Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi has disclosed harrowing details of the torture he experienced during his recent detention in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
In a press interview on Monday, Mwangi, speaking alongside Ugandan journalist and activist Agather Atuhaire, said they were tortured by alleged state officials.
The incident occurred during a trip to Tanzania to attend a court hearing in support of opposition leader Tundu Lissu on May 19, 2025.
“We were abducted in Tanzania by Tanzanian security forces, and we were tortured. They told me to strip naked. When I did, I was grabbed by four men, lifted up so fast. When they lifted me, they tied me upside down, put lubricant in my rectum and started inserting objects in my backside,” Mwangi said as he shed tears in pain.
Mwangi claims that his hotel check-in went smoothly. But early the next morning, he said, unknown men banged on his door and demanded that he accompany them. He was brought to immigration offices, where he was asked to show his phone, had his fingerprints taken, and had his picture taken.
He mentioned that Isaac Njenga, Kenya’s ambassador to Tanzania, at around 6 pm, told Mwangi he would be deported.
“Shortly after, a man claiming to be from the state office began beating me in front of the lawyers and Agather. He called me an enemy of the state and said they would teach me a lesson,” Mwangi said.
He said the same officer threatened to rape Atuhaire and later declared both of them under arrest.
Mwangi disclosed that the abuse got worse when they were taken to the Central Police Station, and then blindfolded and transported in a Land Cruiser.
“There were fake number plates and sticks in the car. The men were in civilian clothes and smelled of alcohol,” Mwangi said. The two were taken to another facility.
“They removed my handcuffs and told me to strip naked. When I stripped, they removed my handcuffs. I was grabbed by around four men, they lifted me up so fast. I was tied upside down, beaten on the feet, and they shoved objects into my rectum. They told me to say ‘Asante Samia’—praise their president—while they tortured me,” he said.
“The psychological torture of those hours of driving was worse than the physical torture. I kept thinking they were driving us to the park to be eaten by animals, sometimes I would hear the ocean roaring and I thought they would throw us in the ocean,” Agather narrated.
Mwangi recalled that on Thursday morning, he was driven to a border point where a boda boda guy was waiting to ferry him into Kenya. There, he was given Tsh.20,000 and Ksh.400 to cater for his transport.
Agather also named Faustine Mafwele as the man who ordered the gang to assault them.
“Public officials were not afraid of sending us to thugs. I cannot fathom that level of open impunity. If that doesn’t scare East Africans…. sexual violence is the first thing they think of,” she shared.
“I come from a country (Uganda) where the state is dictatorial, where there’s impunity but I have never seen a worse country like Tanzania,” Agather said, thanking East Africans for their call to have them released. “We are alive because of you, East African Citizens. We are on our own, we were saved by you, ordinary people. No guns, no money, nothing but noise. We only have each other.”
Mwangi is currently receiving medical attention in Nairobi. The activists have now vowed to take legal action against Tanzania.
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