The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
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Godbless Lema, a senior opposition figure from Tanzania’s Chadema party, was on Friday prevented from leaving the country while attempting to travel to Kenya.
Lema revealed that he had been placed on a government “stop list” and was denied permission to exit Tanzania. He was detained for over four hours at the Namanga border post while trying to cross into Kenya for medical treatment in Nairobi.
Authorities eventually confiscated his passport and sent him back to Arusha.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Lema—who previously went into exile in 2020—described the incident as part of a wider political clampdown by President Samia Suluhu’s administration in the run-up to Tanzania’s general elections in October.
“After waiting for over four hours, I have officially been blocked from entering Kenya. My passport has been seized, and I’ve been ordered back to Arusha. I pray this persecution ends with our generation,” he wrote.
The incident follows recent tensions involving the Tanzanian government, including the arrest, alleged torture, and deportation of Kenyan activists who had traveled to the country.
