Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign & Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi has defended Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s recent remarks regarding the conduct of foreign activists.
This follows the deportation of People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, and other Kenyan activists from Tanzania.
Speaking to a local TV station on the night of Tuesday, May 20, 2025, Mudavadi acknowledged the legitimacy of Samia’s concerns regarding the tone and content of political dialogue in Kenya.
According to him, Samia might have been speaking from her observation of the conduct of Kenyans in recent times.
“I will not protest that (Samia Suluhu’s remarks) because I think there is some truth. Let us face a few facts. The level of etiquette and insults that we see in Kenya, even though we have the freedom of speech, sometimes goes overboard to some extent. She is saying people have sometimes gone to extremes in their utterances in Kenya, which is a fact,” Mudavadi stated.
“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 integrity.”
Acknowledging Samia’s right to express such views, the Prime CS admitted that he lacked detailed information about the specific deportation of Kenyan activists, and therefore could not comment on the appropriateness of Tanzania’s actions
Mudavadi emphasised the need for further evidence before making a definitive assessment.
“These are facts that we will have to establish; I agree to some extent with what she said. She 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,” Mudavadi added.
Samia’s remarks
Mudavadi’s remarks come a day after Samia, while addressing a public gathering during the launch of the new foreign policy (2024) held at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Centre (JNICC), warned foreign activists against meddling in Tanzania’s internal politics.
Though she did not name individuals, her remarks came shortly after the incident involving Karua and other regional figures. She emphasised that Tanzania is among the few countries that are filled with peace and stability.
“Tumeanza kuona mwenendo wa wanaharakati kuvamia mambo yetu huku. Kama kwao wameshadhibitiwa, wasije kutuharibia huku. Nchi iliyobaki haijaharibika; ni yetu tusitoe nafasi kwa watovu wa adabu kutoka nchi nyingine kuja kuvuruga hapa,” Suluhu said.
Loosely translated as: “We have started to see the behaviour of activists invading our affairs here. If they have been controlled, they should not come and destroy us here. The country that remains unspoiled is ours, so that we do not give room to immoral people from other countries to come and disrupt here.”
