Martha Karua, a prominent lawyer and former justice minister in Kenya, was prevented from entering Uganda on 22 June 2026. Immigration officials at Entebbe Airport detained her when she arrived, stopping her from attending a court hearing for her client, Kizza Besigye, according to Yahoo News Canada.

The timing was clearly no accident. Karua had travelled to Uganda specifically for this court date, and she was blocked precisely when a judge was about to announce a ruling. When she didn't appear, Besigye's other lawyers walked out of the courtroom in protest, per 933 KFM. They refused to continue without their lead counsel.

Kizza Besigye is Uganda's most famous opposition politician. He has run for president four times and is the most consistent critic of President Yoweri Museveni's government. He is currently on trial in Uganda, and the case has raised complaints about whether he is getting a fair trial.

Instead of letting this stay a legal matter between two countries, Kenya hit back. The Law Society of Kenya — which is the official organization representing Kenyan lawyers — said it would ban Ugandan lawyers from working in Kenya, according to Yahoo News Canada. Kenya and Uganda are both members of the East African Community, a group of countries that lets lawyers from one country work in another. A ban would break that agreement and hurt any client in Kenya represented by a Ugandan lawyer right now.

What matters next is whether Kenya's government gets involved or lets the law society handle it on its own. If Kenya's government joins in, this becomes a serious dispute between two countries that depend on each other — they share roads, do business together, and work within the same regional organization. That kind of conflict would be expensive for both sides. If only the law society acts, Uganda can absorb the pressure more easily.

The bigger picture: Using immigration officers to stop a lawyer from reaching court is a way to sidestep judges entirely. An immigration officer can deny entry without going to court, and no judge can overrule that decision. Uganda has not explained why Karua was blocked.

What happened in court on 22 June matters because it happened without Besigye's main lawyer present. Any decision the judge made that day carries that fact with it.