NAIROBI, Kenya July 26 – Kenya’s authorities is on the spot for its silence on the disappearance of activist Mwabili Mwagodi, who went lacking on Tanzanian soil days in the past below circumstances suggesting abduction.
The outspoken critic of President William Ruto’s church fundraisers vanished in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, but Nairobi has stated nothing. Tanzania, too, stays mute.
The continued silence from each governments has ignited fears of a coordinated regional crackdown on dissidents.
Is Kenya complicit within the abduction of one in every of its personal residents on international soil?
Could Mwagodi’s disappearance be a part of a rising sample of East African regimes quietly cooperating to suppress outspoken critics?
These questions are actually dominating on-line discourse, particularly amongst Kenya’s Gen Z-led activist group.
“A Kenyan has been kidnapped in Tanzania. Again,” stated Hussein Khalid, CEO of human rights group VOCAL Africa.
“It appears President Suluhu Samia and her authorities are working around the clock to focus on Kenyan activists. Why is President Ruto silent?
Mwagodi, recognized for spearheading the #OccupyChurch motion in opposition to political fundraising in church buildings, was final seen in Kigamboni, the place he labored at Amani Beach Hotel.
His sister, Isabella Kituri, stated police refused to take a lacking individuals report till 24 hours had handed, a delay activists see as suspicious.
His remaining X submit focused prime Kenyan safety officers and the president, labeling them “criminals” and urging others to report them to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
That similar day, the DCI had unveiled a brand new crime-reporting WhatsApp quantity. Shortly after, he vanished.
This will not be the primary time Kenyan activists have confronted hazard throughout the border.
In May 2025, Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan lawyer Agather Atuhaire had been arrested, detained, tortured, and deported from Tanzania below murky circumstances.
The Kenyan authorities issued a protest, however which will have been mere posturing.
Earlier, civil society leaders like Martha Karua and former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga had been denied entry into Tanzania. Others, like Hussein Khalid, had been deported.
“There is a transparent sample of cross-border repression,” stated Khalid.
“Governments are quietly teaming as much as silence critics. Today it’s Mwabili. Tomorrow, it may very well be any of us.”
Mwagodi’s disappearance has sparked a livid on-line marketing campaign below the hashtag #FreeMwabiliMwagodi, with hundreds demanding accountability from each Kenya and Tanzania.
As each governments stay quiet, civil society organizations are actually demanding solutions.
The query nobody desires to ask however many are actually elevating is whether or not Kenya helped facilitate the disappearance.
Could Nairobi be utilizing Tanzanian soil to do what it can not legally do at house vanish dissenters?
Human rights teams throughout the area are calling for instant investigations, whilst fear grows that Mwagodi’s case could by no means be resolved like so many others.
Until each Nairobi and Dodoma break their silence, the suspicion of a coordinated crackdown on East African critics will solely deepen.
