Mudavadi defends Tanzania President Samia Suluhu’s remarks on Kenyan activists, says they reflect "some truth"

Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has defended Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu’s remarks after Kenyan activists were arrested and deported from Tanzania.

Speaking on Citizen TV’s The Explainer Show on Tuesday, Mudavadi acknowledged that President Samia's comments about activists “interfering” in Tanzania’s affairs reflected some truth.

Mudavadi said the president’s remarks came from observing the recent behaviour of some Kenyans.

“I will not protest that 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,” he explained.

He added that Kenyans have sometimes lacked integrity in their speech.

“What we need to talk about is, can we get to the bottom of the treatment there…I am a Kenyan too, and the fact of the matter is that our approach and our utterances, because we are free in speech, have lacked in integrity,” he said.

When asked why he supported Samia despite her not specifying any crimes committed by the activists, Mudavadi said he needed more details about the operation.

“She (Samia) has said that she is unhappy, because they observe what we do here, but I will need a little time to get more evidence into the details of the operation, to the point of saying whether we have displayed decency. I am not talking about the individuals in question, but she is talking from a general viewpoint, and if it is a general viewpoint, then I think she has a point,” he said.

Mudavadi also clarified that while freedom of speech is important, the president’s priority was to defend Tanzania’s sovereignty.

“The Jumuiya has not taken away the sovereignty of the states; the countries have not ceded their sovereignty to the EAC, so it remains. If there is sovereignty, then a country will make certain decisions. They have taken the decision, so it is the duty through the diplomatic channels to find out what the circumstances were in detail,” he added.

This comes after Kenyan activists, including People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua, Law Society of Kenya council member Gloria Kimani, and Pan-African Progressive Leaders Solidarity Network member Lynn Ngugi, were detained and deported at Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere International Airport on Sunday.

Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga was also deported, while activist Boniface Mwangi remains detained, awaiting deportation.

President Samia had said that foreign activists would not be allowed to interfere in Tanzania’s internal matters, especially after several attempted to attend the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces treason charges.

"We have started to observe a trend in which activists from within our region are attempting to intrude and interfere in our affairs," she said in a televised speech during the launch of the country’s new foreign policy.

Samia urged the country’s security and defence organs “not to allow ill-mannered individuals from other countries to cross the line here."

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• says they reflect "some truth"