Kenyan lawyer and political activist Miguna Miguna has warned that treason charges, arrests and detention are increasingly being used across Africa to deal with political opponents, raising fears that Kenya could take a similar path as the country heads towards the 2027 General Election.
In a post on X on Friday, Miguna drew comparisons between his own experience during former President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration and the cases of opposition figures in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
“Are trumped-up treason charges the way African despots have learnt to illegally fend off their opponents?” Miguna asked.
He revisited his arrest in February 2018, after participating in the swearing-in of opposition leader Raila Odinga as the so-called “People’s President”, saying the charges against him were part of efforts to punish him for his political activities.
“On February 6, 2018, despot Uhuru Kenyatta purported to charge me for treason for having sworn in Raila Odinga as the ‘People’s President’ and organized the National Resistance Movement—Kenya,” he said.
Court records show that Miguna faced three charges, among them being present and consenting to the administration of an oath that was allegedly intended to bind Odinga to commit treason.
He also faced accusations linked to an unlawful assembly and organised criminal activity.
His case later drew criticism over the manner in which he was detained and deported from the country.
The Court of Appeal recorded that Miguna was forcibly deported to Canada on February 6, 2018, even as several court orders required authorities to present him before court.
The High Court had also ordered that he be released on bond but found that police had failed to comply with the orders.
The court noted that the Constitution required an arrested person to be taken before a court within 24 hours or released.
Miguna said his experience demonstrated how government institutions could be used against people viewed as political opponents.
He then turned his attention to Uganda, citing the case of opposition politician Kizza Besigye, a long-time critic of President Yoweri Museveni.
“In February 2025, tyrant William Ruto helped Uganda’s Butcher, Yoweri Museveni, to kidnap Kizza Besigye from Nairobi, smuggled him to Uganda and charged him with treason,” he stated.
Besigye was detained in Uganda after disappearing in Nairobi in November 2024. His lawyers alleged that he had been forcibly taken from Kenya.
He was initially prosecuted before a military court over serious security-related charges, but Uganda's Supreme Court later ruled that civilians could not be tried by military courts.
Miguna also pointed to Tanzania, where opposition leader Tundu Lissu was arrested in April 2025 and charged with treason following remarks on the country's elections.
“On April 10, 2025, despot Suluhu Samia kidnapped, detained and eventually charged Tundu Lissu with treason because he called for ‘no elections without constitutional changes’ in Tanzania,” Miguna clarified.
Reuters reported that Lissu was charged over remarks authorities said could incite rebellion and disrupt elections. His lawyers, however, said the charges were politically motivated.
The latest case cited by Miguna involves Zambia, where opposition leader Brian Mundubile and his running mate Makebi Zulu were detained over an alleged treason offence.
Mundubile came second in Zambia's August 13 presidential election, receiving about 38% of the vote, while President Hakainde Hichilema secured roughly 60%.
Mundubile rejected the outcome and alleged that the election had been manipulated, claims that Hichilema dismissed.
The dispute intensified after Zambian courts were closed on August 24, the last day for filing an election petition.
The judiciary said the closure was due to security concerns, while opposition figures argued that it stopped Mundubile from challenging the presidential election results.
Police later confirmed that Mundubile and Zulu were being questioned over an alleged treason offence, although authorities had not given detailed information on the accusations against them.
For Miguna, the developments in Zambia and the other countries offer a warning to Kenya as political activity begins to intensify ahead of the 2027 General Election.
He argued that he believed President William Ruto could use similar tactics against political opponents, pointing to what he described as a wider pattern across the continent.
Miguna said the problem was not limited to individual presidents or opposition leaders but was linked to the institutions and political systems many African countries inherited from colonial rule.
According to him, several African states remain repressive, exploitative, unequal and affected by corruption, making it difficult to achieve lasting political change without major reforms to the systems and institutions governing them.
He argued that addressing the problem would require a major systemic change rather than simply replacing individual leaders.