PREVIEW
Boniface Mwangi was held for four days before being dumped at the border
The detention and torture of Boniface Mwangi, one of Kenya’s most prominent civil society activists, is the latest move by President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s increasingly authoritarian government. Hassan said she wouldn’t tolerate outsiders ‘meddling’ in Tanzania’s politics and trying to cause ‘chaos’. Mwangi says that he was held for four days in Tanzania where he was hoping to attend the trial of Tundu Lissu, leader of the opposition Chadema party who faces sedition charges. He was beaten and dumped at a post on the Kenya-Tanzanian border before finding help and returning to Nairobi.
On his return to Nairobi’s Kenyatta airport in a wheelchair, Mwangi expressed concern about the fate of Agather Atuhaire, a Ugandan activist who had been detained with him. Hours later, Atuhaire was found badly beaten and is accusing Tanzanian security officials of torturing and sexual violence. This has prompted the United States government to demand a comprehensive investigation if these incidents.
Mwangi’s treatment came just days after People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua was arrested in Tanzania on 18 May, along with Gloria Kimani and Lynn Ngugi of the Law Society of Kenya and deported the following day (AC Vol 66 No 9, Karua takes on the autocrats). They were also planning to attend Lissu’s trial.
A photo-journalist turned activist who has campaigned against corruption and state violence at home, Mwangi has made plenty of enemies in Kenya’s political class, including President William Ruto, who filed a defamation lawsuit against Mwangi after being accused of murdering Jacob Juma. He also stood unsuccessfully in the 2017 general election in Nairobi’s Starere constituency, running on an anti-corruption ticket.
Mwangi was also a key figure in last year’s Generation Z movement against the Ruto government’s Finance Bill (AC Vol 65 No 14, Youth revolt wins after Ruto scraps finance bill and pledges talks). In October, Mwangi was abducted outside his Machakos home and detained in prison overnight before being released without charge.
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