Nelson Koech asks Karua to focus on issues in Kenya after deportation from Tanzania
Belgut Member of Parliament Nelson Koech has urged People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua to consider focusing on issues in her home country after the leader was deported back to the country from Tanzania on Sunday, May 18, 2025.
Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Monday, May 19, 2025, the legislator stated that the prerogative to admit an international traveller lies with the host country, adding that Tanzania must have its reasons for not admitting the Kenyan politician.
Koech, while expressing his sympathies over Karua’s predicament, asserts the leader should consider involving herself more with affairs within the confines of the country.
“As a member of the Jumuiya of the EAC treaty, Karua should be allowed to move freely within the EA region, as the treaty says. But then, the right to admit any person is the reserve of the host country they are visiting. So if the Tanzanian government feels that Martha Karua should not be in the country, they have a right to that, and probably they have a reason,” Koech opined.
The hugely publicised deportation came after the lawyer also encountered difficulties in her bid to represent Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye in court after he was abducted in Kenya and deported back to Uganda in 2024.
“What we have is Karua’s story. We have not had an official statement from Tanzanian authorities on why she was deported. There might be other reasons we might not know. But I want to say that also sometimes, maybe Karua should focus on Kenya,” he posited.
“I saw a statement from Tanzania stating why Karua would come to speak on issues in Tanzania. Yet, Kenya has other challenges. She is not the only lawyer. There are lawyers in Tanzania, and she is not an East African lawyer that she must represent political detainees in other countries,” Koech added.
Koech, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, further challenged Karua to reconsider her stance on why she keeps getting at loggerheads with foreign authorities.
“Maybe Karua should reflect and see if there are issues these countries are uncomfortable with. Are they uncomfortable with her or her representing these political figures? On my part, unless I understand why she was deported, it would be prejudicial to make a statement on what exactly might have happened,” Koech asserted.
The MP’s sentiments come after Karua was deported from Julius Nyerere Airport while on her way to attend a court session for opposition figure Tundu Lissu.
The legal practitioner was in Dar es Salaam at the invitation of the East African Law Society.
Also kicked out of the country were human rights advocate Lynn Ngugi and Law Society of Kenya council member Gloria Kimani.
Among those who came out to condemn the deportation were Kizza Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, and legal bodies from the East African Community (EAC).
The Tanzania Bar Association termed the deportation of Karua and her colleagues as a disgraceful act and an affront to their personal dignity and fundamental freedoms, as well as a blatant violation of the principles of the East African Community.
