NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19 — Former Chief Justice David Maraga’s Presidential Campaign has criticized Tanzanian authorities for detaining and deporting several Kenyans who traveled to Dar es Salaam to observe the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
In a statement following Maraga’s appearance in court for the trial hearing arising from Lissu’s ‘No Reforms, No Election’ call, the campaign described the deportations as “draconian acts” that undermine regional unity and democratic principles.
“The shrinking civic and democratic spaces in East Africa should be of concern to all of us,” the campaign cautioned on Monday.
Maraga’s campaign warned that such actions “erode the fundamental right to a fair and public hearing enshrined in international human rights law.”
“We strongly condemn the draconian acts of detention and deportation against citizens of the East African community who traveled to observe the trial of lawyer, Tundu Lissu,” the Maraga campaign said.
“The rapidly increasing trend of abductions, arbitrary arrests, detentions and extra-judicial killings undermines the welfare of our African Jumuiya.”
Maraga, who is eying the presidency in 2027, arrived in Dar es Salaam on Monday morning and made his way to court where Lissu was appearing for trial despite the detention of several Kenyans including his predecessor Willy Mutunga.
Tanzanian authorities held Mutunga who had arrived earlier accompanied by human rights activists Hanifa Adan and Hussein Khalid.
Immigration officials had earlier deported former Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua, lawyer Gloria Kimani, and rights campaigner Lynn Ngugi in what appeared as a coordinated crackdown on Kenyan legal and civil society figures attending the trial.
Boniface Mwangi, a close ally of Mutunga, reported an attempted intrusion into his hotel room at 1am by unidentified individuals claiming to be “friends.”
The Maraga campaign noted it had learnt of similar frustrations from “other friends of democracy from Uganda”.
While some of the detained individuals have since returned to Kenya, the campaign emphasized that “it is not well in our region,” adding that “the fight for democratic spaces grows deeper.”
Maraga’s campaign highlighted the legacy of Tanzania’s founding President Julius Nyerere, praising the country’s historical role in supporting liberation movements and hosting exiled fighters during struggles against colonialism and apartheid.
The campaign warned the crackdown on Kenyan lawyers could erode Tanzania’s Pan-African image.
“Tanzania has given us exemplary lessons in Pan-Africanism… This history of institutionalized humanity has given Tanzania the character of Utu we all wish to emulate,” Maraga’s campaign noted.
“Sometimes, the teacher forgets they are the master.”
Solidarity
Following his court appearance, Maraga had called for a fair, just, and expeditious trial.
“It was truly inspiring to see my brother, Tundu Lissu, in high spirits today in court,” Maraga said.
“As a fellow member of Jumuiya [East African Community], I hold firm in the hope that the legal process ahead will be fair, just, and expeditious — reflecting the highest standards of integrity, independence, and respect for human dignity.”
Maraga’s campaign defended solidarity expressed by Kenyan lawyers saying it is protected under Constitutive Act of the African Union and the Treaty Establishing the East African Community.
“We must not relent in our solidarity in the pursuit of the rule of law, dignity and the protection of human rights.”
While Kenya’s Foreign Ministry called for the immediate release of Mutunga and his delegation, Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said Tanzania was within its sovereign rights to deny entry, clarifying that Kenya had no involvement in the deportations.
“If the government of one of the member states of the East African Communities decides to deny an individual entry into their country, it has the authority to do so,” Mwaura stated.
Tanzanian authorities arrested Lissu, the country’s main opposition leader who survived assasination in 2017 after he was shot sixteen times, after accusing him of inciting the public to disrupt a presidential election slated for October 2025.
