Mudavadi reveals Boniface Mwangi’s whereabouts amid fears
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who doubles up as Foreign and Diaspora Affairs CS, has revealed the whereabouts of activist Boniface Mwangi amid growing fears.
Speaking during an interview with one of the local TV stations on the night of Tuesday, May 20, 2025, Mudavadi confirmed that Mwangi is still being held by the Tanzanian authorities.
According to Mudavadi, the Kenyan embassy in Tanzania is in touch with Mwangi in terms of trying to figure out how he can be helped so that he can find his way back home.
“Boniface Mwangi is in Tanzania, and I have been in touch with the Kenyan mission there. He is being held by the authorities, and we hope that he will be released. Our embassy is in touch with him as well in terms of trying to figure out how he can be helped so that he can find his way back home,” Mudavadi said.
Mudavadi further suggested that the Kenyan activists found themselves in trouble for jetting into Tanzania at the time the country is in its electioneering period, thus the high tensions.
He went ahead to claim that their involvement in a political case might have rattled the Tanzanian administration, indicating that Kenya is considering solving the issue diplomatically.
Mwangi’s deportation claims
Mudavadi’s remarks come hours after the President of the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), Boniface Mwabukusi, confirmed that the Tanzanian government had released and deported Mwangi back to Kenya.
In a statement on Tuesday, May 20, Mwabukusi claimed that Mwangi was deported alongside Agatha Atuhaire, a journalist and lawyer from Uganda, under the supervision of officers from the Tanzania Immigration Services Department.
“Boniface Mwangi, a Kenyan journalist and human rights activist, and Ms Agatha Atuhaire, a Ugandan journalist and advocate, who were detained at the Central Police Station in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, since 19th May 2025, have been deported to their respective countries,” Mwabukusi said.
Mwangi’s wife raises concerns
However, Mwangi’s wife, Njeri Mwangi, dismissed the reports, saying that no one knew about the whereabouts of her husband and Agatha Atuhaire.
In a statement shared via her official X account, Njeri questioned whether the two had been deported as claimed since no one had seen them since they were reportedly escorted in military vehicles.
“We need proof of life. Were @AAgather and @bonifacemwangi really deported? NO ONE seems to know their whereabouts even now. They were allegedly escorted in military vehicles, but did they really get to the airport? How has no one seen them since?” Njeri questioned.
Mwangi, who arrived in Tanzania on Sunday, May 18, 2025, to attend the opposition leader Tundu Lissu’s trial the following day, was arrested on Monday, May 19, in his hotel after Tanzanian authorities claimed that he had obtained entry into the country irregularly.
