Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, has officially confirmed that Tanzanian authorities are detaining activist Boniface Mwangi.
Speaking on Tuesday on Citizen TV, Mudavadi said the Kenyan embassy in Tanzania is working to understand the reasons for his detention and secure his release.
“We are engaging through diplomatic channels,” the Prime CS said, noting the situation “happened suddenly” and that the country’s foreign affairs officials are in contact with him.
Boniface Mwangi’s detention follows the deportation of several Kenyans, including opposition politicians and activists, who had travelled to Tanzania to observe the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
As now confirmed, the Kenyan activist, who is known to be a vocal critic of government corruption and bad leadership, is among those caught in what appears to be a broader Tanzanian crackdown on foreign nationals perceived as meddling in its domestic affairs.
Martha Karua, leader of the People’s Liberation Party (PLP) and among those deported from Tanzania, criticised the lack of transparency about the activist’s detention status and that of Agather Atuhaire, a Ugandan journalist also reportedly detained.
“It is worrisome that the authorities in Tanzania would fail or refuse to give correct information on the whereabouts of the two. Their safety is squarely on the shoulders of Samia Suluhu,” Karua posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The Tanzanian President recently accused Kenyan activists of interfering in the country’s politics, a claim Mudavadi countered by defending Kenya’s tradition of open civic engagement.
“Kenya enjoys a more open political space compared to some neighbours,” he said, implying that the presence of the activists during Tanzania’s emotive electoral period may have “rattled” the authorities there.
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