Human rights groups have piled pressure on the Kenyan government to intervene and produce activist Mwabili Mwagodi who went missing in Tanzania on Wednesday.
They want state officials in Nairobi speak about the matter, three days after the man who had criticised the government routinely, but worked in Tanzania, disappeared.
The lobbies; Amnesty International-Kenya, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), and Vocal Africa on Saturday July 26 issued statements claiming that Tanzanian authorities in Dar es Salaam abducted and forcibly disappeared Mr Mwagodi, who has been working in one of the hotels in the Tanzanian commercial capital.
Amnesty International-Kenya Executive Director Irungu Houghton expressed concern that the case has not attracted sufficient response from the Kenyan government.
“Mwabili Mwagodi’s activism is not a crime. His disappearance, however, is. As a grave violation of human rights it must be addressed with urgency and accountability,” Houghton said.
“His family confirms that Mwagodi was under state surveillance in Kenya before his abduction after he exercised his constitutional right to protest. Mwagodi led a demonstration against the William Ruto regime during a church service in Nyahururu, Laikipia,” the KHRC statement read.
The KHRC said Kenya and Tanzania had formed an alliance to oppress the dissent, accusing Tanzania of using brutal state machinery to crush activists is deliberate, coordinated, and criminal.
“These are the hallmarks of an authoritarian regime that has lost the legitimacy to govern. We have not forgotten that just two months ago, Kenya was complicit in the abduction, torture, and sexual assault of activist Boniface Mwangi by the ruthless Tanzanian operatives.”
Kenyan activist missing in Tanzania
KHRC was referring to the June incident in which Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Uganda’s Agather Atuhaire were abducted and disappeared in Dar es Salaam where they had gone to attend a case in which Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu is facing treason charges. The two were deported by land and dumped near borders of their countries with Tanzania, several days later and following torture.
So far, neither Tanzania nor Kenya have commented on the abduction of Mwabili.
The lobbies demanded immediate and unconditional release of Mr Mwagodi from unlawful detention, full disclosure by the Tanzanian and Kenyan regimes on Mr Mwagodi’s exact whereabouts, physical and mental condition, and immediate access to his family and legal counsel. They also wanted an independent investigation into the threats made against Mwagodi’s family by Kenyan security agencies.
Meanwhile, his family, led by his sister Isabella Kituri, have asked the government to intervene and produce their relative alive.
Missing Kenyan activist Mwabili Mwagodi.
Photo credit: Pool
Ms Kituri says that she has been unable to reach her brother by phone, and her attempts to seek help have not been successful, resorting to make the appeal through the media and lobby groups.
“If there is anything else, he should just be produced through legal justice system and it should be transparent because it is enough. I’m asking the Kenyan and Tanzanian government, please, use the legal protocols to address this issue,” Mr Kituri said.
Hussein Khalid of Vocal Africa led the family to report the matter at DCI Kilimani area, but stated that they were reluctant in taking action, claiming that the matter was not under their jurisdiction.
“Since the last time that he was seen on Wednesday up to this point in time, no information has been forthcoming."
“We have worked with the family; we have reported the matter at Kilimani Police Station. We have taken the family to DCI but the DCI cited lack of jurisdiction and they said that they will not be able to assist,” Mr Hussein said.
Also, the Vocal Africa leader said that they have reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country to escalate the matter to the Tanzanian authorities.
Mr Mwagodi, a vocal activist, has been at the frontline leading in campaigns demanding justice and equality in the country.
He was among the people who went to the streets during the anti-government demonstrations last year, which led to the defeat of the controversial Finance Bill, 2024.
