Human rights activists condemn alleged abduction of Tanzanian govt critic

A day after a Tanzanian dissident, and former opposition official, Twaha Mwaipaya, was abducted in Kenya , Human rights activists have come out to condemn the alleged abduction. Tanzania's government, which has cracked down heavily on the opposition, has been accused of attempting to abduct dissidents who have taken refuge in neighbouring Kenya.

"Kenya is not safe for Kenyans, it's not safe for East Africans -- it's not safe for anyone who is fighting political dictatorship or political oppression," says activist Boniface Mwangi.

Mwaipaya, a leading youth organiser for the main opposition party, Chadema, was jailed in 2022 for criticising the government. He fled into exile in Kenya last year. He posts regularly to almost 600,000 Instagram followers against the government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is accused by the opposition of brutal repression, including the killing of thousands of protesters during the elections a year ago.

Amnesty said Mwaipaya was kidnapped while riding in a taxi to visit friends "by individuals travelling in three vehicles". It said the abduction happened in Kamulu, Machakos County, just east of Nairobi on Sunday afternoon.

"They rounded him up and took him away," John Kitoka, Chadema's head of foreign affairs, told AFP. "They might end up killing him because such abductions don't end up with the police. He is a critic of the government. He's a big problem for them. "Kitoka is also in exile in Kenya since last year's election violence and says he feels "very unsafe". "I know there are people sent to Nairobi to do abductions," he said.

Amnesty urged the authorities to "urgently establish (Mwaipaya's) whereabouts and ensure his safety". Kenya has been accused of allowing foreign governments to kidnap their citizens and forcibly extradite them in violation of international law.

In October 2024, four Turkish refugees were abducted in Nairobi and forcibly returned to Turkey. The following month, Uganda said it had worked with Kenyan authorities to seize Ugandan opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, in Nairobi and take him back to Kampala for a widely condemned trial.

In January 2025, renowned Tanzanian rights activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai was kidnapped in Nairobi but released before she could be smuggled across the border after an outcry by rights groups and the media. In February 2026, another Tanzanian activist, Mshabaha Mshabaha Hamza, was also captured and then released. Amnesty International warned that this was part of a "growing and worrying trend of transnational repression".

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