Kenyan law professor and former director of the anti-corruption commission Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba first came to the attention of a lot of China-watchers in Africa in 2018 when the Zambian government blocked him from entering the country. Lumumba had been scheduled to give a speech at Eden University in Lusaka on the topic of China’s growing influence in Africa, but fearing that the outspoken critic of the Chinese presence would also lambast President Edgar Lungu’s close relationship with Beijing, and more consequentially Zambia’s dependence on Chinese loans, Lusaka thought it prudent to deny him a stage.

While he may be unfamiliar to many outsiders, he’s well known throughout East Africa, and increasingly across the continent, for his strong views on anti-corruption and weak governance in Africa.