Human Rights Activists Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire have revealed details of the ordeal they experienced recently during his detention in Tanzania.
Speaking during a press briefing on Monday June 2, 2025, Boniface Mwangi blamed the Kenyan Government for failing to rescue him from the unlawful detention in the neighbouring country.
“What they did to us, breaks me. My government let me down, my government sided with Suluhu’s government. I have been to Tanzania before, I was in Uganda when Bobi Wine was under house arrest, East Africa is home,” said Mwangi.
This was after Boniface Mwangi and a Ugandan Activist Agather Atuhaire, were recently detained in Tanzania, where they had travelled to support opposition leader Tundu Lissu during his trial on Monday, May 19.
However, the two activists were held incommunicado for days before resurfacing at various border points.
According to the testimony, he and fellow Ugandan journalist Atuhaire were unlawfully detained, and subjected to inhumane treatment without being informed of any charges.
“They told me to strip naked. When I did, they removed my handcuff. I was grabbed by four men, lifted up so fast, tied upside down, and then they started beating my feet,” Mwangi recalled.
“Some guy put lubricant in my rectum and started inserting objects in my backside,” he added tearfully.
These horrifying revelations point to an inhumane violation of human rights and raise serious questions about the state of freedom of expression and protection of foreign nationals in Tanzania.
The abuse, Mwangi says, “when they were abusing me, they kept saying I should say thank you, Samia Suluhu. They recorded the entire abuse, threatening if I spoke, they would share the footage,” a statement that appears to implicate Tanzanian leadership, though the full context remains unclear.
Agather Atuhaire, who was detained alongside Mwangi, echoed his sentiments, describing the experience as both terrifying and revealing.
“I thought they would come. I knew they would come. I have always lived looking over my shoulders in Uganda. But this happened in Tanzania,” she said.
“I did not commit any crime. The lawyers who were with us never said anything. We were not told the charges for our detention,” she added.
Atuhaire, a seasoned journalist and democracy advocate from Uganda, expressed deep disappointment at what she encountered in Tanzania, stating, “I come from a country that is very dictatorial, but I never thought I would find a country that is actually worse.”
These accounts have sparked both national and international concern, with human rights organizations, authorities, and the media calling for immediate investigations into the allegations.
“They ordered me to strip naked, and I was afraid, my fear always was being tortured. The first blow was on my back because I did not undress immediately. Then they violently undressed me. They did to me what they did to Boniface,” Agather explained.
Mwangi demanded justice not only for himself and Ugandan journalist Agatha Atuhaire but also for countless others whose voices have been silenced by authoritarian regimes operating under the guise of national security.
The incident has cast a shadow over the spirit of unity and cooperation within the East African Community (EAC).
For many, East Africa represents a shared space of culture, struggle, and solidarity. But when activists are tortured and silenced within member states, the integrity of that unity is deeply shaken.
