Former CJ Mutunga, Activists Detained and Deported in Tanzania

• May 19, 2025

Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and activists Hanifa Adan and Hussein Khalid were detained and later deported from Tanzania after arriving at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam on Sunday, May 18.

The three had travelled to Tanzania to support opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is facing treason charges. However, their mission was cut short after Tanzanian authorities stopped them at the airport, held them for hours, and then deported them back to Kenya. No official reason was given for their detention.

Human rights lawyer Hussein Khalid shared news of their ordeal on social media, saying they were being held without explanation. “We, @WMutunga, @Honeyfarsafi and I, have been detained at Julius Nyerere Airport, Dar es Salaam, as we came in for the observance of @TunduALissu’s case. The trip was in solidarity with Tanzanian lawyers and human rights defenders. No reasons have been given for the detention,” Khalid posted.

Journalist and activist Hanifa Adan confirmed the detention in a 3 a.m. update. “We’ve been detained at Julius Nyerere International Airport and we’re not being told why. It’s cold, it’s late, and this is utterly petty. I’m here with Willy Mutunga and Hussein Khalid,” she wrote.

Hours later, both Khalid and Adan confirmed their deportation, saying they were still being held at the airport while waiting to be flown out.

The incident came shortly after Kenyan politician Martha Karua was also denied entry into Tanzania. Karua, who heads the People’s Liberation Party, had also travelled in solidarity with Lissu. She was stopped at the airport and deported without being allowed to leave the arrivals area.

Meanwhile, in a separate but related event, activist Boniface Mwangi reported a tense situation at Serena Hotel in Dar es Salaam, where he said armed men in civilian clothes surrounded his room in the early hours of the morning. The men claimed to be police officers but refused to show identification.

“My life is in danger. They’ve refused to identify themselves. They’ll have to break down the door to get to me,” Mwangi posted online.

He later said the armed individuals had left his door but remained within the hotel premises, and that he would stay put until Tanzanian lawyers arrived. All the Kenyans had travelled to Tanzania to support Lissu, whose case has drawn regional concern over human rights and political freedoms.