Martha Karua Speaks on Returning to Tanzania After Deportation

People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has said she will not return to Tanzania under the current administration, months after she was denied entry and deported from the country.

Speaking in an interview on Monday, February 16, Karua criticized the Tanzanian leadership, saying she would only consider returning once there is a change in government.

"I will be back in Tanzania when there is a president other than Samia Suluhu. Her regime is not only deporting members of the Jumuiya like myself, but what they have done, slaughtering thousands of Tanzanians, and the purge that continues; it is not a country you would want to go to. 

"If Julius Nyerere came back to life, he would die a second time of sheer shock. The mistreatment of his countrymen by the administration in Dodoma is not something anyone envisaged," she said.

Elsewhere, Karua shifted focus to Kenyan politics, stating that she believes the opposition can defeat President William Ruto in the next election even amid concerns over electoral integrity. 

She argued that opposition unity does not require uniformity of thought but instead a shared goal of political change.

"I think I can beat President William Ruto easily in a free and fair election. With his machinations spoken by his people that they are preparing to rig, we will still beat him because we are also preparing to guard and to ensure that the election is not rigged. 

"United does not mean we have to think alike; it just means we have unity of purpose, unity in diversity. One of our common goals is to liberate Kenyans from the regime of William Ruto, which is causing them untold suffering," she added.

Karua also outlined what she said would be her approach to leadership if elected, promising to serve only one term, demonstrating that a single term can still deliver substantial change.

"If Kenyans give me a chance to serve at the highest level, I would only do a 5-year term so that Ruto must know when we in the opposition are telling him one term, one term is not a curse, you got 5 years, rejoice, show your best in the 5 years. 

"I am not yet there, give me the chance, I will be one term, but in that one term, I will lay the foundation, returning the country firmly on the rule of law path, fighting corruption, strengthening our institutions of governance, and leading the way in serving Kenyans, not going there for self-aggrandizement," she further said.

Ahead of the 2027 general election period, Karua warned of rising political tensions and said the current trajectory could be dangerous for national stability.

"2027 is going to be all campaign, but judging from what we are seeing today. It does not look good; it looks like Ruto is determined to burn down the country. He said during Gen Z, if there is no Kenya for him, there will not be a Kenya for anybody else. That is a dangerous way of reasoning," she continued.

Addressing questions about whether she might change her principles if she were to assume power, Karua said her political record demonstrates consistency on rule of law, human rights, and anti-corruption. 

"I think the way to know is to look at somebody’s past. Ever since my adulthood, through the public spaces I have worked in, I have been a stickler for the rule of law, respect for human rights, and democracy. My fight against corruption has been constant; it is one of the things we differed on.

"That is how people like Ruto would be appointed to the Cabinet when they had pending cases. Throughout the Moi era, when people were not speaking out, we were speaking out, risking and eventually taken to court to be injuncted against talking politics," she stated.