Lissu is a vocal critic of the Tanzanian government and head of the main opposition party, Chadema. He survived an assassination attempt in 2017 and has spent several years in exile. Kenyan senator Edwin Sifuna, from the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, said on X he was among those denied entry into Angola.

African leaders have announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi, who were sent to fight insurgents in mineral-rich eastern Congo, where M23 rebels have killed peacekeepers while overrunning the region this year.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) said on Thursday that a summit of regional heads of state had terminated the mandate of its troop deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo and decided on a "phased withdrawal".

The troops were sent two years ago to support the Congolese army fight the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, which has seized control of large parts of mineral-rich eastern DR Congo this year. At least 19 soldiers from South Africa,