Senior Counsel Martha Karua has shared her account of the events that unfolded at Entebbe International Airport on Monday, where she says she was denied entry into Uganda, detained, stripped of access to her phones and ultimately forced onto a flight back to Nairobi.
Karua, a former Justice Minister and leader of the People’s Liberation Party, had travelled to Kampala alongside Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Charles Kanjama and other advocates to attend proceedings linked to Ugandan opposition figures Kizza Besigye and Erias Lukwago.
While her colleagues were cleared by immigration officials, Karua was detained for several hours before being ordered to return to Nairobi.
Karua said she had initially been processed through immigration without any difficulties before officials reversed the decision.
“I went through immigration as normal after filling out the Ebola forms. I was actually processed and went to wait for my colleagues. While waiting, the immigration officer who cleared me came and told me she had been informed she made a mistake and that there was a note regarding me. I had been told last week that there was a possibility of a red alert on me in Kampala,” she said.
She added that immigration officers later confiscated her mobile phones and informed her that she would not be allowed into the country.
“Two junior officers snatched both my phones. I asked why they were taking my phones and why they were being so rude. The principal immigration officer said I would not be allowed entry because of security reasons. They wanted to take me to a holding cell. I told them there was a Kenya Airways flight at two and, as a frequent flyer, I was authorised to use the Kenya Airways lounge. I asked them to let me stay in the lounge instead,” Karua said.
“He called the Kenya Airways manager, handed over my passport and instructed him not to return it to me, saying he was responsible for me. I noticed two airport security officers and two immigration officers, a man and a woman, standing behind us. They remained in the lounge and I stayed there until the plane arrived,” she added.
Authorities later placed Karua on a return flight to Nairobi after Ugandan authorities declared her persona non grata. A notice handed to her directed Kenya Airways to transport her back to Kenya.
Karua had travelled to Uganda to attend court proceedings involving Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, who is facing charges of misprision of treason. Lukwago is part of the legal team representing veteran Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye.
The charges relate to events in November 2024, when Besigye was allegedly abducted in Nairobi and taken to Uganda, where he was charged before a military court with treason and unlawful possession of firearms. Human rights groups have since criticised his detention and raised concerns about the treatment of opposition figures in the country.
The senior counsel has been part of Besigye’s defence team alongside Lukwago and other lawyers. She said her deportation was linked to her involvement in the matter and to her public criticism of the treatment of lawyers associated with the case.
“This is my second deportation,” she said, referring to her removal from Tanzania in 2025 while attempting to observe the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
She also questioned the state of regional integration within the East African Community.
“If it is an offence for me to move within East Africa, yet I hold an East African passport, is there an East African Community, or is it just a club of leaders?” she asked.
“The snatching of my phones is actionable and I am definitely going to sue.”
Legal organisations across the region quickly condemned the deportation.
The Uganda Law Society (ULS), whose deputy president Antony Asiimwe had gone to receive the Kenyan delegation, said it was concerned that Karua had been denied entry despite holding a valid special practising certificate issued by Uganda’s Law Council authorising her to appear in Ugandan courts.
In a statement, the ULS said the incident undermined key principles of regional integration.
“This development is of significant concern to the Uganda Law Society, as it touches on the core principles of the East African Community, particularly the free movement of persons, labour and services, as well as the mutual recognition of professional qualifications across member states,” the ULS statement read.
The East African Law Society and the Senior Counsel Bar of Kenya also condemned the move, describing it as an attack on the administration of justice and the independence of the legal profession.
“To detain an advocate at Entebbe International Airport to prevent her from attending to her client is a direct assault on the administration of justice in Uganda and the entire East African region,” the organisations said.
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