Millie Odhiambo appeals to Suluhu as Kenyan delegation is deported from Tanzania
Suba North Member of Parliament (MP) Millie Odhiambo has appealed to Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu to tone down on her politics amid a standoff which saw top Kenyan lawyers deported from the country.
In a statement on Monday, May 19, 2025, Odhiambo noted that Suluhu was a role model to several African women aspiring for political leadership and that she should refrain from exercising masculine means of oppression.
“It does not cost anything for people, especially human rights lawyers and activists, to stand with your opponent while he is undergoing trial. It, however, costs you a bad image when you pick the tried and tired masculine approach to leadership that is oppressive,” Odhiambo remarked.
“I acknowledge leadership is not easy. It is in this space that we shall watch your back and also seek to straighten paths that may be bending or mending,” she added.
The Kenyan delegation of human rights activists and lawyers was denied entry into the country after they travelled to be present in the courtroom where Tanzanian main opposition leader Tundu Lissu was being presented.
While former Chief Justice David Maraga was granted the opportunity to meet Lissu in court, Karua, former Chief Justice Willie Mutunga, Hussein Khalid- a prominent activist- and his counterpart Hanifa Farsafi were sent back to Kenya.
Maraga sees Lissu
“It was truly inspiring to see my brother Tundu Lissu in high spirits today in Court. As a fellow member of Jumuiya, I hold firm in the hope that the legal process ahead will be fair, just, and expeditious—reflecting the highest standards of integrity, independence, and respect for human dignity,” Maraga said in a statement on Monday, May 19, 2025.
Lissu was charged with treason in April 2025, after his party Chadema expressed its opposition to the general elections slated for October 2025, noting that there would have to be reforms before the polls are conducted.
Lissu is expected to square it out with Suluhu in the election should he be acquitted of the charges he is facing.
In 2017, Lissu survived an assassination attempt under the regime of the late President John Magufuli, after which he fled the country over safety concerns. He was shot 16 times.
He later returned to the country in 2020 to run against the late Magufuli after which he fled again after the results were announced, citing irregularities.
Lissu would later return to the country in 2023 after Suluhu appeared to relax several rules which previously curtailed opposition politics.
