President of the Tanganyika Law Society, Boniface Mwabukusu, has finally cleared the air on the whereabouts of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi, who is allegedly being detained in Tanzania.
Earlier, word spread that Mwangi had been released and deported to Kenya. However, Mr. Mwabukusu refuted the claims, saying the information was false.
“We wish to provide a clarification regarding the status of Mr. Boniface Mwangi, a Kenyan journalist and human rights activist, and Ms. Agatha Atuhaire, a Ugandan journalist and lawyer, who were earlier reported to have been deported from Tanzania,” Mwabukusu wrote on X.
He clarified that Mwangi, alongside Ms. Agatha Atuhaire, had not yet been deported. He added that the two were no longer in police custody but were being held by the Tanzanian Immigration Department.
“It has now come to our attention that, contrary to initial information, the two individuals have not yet been deported. We have since established that they are no longer in police custody but remain held by the Immigration Department of the United Republic of Tanzania,” Mwabukusu said.
The president of the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) further called on the country’s immigration authorities to act in accordance with the constitution and regional obligations, and to release the two.
He asserted that the society’s legal team was actively monitoring the situation and exploring appropriate legal remedies to facilitate a just and timely resolution.
This comes as a group of Kenyan activists, led by Hussein Khalid, threatened to storm Tanzania if the duo were not released.
Boniface Mwangi and a group of Kenyan activists, including Martha Karua and former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, were denied entry into Tanzania to attend the treason trial of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu. The activists, with the exception of Mwangi, were dramatically deported back to Kenya, with President Samia Suluhu vowing never to allow foreigners to interfere in the country’s internal affairs.
