Heated Exchange as Atwoli Calls to Lecture Activist Hussein Khalid on TV: "What Are You Saying?"
- Francis Atwoli has been calling civil societies for allegedly having malicious agendas against the elected governments in East Africa
- His assertions are informed by the recent events in Tanzania, where Kenyan and Ugandan activists were roughed up after landing in Dar es Salaam
- The COTU boss, during a call interview with NTV, called out the civil society players for bypassing sovereign laws to meddle in the affairs of foreign countries
Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) secretary general Francis Atwoli sparked a pandemonium in a live interview on NTV when he called in to dress down a panellist on Thursday evening, May 29.
Source: Twitter
The programme on air was Mduara, in which activist Hussein Khalid was appearing as a panellist.
Hussein, who has been vocal against the manner in which some Kenyan and Ugandan activists were allegedly maltreated in Tanzania recently, was in the studio to discuss the significance of civil societies in political governance in the East African region.
Why activist on live TV interview angered Atwoli
In his averments, Hussein, who is the chief executive of Vocal Africa, held that civil societies have the right to check governments, justifying why the activists went to Tanzania to be in solidarity with the country's opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, who is facing treason charges.
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An argumentative Atwoli would then call in, purporting to educate the panellists on the workings of the statutes that run the region.
He specifically picked an issue with Hussein, whom he accused of being malicious in his supposed agenda against elected governments in East Africa.
Atwoli argued that while the nations in EAC are purposed to be one and cooperate in key undertakings, each country is sovereign and is accustomed to its laws and peculiarities that are different from each other.
According to him, no one, regardless of their supposed prominence, reserves the right to dictate how the countries run in the guise of championing human rights.
"Hussein should know that Tanzania is an independent state like Kenya. You can't drive your activism agenda in the country and can't take what happens in Kenya to Tanzania. That is mistaken, and the ones doing it come across as clueless...I have the East African passport, but it doesn't mean that the passport gives me the authority to speak on behalf of Tanzania or Uganda, or Rwanda. I must seek permission to go to those countries," Atwoli said.
What Samiah Suluhu said over Kenyan activists
President Samia Suluhu firmly defended her administration’s decision to detain and deport several Kenyan legal and political activists who had travelled to witness the trial of CHADEMA leader Tundu Lissu.
Speaking on May 19 during the launch of the Foreign Policy of 2001 (2024 Edition), Suluhu warned against foreign interference in Tanzania’s internal affairs.
Source: Twitter
She expressed concern over what she described as a growing trend of activists from neighbouring countries attempting to disrupt Tanzania’s peace and stability.
Suluhu emphasised that while some of these individuals had already contributed to unrest in their own nations, Tanzania remained peaceful and secure—a status she vowed to protect at all costs.
Referring to the detentions at Julius Nyerere International Airport, including those of Martha Karua, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, and human rights defenders Hanifa Adan and Hussein Khalid, Suluhu stated that Tanzania would not allow what she termed as "undisciplined elements" from other nations to bring disorder into the country.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
