Cross-border legal crisis: Deported Kenyan Senior Counsel Martha Karua vows multi-court lawsuit against Uganda

By Watchdog Correspondent

Tuesday, June 23, 2026 | Kampala, Uganda

KAMPALA — Prominent Kenyan opposition leader, former Justice Minister, and Senior Counsel Martha Karua has declared a major cross-border legal battle against the government of Uganda. This follows her dramatic detention, phone confiscation, and forced deportation at Entebbe International Airport on Monday morning.

Karua, the leader of Kenya’s People’s Liberation Party (PLP), was abruptly stopped by immigration authorities and put back on a Nairobi-bound flight after being declared persona non grata.

The high-profile veteran politician had traveled to Kampala to serve as co-counsel in the ongoing treason and misprision of treason cases surrounding incarcerated opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye and Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago.

Speaking to local media networks in Nairobi following her return, a defiant Karua labeled the state’s actions an absolute violation of East African Community (EAC) protocols. She confirmed plans to file parallel suits within the domestic courts of Uganda, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Inside the Entebbe Airport standoff

The airport operation unfolded rapidly on Monday morning, executing what regional legal bodies call a highly selective and politically driven exclusion policy.

According to airport security logs and personal accounts, Karua arrived at Entebbe Airport at approximately 8:50 AM aboard a routine Kenya Airways flight, traveling alongside the President of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Charles Kanjama.

While Kanjama’s passport was processed and cleared without issue, Karua was systematically isolated:

• Initial Clearance & Recall: Karua’s East African passport was initially stamped at the immigration desks before an order from senior security personnel recalled her clearance.

• Incommunicado Detention: She was escorted to a side office where immigration police confiscated her mobile phones, leaving her legal and diplomatic teams completely out of contact for hours.

• Forced Boarding: Refusing to sign unexplained immigration forms, she was escorted by security officials to the Kenya Airways lounge and directly onto a return flight.

The formal notification handed to her upon boarding contained no statutory justification under the Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control Act, simply bearing the three-word stamp: Persona Non Grata.

“The note I was given simply stated that the reason for denying entry was ‘persona non grata.’ That is not a legal reason; it is an arbitrary administrative decision,” Karua stated. “As an advocate licensed to practice in Uganda with a valid special license through Erias Lukwago’s law firm, this action violates my professional privileges and basic freedom of movement.”

The wider crackdown: Targeting the Besigye defense team

Regional political analysts note that Karua’s abrupt deportation is inextricably linked to an escalating, high-stakes security campaign targetting the legal defense network of Dr. Kizza Besigye. Besigye has been in state custody since his controversial November 2024 abduction from Nairobi.

The deportation occurred exactly one week after the Special Forces Command (SFC) executed a pre-dawn raid on the home of Besigye’s co-counsel, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago. Lukwago was subsequently arraigned before a civilian court and remanded to Luzira Prison on charges of misprision of treason—allegedly failing to report treasonous designs to state security.

Defense lawyers have directly tied these aggressive border closures and residential arrests to recent public warnings issued by the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, regarding an ongoing internal “Rectification Campaign” aimed at clearing out what the military establishment labels as domestic subversives and foreign-backed traitors.

Regional legal breakdown: The institutional fallout

The summary expulsion of a former Kenyan Cabinet Minister has triggered an unprecedented institutional revolt among East African bar associations, threatening to derail cross-border judicial cooperation.

Organization	Institutional Position & Active Measures
Uganda Law Society (ULS)	Strongly condemned the blockage of external defense counsel. The ULS leadership has warned that members may lay down their tools in a nationwide strike to protest executive interference in the independence of the bar.
Law Society of Kenya (LSK)	LSK President Charles Kanjama, speaking from Kampala, declared the act a chilling threat to the regional administration of justice, stating that lawyers must be protected when representing clients regardless of political allegations.
East Africa Law Society (EALS)	Announced immediate plans to sue the government of Uganda at the Arusha-based East African Court of Justice, citing an explicit breach of Common Market Protocols regarding the free movement of skilled professionals.

State remains silent

As of Tuesday morning, June 23, 2026, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control, and State House have refused to issue a comprehensive public statement outlining the exact security briefs that triggered the persona non grata declaration against Karua.

The incident marks the second time Karua has faced regional border expulsions under similar circumstances, following a prior deportation from Tanzania under an opposition-related context.

With regional legal bodies mobilizing parallel lawsuits, the Entebbe standoff is set to severely test the structural limits of EAC treaties, executive overreach, and the fundamental right to legal representation within politically sensitive trials.

Watchdog Uganda will continue to track developments from both the Kampala and Arusha registries as these legal filings commence.