NAIROBI, Kenya – A section of Kenyan rights campaigners has issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu’s administration to release detained activist Boniface Mwangi, warning that failure to do so would trigger protests—including a march to Tanzania’s High Commission in Nairobi.
Mwangi, a prominent human rights defender and photojournalist, was arrested Monday at the Serena Hotel in Dar es Salaam, where he had travelled to attend opposition leader Tundu Lissu’s high-profile treason trial.
Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire was also detained alongside him.
The two spent the night at the city’s central police station, according to Mwangi’s Tanzanian lawyer, Jebra Kambole.
As of Tuesday morning, Mwangi’s wife Njeri reported she had been unable to reach him, raising concerns over his wellbeing and access to legal counsel.
Speaking in Nairobi, the Kongamano la Mapinduzi—a left-leaning coalition of activists, civil society organisations, and political movements—condemned the Tanzanian authorities, calling the arrest part of a broader crackdown on democratic freedoms across East Africa.
“Our comrades are still in custody. We have no contact with them—they’ve been denied access to phones,” said Don Githuku, a member of the coalition. “We are giving Suluhu 24 hours to release them. If not, we will occupy the Tanzanian High Commission—and we will go to Tanzania ourselves.”
The group branded Suluhu an “oppressor” and accused her of collaborating with Kenyan President William Ruto and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni to silence dissent across the region.
“This is not just about Tanzania. Our entire region is witnessing a coordinated assault on democratic space,” Githuku said. “Jumuiya [the East African Community] has been hijacked by three culprits who are afraid of accountability.”
Their remarks came a day after President Suluhu publicly warned foreign activists against “interfering” in Tanzania’s internal affairs.
“We have started to observe a trend in which activists from within our region are attempting to intrude and interfere in our affairs,” Suluhu said in a televised speech during the launch of the country’s new foreign policy.
She urged national security agencies to “draw the line” against such individuals.
Her statement followed the deportation of several Kenyan activists who had flown in to observe Lissu’s trial.
Among them were former Justice Minister and PLP party leader Martha Karua and former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, who were detained at Julius Nyerere International Airport and promptly returned to Nairobi.
The developments have drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups and opposition figures across East Africa, many of whom see the arrests as a sign of shrinking civic space in the region.
The crackdown in Tanzania echoes similar incidents in Uganda, where opposition leader Kizza Besigye is currently facing treason charges after reportedly being abducted from Kenya and taken across the border.
Rights groups say the arrests and deportations mark a dangerous trend of cross-border repression, undermining the spirit of regional cooperation and violating fundamental rights to free expression, movement, and political participation.
