Kenyan human rights activist Boniface Mwangi has publicly recounted a harrowing tale of detention, torture, and sexual violence he says was inflicted on him by Tanzanian security agents in Dar es Salaam last week.

Speaking during a press briefing in Nairobi on June 1, 2025, Mwangi gave a detailed and graphic account of the physical and psychological abuse he and Ugandan journalist and activist Agather Atuhaire endured during what began as a routine trip to Tanzania.

Mwangi, who is well-known for his activism across East Africa, stated that he was in Tanzania with other regional human rights defenders when he became a target of what he described as a state-orchestrated crackdown intended to intimidate and silence foreign activists.

They had checked into a hotel that morning, and the events unfolded after Agather picked up his bags for safekeeping, as he was scheduled to leave the country that same day.

“When I went downstairs, I found the same men who had come at night waiting for me, only this time, there were more, maybe 10 to 12 of them. They followed me into the bathroom and tried to arrest me. I screamed and ran back to my colleagues,” Mwangi narrated.

He stated that after being forcibly taken to an immigration office, they took his fingerprints, photos, and questioned him.

Officials accused him of seeking to destabilise Tanzania and demanded access to his phone.

When he insisted, he didn’t have it, security agents reviewed CCTV footage and saw that Agather had collected his belongings.

She was subsequently arrested, and her hotel room was ransacked, though officials did not find Mwangi’s phone or laptop.

Harrowing experience

Despite the presence of three lawyers from the Tanganyika Law Society, Mwangi said the Tanzanian authorities banned them from attending Agather’s interrogation and later threatened them for attempting to intervene.

“At around 6:30 pm, a man claiming to be from the State Office began assaulting me. He accused me of being an enemy of the state, called me an inmate, and said they were going to teach me a lesson,” he said.

After that, they were transferred to the Central Police Station, where Mwangi says the beatings escalated and threats of sexual violence were made.

“At the station, a man named Mafwele asked me in front of those lawyers, Are you circumcised? I said I’m circumcised. And he said they are going to circumcise you again. They said they would rape Agather,” he said, shaking with emotion.

Later that night, Mwangi said they were blindfolded, handcuffed, and transported in a white Land Cruiser with fake number plates to a secret location.

There, he was stripped naked, suspended upside down, and subjected to beatings on the soles of his feet while gospel music blared in the background to drown his screams.

“They undressed me, tied me upside down, and put objects in me and pulled them out. They told me to say ‘Asante Samia,’ to thank the Tanzanian President for what they were doing,” he said, sobbing with immense pain.

According to Mwangi, the torturers also filmed the abuse and threatened to release the footage online if he ever spoke out.  

“They said my children would see it, my wife would see it, and the world would see it,” he said.

In that state, they demanded his personal information, and since he was in a weakened state, bleeding and terrified, he gave up personal passwords and email credentials.

He was later dumped on the side of a road near the Horo-Horo border and given just enough cash for bus fare back into Kenya.

“At the border, I got someone who helped me push my ba,g and I gave them the money, the 20,000 Tanzanian shillings. Then he helped me cross over,” Mwangi stated.

Agather Atuhaire, who had also been tortured, was released separately and later reunited with Mwangi in Nairobi.

Mwangi said the Tanzanian government’s actions are not isolated incidents but reflect a growing pattern of authoritarian repression.

He expressed disappointment in the Kenyan government, saying officials failed to protect him and instead appeared to align themselves with Tanzanian authorities.

“My government let me down. They said we were interfering in Tanzanian politics, but we were there as friends. As East Africans,” he said.

He also shared that he would be releasing his medical report to verify the abuse he suffered.

“I’m not the same. I was broken. But I will heal. Our bodies may be broken, but our spirits are strong,” he said, sobbing before the gathered press.

He is now calling on the international community to demand accountability from the Tanzanian government and to protect the rights and dignity of activists across the continent.