By Enyichukwu Enemanna
An activist detained in Tanzania for three days for showing solidarity with opposition leader Tundu Lissu has been released after intervention by Kenya’s foreign ministry, which demanded that he should be freed.
Boniface Mwangi had travelled to Dar es Salaam to attend the court case of Lissu, who is accused of treason.
Ever since his arrest on Monday alongside Uganda’s Agather Atuhaire by suspected military officers in the capital of Tanzania, their whereabouts remained unknown.
Outrage had grown after Tanzania’s deportation of former Kenyan justice minister Martha Karua and other activists, who had also gone to attend Lissu’s hearing over the weekend.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan had on Monday warned that she would not allow activists from neighbouring countries to “meddle” in her country’s affairs and cause “chaos”.
Earlier on Thursday, Kenya’s foreign affairs ministry issued a statement saying it had not been able to access the activist.
It said that despite repeated requests, it had been “denied consular access” or information about him, and expressed concern about his health.
It urged Tanzania to “expeditiously and without delay” allow access or release him “in accordance with international legal obligations and diplomatic norms”.
Later, Kenya’s state-owned rights commission, KNCHR, said it had received the activist in Kwale County, following his release from Tanzania.
KNCHR posted a picture of him alongside other people, including his wife Njeri and fellow activist Hussein, and said he was “in high spirits”. The commission said it was planning to transfer him to the capital, Nairobi, for medical attention.
The activist was reportedly left at the Kenyan border on Thursday morning following his release by the Tanzanian authorities.
