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Curb growing political intolerance in East Africa
Opposition politician and lawyer Martha Karua’s deportation from Tanzania on Sunday is a disturbing development. She and several other Kenyans had been detained for some hours at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam after Tanzanian authorities blocked their entry into the country. Ms Karua was leading a delegation to Tanzania in solidarity with detained opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
This incident is the continuation of a negative trend that raises questions about political freedoms in the East African Community (EAC) member countries. It manifests a growing political intolerance that is rolling back the democratic gains that the region has made.
This is the second case involving Ms Karua, who had been prevented from visiting and representing in court Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who is on trial for treason. Dr Besigye was abducted in Nairobi and spirited across the border into military confinement before being charged in court.
The original EAC member countries—Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, which were later joined by Rwanda and Burundi—profess democracy in their own constitutions and are committed to forging economic co-operation. The EAC Treaty guarantees the right to free movement of persons, labour, and services within the member states. This was the dream of the founding leaders.
Chadema party leader Lissu, who has been in police custody for more than three weeks, was expected to be arraigned today on charges of spreading false information to cause civil disobedience against the government.
Tanzanian human rights activists have denounced the detention of the three Kenyans, arguing that the right to observe public trials is a key plank of a fair and transparent judicial process.
The growing political intolerance in East Africa should be strongly denounced as it risks rolling back democratic gains.