Activist Boniface Mwangi claims life in danger after armed men confront him at a hotel in Tanzania
The incident came just hours after the arrest and deportation of People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua, who had landed in Tanzania on Sunday alongside LSK Council member Gloria Kimani and Pan-African Progressive Leaders Solidarity Network member Lynn Ngugi.
Activist Boniface Mwangi has raised the alarm, claiming that his life is in danger in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where armed men in civilian clothes, believed to be police officers, showed up at his hotel room and demanded he come out without identifying themselves.
In an X post around 1 am on Monday, May 19, Mwangi said the unidentified men were outside his room at Serena Hotel in Dar es Salaam, insisting they were police officers, yet refusing to present any form of identification.
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“My life is in danger. I’m at Serena Hotel, Dar es Salaam, and there are armed men in civilian clothes outside my room. They claim they are police officers, but they have refused to identify themselves. They will have to break the door to remove me here. I’m not going to open it,” he posted.
He also shared a video showing him refusing to open the door, insisting he feared being abducted. In the footage, one of the men outside tries to convince him to come to the reception area.
“Shuka hapa uone tunakuita reception, kila mtu anaona, camera zinaona,” the man tells Mwangi through the door.
“So nitakuwa safe?” Mwangi asks.
“More than safe, yaani wewe una shida gani?” the man replies.
Another man who identified himself as Mr Robinson and claimed to work for the hotel also tried to convince Mwangi not to panic. But the activist demanded he slide his identification card under the door, something Robinson did not do.
Despite the attempts to reassure him, Mwangi held his ground. When the officers became more assertive, telling him that he was making matters worse, Mwangi challenged them to break down the door and arrest him. They eventually left.
He explained that he chose not to comply with the men’s demands.
“I’m scared of my life because there are a lot of abductions in this country, a lot of executions in this country, and people are in jail for [opposing] (President) Suluhu’s dictatorship, that’s why I can’t open the door.”
An hour later, around 2 am, Mwangi gave an update saying the armed men had moved away from his door.
“The unidentified armed men have left my door. I’m informed they have moved to the hotel lobby. My bags are packed, and I’m ready to go with those people when the Tanzanian lawyers who are following up on this matter arrive. For now, I will stay put. Thank you for the solidarity,” he said.
The incident came just hours after the arrest and deportation of People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua, who had landed in Tanzania on Sunday alongside Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Council member Gloria Kimani and Pan-African Progressive Leaders Solidarity Network member Lynn Ngugi.
Karua, in a Sunday morning post, said she and her colleagues were detained at Julius Nyerere International Airport shortly after arrival.
They were later deported back home to Kenya.
Also deported were former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and activists Hanifa Adana and Hussein Khalid, further fuelling speculation of a crackdown on visiting Kenyan activists.
It remains unclear whether Mwangi was part of Karua’s delegation, but his confrontation with the unidentified armed men has drawn widespread attention online.
Kenyan political leaders have since spoken out, with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka warning that Tanzania’s actions could signal a growing democratic backslide in the East African Community (EAC).
Tanzanian authorities have yet to issue an official statement on the attempted hotel raid involving Mwangi.
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