Tanzania President Samia Suluhu given 24-hour ultimatum to release Boniface Mwangi

The Kongamano la Mapinduzi, a rights activist group, has issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu, demanding the release of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi from custody in Dar es Salaam.

Mwangi was arrested on Monday at the Serena Hotel in the Tanzanian capital, where he had travelled to attend the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.

He was detained alongside Ugandan journalist and activist Agather Atuhaire.

Addressing a press conference in Nairobi on Tuesday, the Kongamano la Mapinduzi sharply criticised the Tanzanian government, accusing it of suppressing freedoms and unlawfully targeting regional activists.

“Our comrades, Agather and Boniface, are still held in Tanzania by the state. We can’t speak with them, they don’t have phones, but we have our comrade activists in Tanzania following up the matter,” Don Githuku, a member of the group, said.

Githuku warned that unless Mwangi and Atuhaire are released, the group would not only occupy the Tanzanian High Commission in Nairobi but would also travel to Tanzania in protest.

“Oppressive leaders, your time is up! We want Boniface back today, or else all of us will come to Tanzania so you can deport us again,” he said.

“We are giving Samia Suluhu 24 hours to release them, failure to which we will occupy the Tanzania High Commission. And that’s not all, we will go to Tanzania!”

The activists also accused East African heads of state of colluding to silence opposition voices across the region.

“We are Africans, East Africans, and we have a right to work with each other. We do not have a problem with each other as citizens of East Africa, it is the presidents. It is shocking that our Jumuiya has been hijacked by three culprits,” Githuku said.

Mwangi’s wife, Njeri Mwangi, confirmed his arrest and said she had not been able to reach him since.

“They were taken from the hotel, and since then, I have not spoken to Boniface,” she told the press.

According to his lawyer, Jebra Kambole, the two Mwangi and Agather, were held overnight at the central police station in Dar es Salaam.

In a televised address on Monday during the launch of Tanzania’s new foreign policy, President Samia defended the crackdown on foreign activists, noting that she will not allow her country to be marred by chaos.

Other Topics To Read

• Tanzania
• Boniface Mwangi
• Tundu Lissu
• Kongamano La Mapinduzi
• President Samia Suluhu
• Tanzania President Samia Suluhu given 24-hour ultimatum to release Boniface Mwangi
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“We have started to observe a trend in which activists from within our region are attempting to intrude and interfere in our affairs,” she said, adding that Tanzania’s security and defence organs must “not allow ill-mannered individuals from other countries to cross the line here.”

Her remarks came hours after several Kenyan activists, among them People's Liberation Party leader Martha Karua and former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, were barred from entering Tanzania upon arrival at Julius Nyerere International Airport. The group had flown in to observe Lissu’s court proceedings.

In Uganda, opposition figure Kizza Besigye is also facing treason charges after allegedly being abducted from Kenya and taken across the border, a case that has drawn similar concern from rights groups in the region.

Kongamano la Mapinduzi has said it will not relent until all activists held for political reasons are freed and regional freedoms respected.