A Canadian deported from Kenya on Saturday while working for the opposition party says he was initially given a “flimsy” excuse about a visa issue, but officers eventually dropped “any pretence” that he was being kicked out for legal reasons.
Andreas Katsouris of Toronto was detained Friday and deported Saturday ahead of the East African country’s contentious presidential election, which is set for Tuesday.
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Katsouris says officers produced no documentation to justify his detention and went through his computer during the nearly-24 hours he was detained at the Nairobi airport.
Katsouris is senior vice-president of global services at Aristotle, Inc. a political consulting firm that provides various services to campaigns, including strategy and data analysis.
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He was deported along with the American CEO of the company, John Aristotle Phillips.
They had been in the country assisting opposition candidate Raila Odinga, and had become involved in the Kenyan election because they thought it had the potential for irregularities.
Katsouris is currently in the Netherlands, where his family was visiting at the time he was deported.
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