By Geoffrey Omara
Source: Chimp Reports
This report was rewritten and formated by Horn Africa News Agency
Monday, July 7, 2025
Nairobi — (Horn Africa News) — In a move that has sparked outrage among civil society groups and human rights organizations, Kenyan authorities have deported a prominent Ugandan human rights lawyer just hours before nationwide protests were scheduled to take place to mark Saba Saba Day.
Martin Mavenjina, a senior legal advisor on transitional justice with the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), was forcibly removed from the country on Saturday night, shortly after arriving at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from an official trip to South Africa. The KHRC confirmed that Mavenjina held a valid work permit at the time of his deportation and condemned the action as an unlawful and politically motivated targeting of human rights defenders.
“This is a blatant violation of Kenyan law, international human rights standards, and the principles of due process,” said the KHRC in a strongly worded statement on Sunday. “Martin’s deportation is not only an assault on his personal rights, but it is also emblematic of a broader, deeply troubling trend of shrinking civic space across East Africa.”
Mavenjina, a Ugandan national, has long been a respected figure in the East African human rights movement. He is particularly known for his expertise in transitional justice and legal accountability mechanisms in post-conflict societies. His sudden deportation—despite his legal presence in the country—has raised serious concerns about the Kenyan government’s commitment to protecting human rights defenders and upholding the rule of law.
Timing Raises Questions
The deportation came on the eve of Saba Saba Day, an annual commemoration of the historic July 7, 1990, protests that forced Kenya’s transition to multi-party democracy. The day has since become a symbolic date for civil resistance and the defense of civil liberties.
This year’s Saba Saba observance is particularly charged, with widespread public discontent over rising inflation, soaring youth unemployment, and mounting allegations of police brutality and government corruption. Opposition leaders, civil society organizations, student movements, and grassroots activists have called for peaceful nationwide demonstrations demanding social and economic reforms.
Critics argue that Mavenjina’s deportation is part of a pre-emptive strategy by the state to suppress dissent and silence activists ahead of the planned protests.
A Regional Crackdown on Civil Society
The incident in Kenya is the latest in what human rights groups describe as a coordinated regional effort to dismantle civic activism. Just two weeks earlier, on June 26, Tanzanian police arrested at least four human rights activists and journalists during a public forum in Arusha. The event had been organized by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), one of Tanzania’s leading advocacy organizations.
Those arrests drew swift condemnation from international watchdogs, including Amnesty International, which described the situation as “a worrying signal of increasing intolerance for peaceful dissent and civic engagement” in the region.
The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRDN) has also sounded the alarm, warning that East African governments are increasingly using legal, administrative, and security frameworks to restrict civil liberties. These include arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances, deportations, surveillance, and the misuse of public order laws to disrupt the work of independent organizations.
Calls for Accountability and Action
The KHRC is demanding immediate answers from the Kenyan government regarding the legal basis for Mavenjina’s deportation. The commission has also called on regional and international bodies, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, to investigate the incident and pressure Nairobi to uphold its legal obligations.
“This is not merely an isolated incident,” the KHRC emphasized. “It reflects a systematic pattern of intimidation aimed at dismantling human rights work and silencing those who dare to speak truth to power. The government must be held accountable.”
The organization is urging all defenders of justice, including the Pan-African community, to speak out against what it called an “alarming erosion of democratic space and regional solidarity.”
As of Monday, it remains unclear under what specific legal grounds the Kenyan authorities acted to deport Mavenjina. The Ministry of Interior has not yet issued a public statement.
The deportation has sent shockwaves through the regional human rights community, amplifying fears that governments in East Africa are increasingly adopting authoritarian tactics under the guise of national security, thereby undermining decades of democratic progress.
