Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has broken her silence following the recent deportation of Senior Counsel Martha Karua and former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.
Speaking on Monday, May 19, Samia defended the government's actions, citing concerns over foreign interference in Tanzania’s internal affairs.
"We have started seeing activists from our region invading and getting involved in our internal issues. If they have been controlled in their country, let them not come to mess ours," she said.
While the deportation of Karua and Mutunga has sparked regional debate, Samia framed the issue as a matter of national stability.
She noted that Tanzania is the only country that has not been destabilized by activists, further urging authorities to stop such attempts.
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"We should not allow them; they have already destabilized their country. The only country that has not been destabilized, where people are peaceful, is here (Tanzania).
"There have been several attempts, but I want to urge the authorities not to allow people from other countries to come and destabilize this country," she added.
Karua was on Sunday, May 18, denied entry into Tanzania and subsequently deported to Kenya.
In a statement, she said her passport was seized, and kept waiting alongside her colleagues, Gloria Kimani and Lynn Ngugi.
"The immigration officer referred my passport to the supervisor, who kept me waiting for an hour as she consulted her superiors. I am concerned that as a citizen of the East African Community (EAC)," she said.
Karua said the authorities did not explain the reason behind the detention and the seizure of the travel documents.
"The supervisor has now informed us that our entry to Tanzania has been denied; no reasons given," she said.
On the other hand, Mutunga, alongside activists Hussein Khalid of Haki Africa and Hanifa Adan, were on Monday morning denied entry into Tanzania.
In a series of social media posts, Khalid said they had traveled to Tanzania as a show of solidarity with local lawyers and human rights defenders.
“Willy Mutunga, Hanifa Adan, and I have been detained at Julius Nyerere Airport, Dar es Salaam, as we came in for the observance of Tundu Lissu’s case.
"The trip was in solidarity with Tanzanian lawyers and human rights defenders. They have not given reasons for the detention," he said in one of his updates.
According to Khalid, the three were escorted to an interrogation room inside the airport and told to wait for a senior officer.
“Following our detention, we’ve been brought to the interrogation room. They’ve told us to wait here for their senior officer – I guess the chief interrogator! We still don’t have our passports, nor do we know why we’re being detained," he added.
The trio was deported on Monday evening aboard a Kenya Airways flight.
