East Africa in the Dock: Panel 54 Breaks Down the Silent Erosion of Freedoms

Framing the region as ‘on trial’—ideal for thought pieces and civic newsletters

Nairobi, June 17, 2025 — Civic space in East Africa is shrinking—not with bullets, but with legislation. That’s the warning from former Chief Justice Dr. Willy Mutunga in Episode 4 of the Panel 54 Podcast, titled “The Legal Gates of Civic Space in East Africa.”

Hosted by Waweru Njoroge and Ndu Okoh, the episode delivers a searing indictment of how East African regimes are weaponizing laws, regulations, and bureaucracy to silence dissent.

“They no longer need guns; they have the Constitution,” Dr. Mutunga says, highlighting how state power is now cloaked in legal formality to erode fundamental freedoms.

Key cases discussed include:

• Uganda: Legal bans on protests undermine democratic participation.
• Tanzania: Media freedoms strangled through policy and licensing red tape.
• Kenya: Surveillance laws and digital monitoring used to intimidate critics.

The podcast exposes how courts, parliaments, and policy tools are being used to legitimize repression—what Dr. Mutunga calls “lawfare,” not warfare.”

With youth-led movements on the rise and resistance criminalized, Panel 54 sounds the alarm on a growing regional trend: democracy eroded not by coups, but by clauses.