Tanzanian detention horror: Activist Boniface Mwangi shares brutal ordeal

Activist Boniface Mwangi has revealed a harrowing account of torture he and fellow activist Agather Atuhaire suffered while in Tanzanian custody, accusing President Samia Suluhu’s government of a brutal crackdown on political dissent.

Mwangi said they traveled to Dar es Salaam in support of opposition leader Tundu Lissu but instead were subjected to inhumane treatment and remain detained under unclear circumstances.

Atuhaire has also been released.

Mwangi on Friday described their ordeal in chilling detail, recalling how they were forced to strip naked, crawl to wash off their blood, and were blindfolded and handcuffed throughout the abuse.

"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," he said.

He added that any attempt to speak during the torture was met with violence: "Any attempt to speak to each other during the night we were tortured was met with kicks and insults."

The activist identified a Tanzanian state security officer as the main orchestrator of the abuse, describing the man as overweight with a sagging potbelly, wearing a black suit on the day of their arrest.

Mwangi said this officer reported directly to President Samia Suluhu Hassan and was responsible for their transfer to a secret location for what was called "Tanzanian treatment."

"If anyone is holding Agather, it's that man and Suluhu," Mwangi declared.

Despite his release on Thursday, Mwangi emphasized that Atuhaire remains unaccounted for.

He thanked those who helped secure his freedom but warned: "We are yet to know the whereabouts of my friend and comrade, Agather."

"We were detained, tortured, and treated worse than rabid dogs in the name of President Suluhu," he added.

Mwangi framed their visit as an act of peaceful solidarity with Tanzanian opposition figures.

"We were there peacefully as members of East African Community to attend a court hearing in solidarity with Chadema’s party leader, Tundu Lissu," he said.

He also cited his history of supporting jailed activists across Africa and highlighted his Pan-Africanist beliefs, quoting Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah: "I’m not African because I was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in me."

He called for unity among African activists to resist dictatorship and pledged to expose the Tanzanian government’s actions to the world.

"Everything that happened to us in Tanzania was done in Samia Suluhu’s name, and we will ensure the world gets to know. What Suluhu did to us will be revealed to the world. We shall not be silenced by a torturous dictator who has her foot on the necks of the Tanzanian people," Mwangi said.