Uganda blocks Martha Karua from entering to join Besigye defence team

Ugandan authorities have blocked Kenyan lawyer and former justice minister Martha Karua from entering the country, preventing her from joining the defence team for detained opposition figure Kizza Besigye. The Uganda Law Society said Karua was turned back after arriving at Entebbe airport on Monday. The move comes amid an already tense treason case involving Besigye and a separate treason-related charge against his lawyer, Erias Lukwago.

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According to the Uganda Law Society, Karua had travelled to Uganda to work on the same case as Lukwago and Kenya Law Society president Charles Kanjama. Kanjama was allowed entry, while Karua was ordered to return home, the society said. Ugandan authorities did not give a reason for the refusal, and immigration officials have not responded to a request for comment.

Kanjama said it was of particular concern that Karua was blocked despite travelling for the same matter and in the same professional capacity. The decision has immediate implications for Besigye's legal team, which has already faced disruption. Lukwago was charged last week with a treason-related offence, and his bail hearing had been due on Monday.

He appeared in court last Wednesday looking weak after being arrested at his home, denied the charges and was remanded in prison. Besigye himself has been jailed on treason charges since being abducted in Kenya and forcibly returned to Uganda in late 2024. The case matters beyond the courtroom because it sits at the centre of a wider regional dispute over legal jurisdiction, political opposition and cross-border enforcement.

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Besigye is one of Uganda's best-known opposition figures, and his detention has drawn attention because of the circumstances of his return from Kenya. Karua's attempted entry also highlights the sensitivity of foreign lawyers taking part in politically charged cases in East Africa, where legal and political tensions have repeatedly overlapped. Karua has previously faced obstacles in similar regional cases.

Her initial application to practise as a lawyer in Uganda was rejected before she was eventually cleared to represent Besigye, according to the supplied report. She was also deported from Tanzania last year before she could attend the court case of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who also faces treason charges. Those episodes underline the difficulties faced by lawyers involved in high-profile opposition trials across the region.

What remains unclear is why Karua was refused entry while her colleague was admitted, and whether Ugandan authorities will provide any formal explanation. It is also not yet clear whether the defence team will challenge the decision or seek another route for Karua's involvement. The next key moment is likely to be any response from immigration authorities or the court handling the Besigye and Lukwago cases.

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