NAIROBI, KENYA — Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi has publicly addressed his ordeal for the first time since his arrest, detention, and alleged torture by Tanzanian authorities, an ordeal that lasted nearly a week.
Mr Mwangi was apprehended on Tuesday at his hotel in Tanzania, where he had traveled to show solidarity with opposition leader Tundu Lissu during his court appearance. He was held incommunicado until Thursday, when he was reportedly driven to the Kenya-Tanzania border at Horohoro and left there.
Appearing frail and visibly shaken, Mr Mwangi spoke to the press from inside a vehicle at Moi International Airport in Mombasa, from where he was scheduled to be flown to Nairobi for urgent medical attention.
He recounted a harrowing experience that he claims has left him unable to walk unaided and expressed deep concern for Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire, who was arrested and detained with him and whose whereabouts remain unknown.
“I have gone through four very dark days, I have been tortured very badly, I can barely walk,” Mwangi told journalists, his voice subdued but firm. He added, “But I am very concerned about Agather because we were tortured together, and they did very horrible things to us. So, I hope Agather is safe.”
Agather Atuhaire was reportedly separated from Mwangi during their detention, and fears for her safety are escalating as her whereabouts remain unconfirmed.
“They were separated, and we don’t know where Agather is, or where she was taken,” said Njeri Mwangi, Boniface’s wife, who confirmed his drop-off at the Horohoro border post and his subsequent journey to Lungalunga where activist Khelef Khalifa picked him up.
Mr Mwangi and his close associates allege that Tanzanian authorities orchestrated his ordeal with deliberate cruelty and political motivation, subjecting him to severe physical and psychological abuse while invoking the name of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Activist Hussein Khalid characterized Mr Mwangi’s experience as symptomatic of a disturbing regional trend.
“It’s very clear that in East Africa we’re seeing the rise and rise of authoritarians, and we don’t take this lightly,” Khalid asserted. He further emphasized Mwangi’s critical condition: “Boniface Mwangi was severely tortured, as we speak presently we don’t know where Agather is. We want to rush Boniface to get medical treatment, his condition is not good at all, he can barely walk.”
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Khalid directly implicated the Tanzanian government, linking the alleged abuse to the country’s highest office. “This is courtesy of Mama Samia’s government. He was badly tortured in Tanzania, and every time they were doing this, they kept making reference to the President… asking him to say ‘Asante Mama Samia’ as they were torturing him. These people were brutal, and we will not take this lightly.”
Furthermore, Khalid suggested potential complicity by Kenyan authorities in Mwangi’s alleged abduction and torture, issuing a stern warning that inaction would trigger international repercussions.
“Rest assured that we will take action. If the Kenyan government, which we believe was complicit, does not do anything… if (Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi) does not do anything… then we will invoke the international community to make sure that action is taken because he knows those officers and they can be identified,” he concluded.
