Activists Agather Atuhaire (Uganda) and Boniface Mwangi, when they addressed the press in Nairobi on June 2, 2025/SCREENGRABKenyan activist Boniface Mwangi has vowed to press on with his advocacy work, declaring that neither he nor his colleagues will be silenced.
In his first interview since being released from detention in Tanzania, Mwangi recounted the harrowing ordeal at the hands of his abductors and criticised the Kenyan government for abandoning him during the crisis.
"My government let me down. It sided with Suluhu's government and claimed we were interfering with Tanzanian politics," he said.
"We were not and we did not hide the reasons for our visit." Mwangi asserted that his visit to Tanzania, like many others to countries across Africa, was in solidarity with fellow human rights defenders.
"I have been to Tanzania before to visit another political prisoner. I was in Uganda when Bobi Wine was under house arrest. I have done that in many African countries because I am an African and I belong to this continent. Africa is home," he stated.
Addressing the press in Nairobi alongside Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire, Mwangi reaffirmed their commitment to fighting for human rights across the region.
Recounting his time in detention, he revealed he was blindfolded, handcuffed, and held in a dark room, where he endured repeated assaults.
"The day before they released me, they warned me: ‘We are letting you go, but if you ever come back to this country, we’ll kill you. If you go back home and speak about what we did to you, we’ll find you and kill you,’" he said.
On the day of his release, Mwangi was awakened at 4:30 am, driven for nearly an hour, and then ordered out of the vehicle with a stern warning not to look back until they had left.
He said he was also given money for his transport.
"They gave me 20,000 Tanzanian shillings and 400 Kenyan shillings for transport. When I opened my eyes, there was a bodaboda rider waiting. I suspect they had a done a deal. He took me to the border," Mwangi recounted.
