Are East African governments uniting to silence dissent?

> Kenya has been hit by a recent wave of repression, tarnishing its reputation as a beacon of democracy in East Africa.

> Critics fear that it is sliding down the path of her neighbours – Uganda and Tanzania, both of which are notorious for cracking down on dissent.

> (…) The 57-year-old [Tanzanian] opposition leader sees his detention as an attempt by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party – which has been in power since independence in 1961– to clear its path to victory in presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for October.

> (…) The opposition in Uganda sees itself in a similar situation, pointing out that President Yoweri Museveni has been in power for almost 40 years, and – along with his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who heads the army – is cracking down on political rivals in the build-up to elections in early 2026.

> (…) Although Kenya has an independent judiciary and holds regular elections that lead to power changing hands, Martha Karua – one of the country’s most respected human rights lawyers, a former justice minister and the leader of a small opposition party – believes that democracy is under threat in all three East African states.

> **”We are staring at a regional crisis – not at an economic crisis, not a crisis of trade, but of democracy itself,”** she said at a recent press conference.

> (…) There is also mounting evidence that Kenya is no longer a safe haven for Ugandans and Tanzanians, **with security agencies from the three states apparently colluding to crack down on the opposition.**

A lot more details and specifics in the article!

!ping AFRICA