The detention and deportation of Kenyan and Ugandan activists has once again laid bare the hostility regional leaders have against civil society.
Key human rights defenders and lawyers were barred from entering Tanzania this week.
They were detained and later deported as they attempted to attend and observe a case against opposition figure Tundu Lissu.
Lissu, who has been barred from running for the presidency against Samia Suluhu in October, has been charged with treason and publishing false information online.
The Chadema Party leader was arrested on April 9 after he demanded electoral reforms to ensure free and fair elections. His rallying call is “no reforms, no election”.
Authorities consequently accused Lissu of inciting rebellion and alleging electoral misconduct on the part of the police.
While he has denied the charges, if convicted, he could face the death penalty.
After days of silence on the part of Tanzanian leadership, Suluhu warned the activists, mainly from Kenya, that she would not allow them to meddle in Tanzania’s domestic affairs.
“If they have been contained in their country, let them not come here to meddle. Let’s not give them a chance. They have already created chaos in their own country,” Suluhu said.
This spelled trouble for the remaining activists in the country, key among them Boniface Mwangi and Uganda’s Agather Atuhaire.
The Tanzania authorities detained them and blocked access by their diplomatic missions against the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs.
It was not until the ministries of Foreign Affairs of Kenya and Uganda sustained pressure publicly that the two were released.
Tanzania’s case hearkens what happened earlier in Uganda.
Former Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua, who was deported from Tanzania, was initially blocked from representing Uganda opposition leader Kizza Besigye in Uganda after his abduction in Nairobi.
Uganda Law Council denied senior counsel Martha Karua a temporary practising certificate to represent Besigye, claiming her involvement in the case appeared politically motivated rather than professional.
Uganda has in recent years experienced a concerning trend of government crackdowns on civil society groups.
This includes suspending or banning of civil society groups, restricting their activities and harassing their members.
According to the Biannual Report October 2024-May 2025 by Defend Defender, Uganda saw escalating rights violations, with security forces targeting journalists, environmental human rights defenders and opposition figures.
“Media professionals covering elections faced beatings, arrests and equipment destruction, undermining press freedom,” the report says.
“Opposition supporters endured abductions and surveillance, while activists opposing the EACOP [East African Crude Oil Pipeline] project faced intimidation and arrests, further shrinking the civic space.”
While Kenya has been relatively better than its neighbours, the civil society space has increasingly been restricted, particularly following the June 2024 protests.
Human rights defenders have been arrested, abducted, detained and even tortured.
Regardless, opposition and civil society leaders have stood strong against the repression, with a visible EAC solidarity.
Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known Bobi Wine, has emerged as a key opposition figure in Uganda.
“While tyrants unite to oppress and exploit, those who believe in freedom and democracy must also come together and work for a better society,” he said on Wednesday.
Karua, who flew to represent Besigye in Uganda after the Tanzania deportation, has maintained she will not be silenced by those demanding she apologises to Samia.
Instead, she has called for EAC solidarity against dictatorship.
“Citizens of East Africa must rise and use legal means to stop the monster of dictatorship that seems to have a grip on the region,” she says.
