Ugandan human rights defender and journalist Agather Atuhaire, who was abducted in Tanzania alongside Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi, had been in custody since Monday. She was found abandoned near the border between Tanzania and Uganda.
Agora Discourse, where she works as the team lead, confirmed her release on Friday morning through its deputy team leader, Godwin Toko.
“Finally, Agather has been found, and I have talked to her via her sister’s phone just now. She was picked up from the border,” Toko posted on X. Agora stated that she was arrested by plain-clothed men who claimed to be Tanzanian police officers.
On Thursday, Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi, who was also detained after arriving in Dar es Salaam to attend the first court appearance of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, was dumped at the Kenyan border. Boniface recounted that the last time he was in the same space as Atuhaire was on the morning of Tuesday, 20 May 2025.
“We had been tortured, and we were told to strip naked and to go bathe. We couldn’t walk and were told to crawl and wash off the blood,” said Boniface. “We were handcuffed and blindfolded, so I didn’t even see her, but I heard her groaning in pain as they barked orders at us.” Boniface claims that the torture was orchestrated by a Tanzanian state security officer who had followed them from the immigration offices to the Central Police Station.
Earlier in the week, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu warned foreign activists against interfering in Tanzania’s internal affairs amid growing tension surrounding Lissu’s trial.
By Edwin Edgar Mutugi
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