Tanzania President Samia Suluhu has defended her government’s decision to detain and deport six Kenyan human rights activists.
Suluhu warned that she would not tolerate local and foreign interference in her country’s affairs.
“Sitakubali kiumbe chochote kukuja na kuharibu Tanzania. Watovu wa adabu wa nchi nyingine kuja kutovuka hapa kwetu (We will not allow anyone to interfere with us. We’ve started seeing a trend where some activists from our neighbouring countries are trying to meddle in our business),” Suluhu remarked during the unveiling of the Tanzania Foreign Policy 2024 document.
“I must protect and create lasting peace in Tanzania,” she said while instructing security agencies and the foreign ministry to remain on high alert.
Her remarks follow the detention and deportation of lawyers Martha Karua and two Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Council Members upon arrival at the Julius Nyerere International Airport, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Similar fate befell former Kenya’s Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Boniface Mwangi, journalist Hanifa Adan, and VOCAL Africa CEO Hussein Khalid.
Suluhu pointed out the activists’ failure to effect change in their own country and were now hellbent on destabilising Tanzania’s peace and stability.
“If they have been contained in their own country, let them not try to come to ruin our peace.”
Suluhu emphasised Tanzania’s relative political stability within the East African region and vowed to protect it against any perceived threats.
Controversy is swirling around the arrest of Tundu Lissu, the chairman of Tanzania’s leading opposition party, Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA).
He is facing treason charges and is set to remain in custody until June 2025.
His detention has drawn significant criticism from regional human rights activists and leaders.
They’re accusing President Suluhu of suppressing political dissent and protecting democratic freedoms in the East African Community region.
Relatedly, the human rights lobby groups expressed their concerns on the detention of opposition leaders in Uganda, Tanzania, and South Sudan.
“Our country will remain secure, peaceful and united, and no one will take that from us,” Suluhu concluded.
