Not In My Country: Samia Terse Warning to Kenyan Activists

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu has said that she will not allow activists from the neighbouring Kenya to “destabilise” her country.

She made the statement hours after several Kenyans, including Martha Karua, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Hussein Khalid and Hanifa Adan, were denied entry into Tanzania.

In a terse address, the head of State expressed her distaste with the “flocking” of activists from around the region to Dar es Salaam to “meddle” with the affairs of Tanzania.

The activists had travelled to Tanzania separately on Sunday and Monday to follow court proceedings against opposition chief Tundu Lissu, whose treason trial began on Monday. They were detained and deported from Julius Nyerere International Airport.

“We should not give a chance for them to destroy our country. If there is a country that has people who have peace and are safe, it is here (Tanzania)… We will not give a chance to any creature to come and destroy us, whether it comes from within or without our borders.

She instructed Tanzanian authorities not to allow “those who have spoiled their countries to cross over to Tanzania…and spread their bad manners here”.

“We will not give space to anyone trying to destabilise us here,” she said.

Critics accuse her regime of tightening its grip on civil liberties, and view the deportations as part of a broader crackdown on freedoms in Tanzania.

“I have seen several clips saying I am biased, but what I am doing is protecting my country which is the key mandate I was given,” said President Suluhu.