After days of diplomatic pressure and regional tension, activist Boniface Mwangi has finally been released by Tanzanian authorities — but not without controversy.
According to Mwangi’s family, the outspoken human rights defender was quietly transported by road on Thursday and abandoned at the Kenya-Tanzania border, sauce.co.ke has confirmed.
The dramatic release follows intense backlash from the Kenyan government, which had formally protested Mwangi’s unexplained arrest in Dar es Salaam and demanded immediate consular access or his release.
In a diplomatic note dated May 21, 2025, Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs voiced “deep concern” over the situation, slamming Tanzanian authorities for denying Kenyan officials consular access and failing to provide any information about Mwangi’s condition or why he was arrested.
Mwangi was picked up in Dar es Salaam on Monday under mysterious circumstances. And while Tanzanian officials claimed he was released and repatriated, his exact whereabouts remain unknown, setting off alarm bells across the region.
Citing the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963), Kenya reminded Tanzania of its international obligations. The Convention guarantees the right of consular officers to visit, communicate with, and arrange legal support for any detained national — rights Mwangi has allegedly been denied.
“Consular officers shall be free to communicate with nationals of the sending State… and have the right to visit them in prison or detention,” the Ministry stated, emphasizing that these rights must be honored “without delay.”
