Martha Karua
People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has been forced to return to Nairobi after she was denied entry into Uganda.
In a statement on Monday, June 22, Karua announced she has departed Entebbe for the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.
“We can confirm that Presidential Aspirant and Senior Counsel Martha Karua has departed Entebbe and is en route to Nairobi following her detention and denial of entry by Ugandan authorities earlier today,” she wrote.
Earlier, Karua was detained at Entebbe International Airport after Ugandan authorities denied her entry into the country.
The PLP party leader had travelled to Uganda on a Kenya Airways flight alongside the Law Society of Kenya President Charles Kanjama, to attend a bail application ruling in the case against Elias Lukwago.
“While Mr. Kanjama was permitted entry into the country, Senior Counsel Karua, who currently serves as lead counsel in the treason case against Dr. Kizza Besigye, a prominent Ugandan opposition leader, and his co-accused, Obeid Lutale, was detained at the airport, according to on-ground teams,” Karua’s team said in a statement.
Karua has been actively involved in Dr. Kizza Besigye’s case since his abduction in Nairobi on November 16, 2024, during her book launch.
She has continued to lead his defense under a valid legal practicing certificate issued in Uganda. Her certification is registered through the law firm of Erias Lukwago, the immediate former Lord Mayor of Kampala.
Lukwago, who serves as co-lead counsel alongside Karua in Besigye’s defense, was taken into custody during an early morning raid at his residence by the Ugandan Special Forces Command on June 15.
Following a period of incommunicado detention, he was subsequently charged with misprision of treason, the crime of concealing knowledge of a treasonous plot, in connection with the charges facing Besigye.
