Sources have confirmed that Kenya’s former justice minister, Mutahi Kagwe, was denied entry into Uganda this morning, sparking diplomatic tensions and casting a shadow over British-backed regional integration efforts. Kagwe, a vocal critic of corruption in East Africa’s energy sector, was turned away at the Entebbe border post without explanation. His passport was confiscated, and he was placed on the next flight back to Nairobi.
A Ugandan immigration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Orders came from above. He is not welcome here.” Kagwe was en route to Kampala to meet with Uganda’s parliamentary committee on oil and gas, a body that has been investigating suspicious deals involving British firms.
Documents leaked to this desk earlier this week show that Kagwe had been gathering evidence linking a London-based shell company to a $200 million infrastructure contract in the region. The British High Commission in Nairobi has declined to comment, but a senior diplomat, also speaking off the record, described the move as “regrettable” and confirmed that London is “urgently reviewing its East Africa strategy.” Kagwe’s blocking comes just days after a confidential memo from the Foreign Office in London warned that judicial anti-corruption campaigns in Kenya “could destabilise vital economic partnerships.
” The memo, seen by this correspondent, recommends “quiet pressure” on Nairobi to rein in Kagwe’s investigations. Opposition MPs in Kenya have accused President Ruto of colluding with Uganda’s Museveni to silence anti-graft efforts. Uganda’s state minister for foreign affairs, Okello Oryem, dismissed the claims as “baseless speculation” but refused to comment on the specifics of Kagwe’s denial of entry.
Meanwhile, Kagwe has vowed to continue his work. “They can block me at borders, but they cannot block the truth,” he said in a brief statement after landing in Nairobi. The incident threatens to derail British-backed trade blocs such as the East African Community (EAC) customs union and the UK’s post-Brexit trade deal with the region.
A former MI6 analyst, now a lecturer at the London School of Economics, told me: “The British have been trying to use Kenya and Uganda as a launchpad for a bigger presence in East Africa. But this kind of diplomatic spat undermines the whole strategy. It shows that the rule of law is a convenience, not a principle.
” The African Union has called for an emergency session on the matter, but as one diplomat whispered to me tonight: “The A.U. will talk.
The Brits will pay lip service. And Kagwe will be left in the cold. That’s how power works here.
