Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Musalia Mudavadi, has found himself on the receiving end after he defended the Tanzanian government over the deportation of Kenyan activists who had gone to stand in solidarity with opposition leader Tundu Lissu.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna castigated Mudavadi over his utterances, questioning his stance on the respect for the rights of Kenyans in his diplomatic pursuits.

According to Sifuna, it was bewildering for the CS to make the comments while Kenyans, among them activist and journalist Boniface Mwangi, were reportedly deported.

''Our Minister for Foreign Affairs taking Tanzania’s side on the deportation of Kenyans is wild. Who put these people in power? Very useless,'' Sifuna posed.

Nairobi County Senator Edwin Sifuna speaking in the Senate on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.

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Parliament of Kenya

Speaking on Citizen TV on Tuesday night, Mudavadi appeared to side with Suluhu’s utterances regarding what she termed as the activists’ “interference” in Tanzania’s affairs, taking issue with Kenyans' recent “lack of integrity” in their conduct.

According to Mudavadi, President Suluhu might have been speaking from her observation of the conduct of Kenyans in recent times.

''I will not protest that (Suluhu’s remarks) because I think there is some truth. Let us face a few facts. The level of etiquette, insults, that we see in Kenya, even though we have the freedom of speech, is sometimes going overboard to some extent. She is saying people have sometimes gone to extremes in their utterances in Kenya, which is a fact,'' Mudavadi stated.

On Sunday, Senior Counsel and former Justice Minister Martha Karua decried being denied entry into the neighbouring Tanzania alongside other human rights defenders and lawyers, Lynn Ngugi and Gloria Kimani. 

Taking to social media on Sunday morning, the vocal opposition member claimed that her passport had been taken and referred to a supervisor at the Julius Nyerere International Airport, and she had been held for over an hour.

She was later deported after being held at the Julius Nyerere Airport for the better part of the day.

A day later, three more Kenyan activists, including former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, were detained.

Mutunga, who was travelling alongside activist journalist Hanifa Adan and VOCAL Africa CEO Hussein Khalid, was detained on arrival at the Julius Nyerere International Airport, however, they were later deported to Kenya.

A screengrab of PLP party leader Martha Karua (Right) and lawyers Lynn Ngugi and Gloria Kimani speaking from the Mwalimu Nyerere International Airport on Sunday, May 18, 2025.

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Martha Karua