Activist Boniface Mwangi has raised alarm over the continued disappearance of Ugandan journalist Agather Atuhaire, whom he last saw on Tuesday morning while in detention in Tanzania.
In a harrowing personal account, Mwangi described the torture they endured at the hands of individuals he claims were acting under orders from Tanzanian state security.
“Agather is still missing in Tanzania. The last time l was in the same space as was Tuesday morning,” he said.
Mwangi claimed that they had just been tortured when they were ordered to strip naked and crawl to bathe, despite being bloodied and unable to walk.
"We had been tortured, and we were told to strip naked and to go bathe. We couldn't walk and were told to crawl and go wash off the blood. We were handcuffed and blindfolded, so l didn't even see her, but l heard her groaning in pain as they barked orders at us," he said.
He added that any attempt to communicate during the night was met with physical violence and verbal abuse.
The two were later removed from the location in separate vehicles.
Mwangi alleges that the torture was sanctioned by a man identifying himself as a state security operative.
According to Mwangi, the man had initially appeared at the Immigration offices, then followed the group to the Central Police Station.
There, he reportedly ordered that the activists be taken to a secret location to undergo what he described as “Tanzanian treatment.”
Mwangi says the same man physically assaulted him in the presence of three lawyers from the Tanganyika Law Society.
“He scared the three lawyers, and they left us at Central Police Station, where we were removed while handcuffed and blindfolded,” he said.
Mwangi described the man as one of “average height, short hair with waves and light brown skin, overweight, having a sagging potbelly”.
“On that day he was wearing a black suit, black shoes, a white shirt and no tie. One of the lawyers said he is state security and reports directly to the authorities,” he said.
Mwangi has called for urgent action to locate Agather and ensure her safe return, asserting that those responsible for her disappearance must be held accountable.
“Let's bring Agather home to her family,” he said.
Mwangi was Thursday morning deported from Tanzania by road and dumped in Ukunda in Kwale County.
He was rushed to a Diani hospital for a medical review after preliminary
observation indicated he looked injured and frail.
“We have a picture sent to us showing he is injured and frail. He is okay under medical review,” a family member said then.
