Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has written to Tanzania President Samia Suluhu, seeking an explanation as to why her government allegedly detained him for 3 hours at Julius Nyerere International Airport.

The lawmaker says that he recently visited Tanzania in December 2024, but upon arrival at the airport in Dar es Salaam, immigration officers rejected his passport and informed him that he is on the list of persona non grata (unacceptable or unwelcome person) in Tanzania.

The MP asserts that the act to detain him at the airport was an outright violation of his rights to freedom of movement

“I am a citizen of the East African Community, specifically Kenya, for that matter. I am an elected Member of the Kenyan Parliament, which is duly represented in EALA, whose seat is in Tanzania. BOTH the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) guarantee persons rights of movement into and out of nations upon following due process, which I did,” MP Owino argues.

Nonetheless, MP Owino argues that the East African Treaty and the East African Community Common Market (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations provide for free movement of citizens of partner states.

The legislator does not fathom how he could be denied entry to the neighbouring country, yet Kenya is a sovereign state which issues travelling passports — that are recognised by other states under international law — to her citizens.

“THEREFORE, I am placing this special request to your office to appraise me in writing on the reasons why I am not allowed to enter into Tanzania for business, or as a representative of the people of Kenya, or as a friend of the people of Tanzania and for any other legitimate reasons.”