People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader and Senior Counsel Martha Karua has detailed incidents she said occurred in Uganda after she was denied entry.
Karua told of what she described as prolonged delays and restricted movement at an airport in Uganda. She said immigration officers kept her waiting for hours in uncertainty, questioned her repeatedly, and later confined her in an airport lounge under security watch.
The PLP leader had traveled to Uganda together with Law Society of Kenya President Charles Kanjama to attend court proceedings tied to the bail application of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye. Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport, however, she said immigration denied her entry and ordered her to return to Kenya, an outcome that has since drawn criticism from political and legal leaders across the region.
Speaking during an interview on NTV on Tuesday, Karua said she was initially cleared through immigration. She said she then waited at the baggage area for Kanjama and lawyer Gicheru, adding that passengers were processed individually rather than as a group.
“I was cleared and entered, then waited at the baggage area for LSK President Charles Kanjama and lawyer Gicheru to be cleared,” she said.
Karua said that while she waited, a security officer who had initially cleared her returned and told her that a supervisor had flagged an alert requiring her to be reviewed again.
She said the issue escalated through several layers of immigration oversight until she was eventually referred to a senior principal immigration officer. Karua recounted that the officer asked immigration staff what the notes indicated, and they told him that “entry prohibited” had been recorded. She said the senior official then directed them to confirm and act on the entry restriction, but officers later appeared unclear about how to proceed after the instruction.
Karua said she was then taken to an office where she was asked to complete a form that, she claimed, repeated details already contained in her passport. She declined, saying she would not duplicate information or go through what she described as interrogation without legal representation.
The 2027 presidential hopeful further alleged that during the process, officers confiscated her phone during a confrontation. She said they later seized a second device while she tried to contact others.
“At some point, my phone was snatched, and I asked what right they had to take my property,” she said.
Karua said officials later told her they would place her in a holding room, but she objected and asked to remain in the Kenya Airways lounge while travel arrangements were made. She alleged that security officers kept watch on her there for several hours, during which she said she suspected her electronic devices had been accessed.
“I refused to take my phones back because I believed they had been interfered with,” she said, adding that she would pursue legal action over the incident.
Karua said Kenya Airways staff intervened to allow her to stay in the lounge. She also said they helped return her passport at the boarding gate and supported her in contacting her travel agent and family to confirm she was safe and to adjust her travel plans.
