DW News Africa with Tomi Oladipo 22 May, 2025 – DW – 05/22/2025
05/22/2025
May 22, 2025
Are democracy and civil liberties dying across East Africa? We look at the Tanzania treason trial, which activists say is the latest example of a wave of repression sweeping across the region and speak to a Kenyan lawyer and politician who was denied entry to the country to observe the case. Plus, the Dutch museum returning a collection of looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria.
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Opposition activists from Kenya allege that they were detained and tortured in neighboring Tanzania. Leaders there don't seem to like that cross-border economic cooperation has extended to human rights solidarity. An unusual request from the Kenyan president caused a stir at the end of May. "To our neighbors from Tanzania, if we have wronged you in any way, forgive us," William Ruto told a delegation of Tanzanian MPs at a national prayer breakfast. Some Kenyans found the gesture appropriate, but others found it outrageous. Less than a week prior, prominent Kenyan photojournalist and activist Boniface Mwangi had returned to Kenya visibly weakened after five days in a Tanzanian prison. He and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire had traveled to Tanzania to support imprisoned opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is on trial on charges of treason. 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Fear of protests amid economic uncertainty For Kenyan economist James Shikwati, the motive for the Tanzanian government's actions is clear: "What's happening is the fear of what neighboring countries saw happen in Kenya in June last year when the young people demonstrated and were able to go all the way to parliament," said Shikwati, who heads the think tank Inter Region Economic Network. The demonstrations, often referred to as "Gen-Z protests," were a reaction by young Kenyans to a bill that would have increased taxes. "I think it made our neighbors have very sensitive skin about anybody who shows capability of mobilizing people," Shikwati told DW, adding that these tensions are taking place in the context of economic difficulties. Tanzania's intolerance of transnational activism To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "It's income, jobs, opportunities shrinking, the global dynamics changing, militarization of global economy, meaning the normal trade patterns are getting disrupted and the little income these countries were making is disappearing overnight," he said. Meanwhile, international NGOs are withdrawing, USAID cuts initiated by US President Donald Trump are hitting East Africa hard, and the entire region is feeling the economic losses for export giant Kenya, Shikwati added. 'Human rights have no borders' What does the heated atmosphere mean for the East African Community, founded in 2000 by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania? Citizens have been allowed to travel freely between the member states since the 1960s, and many take advantage of this to work or study in these neighboring countries. 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Shikwati also said that the tensions show how previous ideas of the economic community failed to reflect reality. While East Africa has relied on good cooperation between governments, it had not been considered that political opposition could also use the community to advance its own goals, he added. Despite support from neighboring countries, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is facing strong domestic headwinds. Ideas about what Tanzania's "political culture" should be sometimes differ greatly from government actions. The well-known bishop of a revivalist church, Josephat Gwajima, himself a member of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, said at the end of May: "I want to tell you the truth: kidnapping is not our Tanzanian culture." People should only be arrested on the basis of the law, he said. Gwajima's church was closed last Monday. The Registrar of Civil Societies in Tanzania said that the church had broken the law by preaching in a way that turned citizens against the government. Their bishop is now missing. With reporting by Thelma Mwadzaya (Nairobi), Florence Majani
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The military alliance looks set to satisfy US President Donald Trump's demands to commit to a massive increase in defense spending. Some creative counting proposed by NATO head Mark Rutte could soften the financial blow. A NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels on Thursday showed "broad support" for signing off a historic hike in defense spending at a crunch summit later this month. This was their response to the growing threat from Russia and a "more dangerous world" in general, the military alliance's Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters. "I will propose an overall investment plan that would total 5% of gross domestic product in defense investment," Rutte announced, following months of pressure from US President Donald Trump for allies to more than double the present target. Current NATO guidelines encourage states to spend 2% of their economic output on their militaries. 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In 2023, more than two thirds of the 32 NATO countries' collective $1.3 trillion (€1.14 trillion) military spending came from Washington, according to data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). On Thursday, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth drove home the message to the rest of the alliance once again. "Every shoulder has to be to the plough. Every country has to contribute at that level of 5% as a recognition of the nature of threat," he said. Leaders of the world's most powerful defense alliance are set to gather in three weeks in the Dutch city The Hague. Topping the agenda will be discussions on the ongoing war in Ukraine, and Russia's resulting massive rearmament drive. It seems likely that NATO members will officially commit to the 5% goal at these upcoming talks. 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To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Last month, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadepuhl also indicated Germany could get on board with the goal. Several NATO countries, including Poland, Estonia and Lithuania, have already committed to spending 5% or more in the future. All are former Soviet states, and two of them share a border with Russia. Since taking office in January, the "America-first" president has strained the NATO alliance with threats not to help defend alliance members that didn't meet spending targets should they be attacked. His designs on the semi-autonomous Danish territory Greenland have also alienated allies, as have his attempts at bilateral talks to find an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, which sidelined European partners and left Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy largely marginalized. Questions remain There are still many open questions to be answered, one of them being the timeline. On Thursday, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur spoke of committing to reaching 5% within five years. "We don't have time for ten years, we don't even have time for seven years, to be honest," he said. But the official focus at this week's meeting was on working out what exact capabilities NATO would need and may currently be missing to defend itself if a member of the alliance were attacked. After the talks, Rutte spoke of the need to upgrade air defense systems and long-range missiles, among other things. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany might need as many as 50,000 – 60,000 more troops in its standing forces to meet defense needs in the coming years. Increased spending amid economic downturn While consensus appears to be forming, it is also clear that increasing military spending to 5% of GDP would be an enormous strain on public finances, particularly as Europe's two major economies, Germany and France, face tough times. Paris and Berlin are touting increased defense spending as a chance to fuel economic growth in Europe, but there is a risk of public backlash. In April in Rome, the opposition Five Star Movement led a protest against an EU drive to rearm the bloc — a move supported by the government of far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — reportedly drawing tens of thousands of people. According to Cullen Hendrix, an expert from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a US think tank, a 5% spending target would essentially put NATO countries on "war footing." US secretary of State Pete Hegseth was in Brussels for the last NATO gathering before next month's summit Image: Bob Reijnders/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images "In 2023, just nine countries spent 5% of GDP or more on defense: Algeria, Armenia, Israel, Lebanon, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Sudan," Hendrix wrote in February. "Most are, or were, at war. Five of these are authoritarian petro-states, unencumbered by competitive elections or the need to tax their populaces to fund this military largesse." There is also a risk that increased spending will make Europe less safe, Hendrix warned. "Increasing military spending to this extent would likely catalyze an arms race with those near-peer competitors." On Thursday in Brussels, Rutte argued there was little choice but to spend significantly more on defense, pointing to recent comments by the German Chief of Defense Carsten Breuer, who posited that Russia would be ready to mount an attack on NATO states by 2029. "We live in a more dangerous world," Rutte said. "We are safe today, but if we don't do this, we are not safe in the foreseeable future." Edited by: Maren Sass
