Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has announced the release of activist Boniface Mwangi after days of detention in Tanzania.
Mudavadi, in a statement, said Mwangi was released by Thursday morning by the Tanzanian authorities after intervention by the government.
The release comes after the Kenyan government wrote a protest letter to the Tanzanian government over the lack of access to activist Boniface Mwangi following his arrest in the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that since Mwangi’s arrest, consular officials were able to access him despite several requests.
It added that it was concerned about his health and well-being, as information about his whereabouts remained unknown.
“The Ministry notes that, despite several requests, officials of the Government of Kenya have been denied consular access and information to Mr. Mwangi. The Ministry is also concerned about his health, overall wellbeing and the absence of information regarding his detention,” the letter by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs read in part.
The ministry noted that his detention was against the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963), to which both the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania are State Parties, which allows consular officers to visit any national of the sending State who is in prison, custody or detention.
Kenya further demanded that Tanzanian authorities give expedited access to the activist by Consular officials or release him as international law dictates.
“The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs respectfully urges the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to expeditiously and without delay facilitate consular access to or release of Mr. Mwangi, in accordance with international legal obligations and diplomatic norms,” the letter read.
Mwangi was arrested at a hotel in Tanzania alongside Ugandan journalist Agatha Atuhaire, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
They had flown to Tanzania to attend a court session for the main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu.
Other activists who were supposed to join them, including former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and PLP leader Martha Karua, were detained at the Julius Nyerere International Airport and deported back to Kenya.
Former Chief Justice David Maraga was among a few who managed to enter Tanzania without having problems with the authorities.
Human rights activists in Kenya threatened to lead demonstrations across the border into neighbouring Tanzania if Boniface Mwangi is not released within 24 hours.
The activists said they will start by “occupying” the Tanzanian Embassy in Nairobi should the East African nation fail to release Mwangi by Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
