Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai has been released after being abducted in Nairobi by three armed men, her husband said. The human rights defender, known for her criticism of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, was reportedly taken in a black car in the Kilimani neighboorhood on Sunday afternoon.
According to Reuters, Amnesty International condemned the abduction, describing it as part of a broader trend of targeting government critics in East Africa. Sarungi Tsehai later confirmed her release, writing on X, ‘I am now safe, many thanks to everyone.’
Sarungi Tsehai’s husband, David Tsehai, stated that the couple fled Tanzania four years ago and sought refuge in Kenya due to political persecution. He accused Tanzania’s national intelligence agency, the Tanzania Information and Security Services (TISS), of orchestrating the abduction.
‘There is no doubt in my mind (it is) the thugs of the Tanzania Information and Security Services (TISS) who are behind this,’ he said in a video shared by the Law Society of Kenya.
Tanzanian authorities and TISS did not immediately respond to request for comment. Kenya’s police spokesperson also declined to comment on the incident.
Rights groups have raised concerns about an increasing pattern of abductions targeting activists and opposition figures in both Kenya and Tanzania. Last year, Tanzanian President Hassan ordered an investigation into a series of disappearances and attacks on government critics. However, reports of abductions persist as the country prepares for national elections later this year.
Amnesty International researcher Roland Ebole described Sarungi Tsehai’s case as another instance of ‘transnational repression happening on Kenyan soil.’ Kenyan authorities have denied such allegations.
In a similar case in November, a Ugandan opposition figure was kidnapped in Nairobi and forcibly returned to Uganda, where he now faces charges in a military court.
The abduction and subsequent release of Sarungi Tsehai highlight ongoing concerns about the suppression of dissent in East Africa. Activists fear that as elections approach, more government critics could face intimidation or forced disappearances.
For now, Sarungi Tsehai is safe, but her case underscores the broader risks facing political activists in the region.
