Ugandan Journalist and Kenyan Activist Boniface Mwangi Recount Ordeal in Tanzania
Alongside Atuhaire, Kenyan photojournalist and activist Boniface Mwangi also described his own ordeal. He said he was ambushed one morning and dragged by men who identified themselves as government officials.
Ugandan journalist Agatha Atuhaire alleges mistreatment by Tanzanian authorities during detention in Dar es Salaam. Photo/Eastleigh Voice.
By Gidion Ngeno
Ugandan journalist Agatha Atuhaire has come forward with disturbing allegations of mistreatment by Tanzanian authorities during a recent detention in Dar es Salaam, where she had travelled with Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi to show support for opposition leader Tundu Lissu during a court hearing.
Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi on Monday, Atuhaire detailed a harrowing experience marked by humiliation, physical abuse, and sexual harassment while in police custody.
“They stripped me down to my underwear and beat me,” Atuhaire told journalists. “I was then taken to a clinic where they forcibly injected unknown substances into my body. I had no strength left to resist.”
She added that at some point, her condition appeared to alarm the authorities. “They began to panic and started giving me large amounts of painkillers. I believe they were worried about the state I was in when I left,” she said.
The physical trauma, she revealed, was so severe that she was unable to walk for three days. “My feet were extremely swollen. It felt like my skin was stretched so tight it could burst. The pain was unbearable,” she recounted.
Alongside Atuhaire, Kenyan photojournalist and activist Boniface Mwangi also described his own ordeal. He said he was ambushed one morning and dragged by men who identified themselves as government officials.
“I screamed through the hotel corridors and ran to my colleagues for help,” Mwangi said. “The men followed me, insisting they wanted to question me.”
The incident has sparked outrage among press freedom and human rights advocates across East Africa, especially given its timing — just weeks after global celebrations marking World Press Freedom Day, which highlighted the rising risks faced by journalists, particularly in the East African region.
Calls for accountability are growing louder as both Atuhaire and Mwangi push for justice and international attention to what they describe as blatant abuse of journalists and civil society voices.
The Tanzanian government has yet to issue an official statement regarding the allegations.
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