Kenya FM says Tanzania has released activist
Boniface Mwangi was among activists who travelled to economic capital Dar es Salaam to show solidarity with opposition leader Tundu Lissu during his court appearance over charges of treason.
Kenyan journalist and human rights activist Boniface Mwangi (C) embraces his wife Njeri Mwangi as he reacts to a welcome by supporters and activists following his release from detention by Tanzanian authorities at the Wilson Airport in Nairobi on 22 May 2025. Picture: Tony KARUMBA / AFP
NAIROBI, KENYA - Kenya's foreign minister told AFP on Thursday that Tanzanian authorities had released a prominent activist, who rights groups said had been "held incommunicado" since Monday in the East African country.
Boniface Mwangi was among activists who travelled to economic capital Dar es Salaam to show solidarity with opposition leader Tundu Lissu during his court appearance over charges of treason.
However, Mwangi was detained on Monday with Amnesty International saying he had been "held incommunicado by military officers".
On Thursday, Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi told AFP the activist had been released by Tanzanian authorities.
"We have been engaged diplomatically and that is how it is done," he said, without giving further details.
Local outlet Daily Nation, citing his family, reported Mwangi had been deported by road and abandoned in the coastal town of Ukunda, north of the Tanzanian border. He was taken to hospital to be examined.
His wife, Njeri, told AFP she was with him, "but he is injured, his feet are swollen".
There had been a growing outcry in Kenya over his detention. Some 20 NGOs had called on the government to press for his "immediate and unconditional release".
Mwangi was detained alongside Ugandan activist Agatha Atuhaire, but AFP was unable to determine if she had also been released.
Uganda's high commissioner to Tanzania Fred Mwesigye told AFP he had contacted officials over her status, asking authorities "to allow our mission staff to visit and talk to her to know if there are possibilities of her release and return to Uganda".
He said they had not had a response from the government.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said earlier this week foreign activists would not be allowed to interfere in the country's affairs.
She urged security services "not to allow ill-mannered individuals from other countries to cross the line here".
Activists say the events in Tanzania - due to hold national elections later this year - are part of a wider erosion of democracy across east Africa.
In Uganda, opposition leader Kizza Besigye is also on trial for treason after having been kidnapped in Kenya and taken across the border.