The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has sharply criticized the government for deporting Martin Mavenjina, a Ugandan national and senior legal advisor with the organization, just hours before planned nationwide protests on Saba Saba Day.
In a press statement issued on July 6, 2025, KHRC revealed that Mavenjina was forcibly removed from the country and sent back to Uganda on Saturday night after arriving at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from an official trip to South Africa. This happened despite Mavenjina holding a valid work permit.
The rights body described the move as part of a growing campaign by President William Ruto’s government to intimidate and silence human rights defenders.
“Since June 25, the Ruto regime has deliberately targeted civil society actors. Martin’s deportation is part of this strategy,” we are actively working to ensure his safe return to Kenya,”the KHRC stated.
Mavenjina is widely respected across East Africa for his advocacy on transitional justice and accountability. His sudden deportation has raised alarm among activists and international observers, who see it as yet another sign of shrinking civic space in Kenya and the region.
The timing of his removal is especially significant it came just ahead of Saba Saba Day (July 7), an annual day of protest marking Kenya’s historic 1990 pro-democracy demonstrations. This year’s observance has gained new urgency amid rising public anger over economic hardship, high youth unemployment, and recent reports of police brutality. Civil society groups, opposition leaders, and youth movements have planned mass demonstrations across the country.
Mavenjina’s case also fits a wider trend of government crackdowns on dissent across East Africa. In late June, Tanzanian police detained four human rights activists and journalists in Arusha during a legal forum hosted by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC). The arrests drew global criticism, with Amnesty International calling it a “worrying signal” of growing intolerance for free expression.
The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network has warned that governments in the region are increasingly using laws, bureaucratic pressure, and security forces to silence activists, often under the pretext of protecting national security or public order.
KHRC said deporting Mavenjina not only violated Kenyan labor and immigration law but also broke international human rights agreements that protect migrants and defenders.
“Martin’s removal is not just an attack on one individual it is an attack on the rule of law and a betrayal of Pan-African solidarity,” the commission stated.
They urged the Kenyan government to immediately halt its campaign of intimidation, respect legal protections for all defenders regardless of nationality and uphold the country’s democratic values.
