NAIROBI, KENYA — Prominent Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi has been released from detention in Tanzania after three days, a development that followed a formal demand for his release by Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Korir Sing’oei, a top official within the ministry, confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that Mwangi was “now back in the country.”
Khalid Hussein, a lawyer and fellow activist, informed Vivid Voice News that he was with Mwangi in Kenya’s coastal region following his release. Mwangi had been arrested in Dar es Salaam on Monday alongside Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire by individuals suspected to be military officers, and their whereabouts had remained unknown. They had traveled to Tanzania to attend the court proceedings of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces treason charges.
Tanzanian authorities have not issued any official comment regarding Mwangi’s detention and subsequent deportation. However, on Monday, President Samia Suluhu Hassan had issued a warning, stating that she would not permit activists from neighboring countries to “meddle” in her country’s affairs and incite “chaos.”
Earlier on Thursday, Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement expressing its inability to access the activist despite repeated requests. The ministry noted that it had been “denied consular access” and information about Mwangi’s status, raising concerns about his health. It urged Tanzania to “expeditiously and without delay” allow access or release him, “in accordance with international legal obligations and diplomatic norms.”
Subsequently, Kenya’s state-funded National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) announced that it had received Mwangi in Kwale county following his release from Tanzania. The KNCHR posted a photograph of Mwangi alongside his wife, Njeri, and fellow activist Hussein, stating that he was “in high spirits.” The commission indicated plans to transfer him to Nairobi, the capital, for medical attention.
Mwangi was reportedly left at the Kenyan border on Thursday morning after his release by Tanzanian authorities. On Wednesday, his wife had told Vivid Voice News that she had last heard from him on Monday and was deeply worried about his condition.
“I’m actually concerned for his life. I know my husband, he would have communicated, he’d find a way to call or text me and because he hasn’t, makes me very worried about what state he is in,” she conveyed.
Kenya’s foreign ministry on Thursday echoed these sentiments, expressing similar concerns about the activist’s “health, overall well-being and the absence of information regarding his detention.”
The ministry reiterated that diplomats should have access to their nationals detained by a host nation, as stipulated by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
“In light of the above, the [ministry] respectfully urges the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to expeditiously and without delay facilitate consular access to or release Mr Mwangi,” its statement concluded.
Mwangi’s detention and release come amidst growing regional outrage, particularly following Tanzania’s deportation of former Kenyan justice minister Martha Karua and other activists over the weekend, who had also intended to attend Lissu’s hearing. Rights groups have increasingly voiced concerns about an apparent crackdown on Tanzania’s opposition in the lead-up to elections scheduled for October.
