Activist Mwabili Mwagodi has recounted how he was abducted and held incommunicado for four days in Tanzania, before being abandoned in a thicket in Kinondo, Kwale County.

After receiving medical treatment for five days at a Mombasa hospital, Mwagodi—accompanied by his relatives, lawyer, and fellow activists—made his first public appearance at the Central Police Station in Mombasa to record a statement.

However, his attempt was unsuccessful after the Officer Commanding Station declined, citing a lack of jurisdiction since the incident had occurred outside their area.

Addressing the press afterwards, Mwagodi explained that he had been working legally at a hotel in Tanzania for several years until July 23, when four men abducted him and confiscated his documents.

He was blindfolded and taken to an unknown location, where he was interrogated all night in an isolated room while handcuffed.

He was later taken to his workplace, where he also lived. His two phones and a laptop were confiscated.

“I was under the guard of two armed men in the private house. I was locked in a bedroom, cuffed day and night. The only time the cuffs were removed was during meals,” Mwagodi recalled.

He added that on the fourth day, he was taken on a long drive before being handed back the items that had been confiscated.

“I was handed over to other people whom I didn’t know, as I was still blindfolded. These people were very rough; they threw me into a car, and I was driven again for a few hours. They stopped the car and intimidated me as they interrogated me,” he said.

Mwagodi further revealed that the interrogators wanted to know what issues he had with the Head of State. He alleged that they assaulted him in turns before abandoning him in a thicket.

“I was disoriented for a while, then my senses came back, and I started to walk. It was total darkness. I counted 3,330 steps until I reached Coral Cove, where I was assisted, and the establishment’s manager called the police,” he stated, adding that human rights activists thwarted attempts to detain him at Diani Police Station.

He thanked his family, friends, and fellow Kenyans for standing with him while he was in detention.

Muslims for Human Rights Chairman, Khelef Khalifa, claimed that authorities in Tanzania collaborate with Kenyan security agencies to silence dissidents.

“What we know in law is that an OB can be lodged anywhere. When they arrested and dumped him in a thicket, he found his way to Diani Police Station, which refused to record his statement. We wonder what they are hiding,” stated Khalifa.

Mwagodi’s lawyer, Munira Ali, condemned the abduction as illegal, stressing that her client’s only ‘mistake’ was holding the government accountable.

– By Sadik Hassan, KNA