On May 18, 2025, Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan journalist Agather Atuhaire traveled to Tanzania to attend a court session in support of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is facing charges of treason.
However, what was meant to be a brief solidarity visit turned into a harrowing ordeal involving alleged torture and sexual violence at the hands of Tanzanian authorities and gangs.
According to the activists, they were forcibly taken from their hotel and moved between multiple police stations, questioned by immigration officials, and eventually handed over to individuals who subjected them to brutal abuse. Despite being in the presence of legal counsel at one point, the two were still violently mistreated.
Boniface revealed that he was assaulted even after being told by the Kenyan ambassador he would be deported. Instead, he was beaten by state security agents who accused him of attempting to undermine Tanzania. He and Agather were then blindfolded, transported, and held in a secret location where they endured extreme torture, including sexual violence. Bony recounted being stripped, beaten while tied upside down, and sexually assaulted—acts that their tormentors recorded while they were forced to chant praises for President Samia Suluhu.
Agather confirmed similar treatment, noting that the abuse involved objects rather than bodily contact. She identified a man named Faustine Mafwele as one of the officials who ordered the assaults.
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After days of suffering and psychological torment, both were eventually dumped at different locations near the border and sent back to their respective countries.
Despite coming from nations with histories of state repression, they both described Tanzania’s impunity as shocking.
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