activists from neighbouring countries to meddle in her country’s affairs and cause what she described as “unwarranted chaos.”

“Both Kenya and Uganda had formally protested against the detention of the activists, accusing the Tanzanian authorities of denying consular access despite repeated requests,” local media reports.

The alleged attacks of the activists triggered an online row, with social media users from Kenya and Tanzania clashing. In particular, Tanzanian legislators’ comments angered a sections of Kenyan, who went on to “shares private lawmakers’ contacts and flooded their phones with messages to express their disapproval,” the media stated.

Tanzania’s Iringa Town MP Jesca Msambatavangu said most of the messages she got came via WhatsApp, and as a result, she was forced to temporarily switch off her phone. Msambatavangu, is however reported to have welcomed constructive engagement, encouraging Kenyans on social media to “counter ideas with ideas.”

She called on Kenyan youth to create a WhatsApp group and promised to engage them in a live session. “Kenyans are our neighbours, our brothers, and we cannot ignore each other,” she said.