'They snatched my phones': Karua recounts Uganda deportation ordeal

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People's Liberation Party leader Martha Karua has landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after Uganda deported her from Entebbe, citing unspecified "security reasons."

Karua had travelled on Monday, June 22, aboard a Kenya Airways flight to attend bail proceedings for jailed Ugandan lawyer and politician Erias Lukwago, who is charged with misprision of treason.

She also serves as lead counsel in the treason case facing opposition leader Kizza Besigye and his co-accused, Hajji Obeid Lutale.

Immigration officials at Entebbe International Airport had initially cleared her before a superior officer intervened, informing her that a "note" existed regarding her entry.

Ugandan authorities subsequently handed her a letter declaring her persona non grata before placing her on a return flight to Nairobi.

Speaking at a press conference at JKIA upon her arrival, Karua said an immigration officer who had initially processed her returned to deliver the unexpected news.

"The immigration officer who cleared me came and told me that she had been told she made a mistake, that there was a note regarding me," said Karua.

She added that she had received a tip the previous week that a red alert may have been placed on her at Entebbe, following her public condemnation of Lukwago's arrest.

"When he got arrested and detained unlawfully, we issued statements, and I joined the Uganda Law Society by a video link from Nairobi, condemning his arrest," noted Karua.

Officers confiscated both her phones without explanation and escorted her through multiple offices before a principal immigration officer confirmed she would not be allowed entry.

"He told me that I would not be allowed to enter. I told them there's no problem. But by then, two of his junior officers had snatched both my phones," she added.

Officers offered no legal basis for seizing her property and proposed holding her in a cell before she negotiated to wait in the Kenya Airways lounge ahead of her return flight to Nairobi.

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Charles Kanjama, who travelled on the same flight and in the same professional capacity, was allowed to enter Uganda.

He said the selective exclusion of Karua was difficult to justify.

"It is difficult to understand why one member of a defence team should be admitted while another is turned away. We call upon the Ugandan authorities to provide an explanation for this action and to uphold the rule of law and regional cooperation that underpin the East Africa Law Society," observed Kanjama.

Uganda Law Society Deputy President Antony Asiimwe, who had gone to the airport to receive the delegation, confirmed that no reason was given for the deportation.

"No reason was given for the denial of her entry. They just told her she can't enter Uganda," said Asiimwe.

Besigye's defence team condemned the deportation as politically motivated and "an assault not on one person but on the administration of justice itself," arguing it was a calculated move to weaken Besigye's legal representation and intimidate lawyers involved in the high-profile case.

 They demanded a public explanation from Ugandan authorities.

This is not the first time Karua has been blocked from entering an East African country.

Tanzania barred and deported her in May last year after she travelled to Dar es Salaam as a legal observer in a treason case involving Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu.

She subsequently filed a suit against Tanzania at the East African Court of Justice.

The Uganda Law Society announced plans to stage a strike on June 26 in protest over what it described as a pattern of interference with the legal profession and the administration of justice.

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