A 27-year-old man, Edgar Edson Mwakabela, who went missing, sparking the viral #WhereIsSativa campaign on social media platform X, has been found tortured and abandoned in Katavi National Park.
For the past four days, social media users have been running a campaign on X #WhereIsSativa following the disappearance of Mwakabela on June 23, 2024. Yesterday, friends and colleagues organized a space that attracted hundreds of participants on X.
In a video that was shared on X, Mwakabela is seen sitting down in the dust, wounded, and talking in a breaking voice.
” Please help me, my head hurts, my legs are swollen,” Edgar can be heard pleading with the people who found him.
Edgar was found dumped in Katavi National Park,1400 Kilometres from Dar es Salaam where he was abducted. According to the Katavi Regional Police Commissioner, SACP Kaster Ngonyani, Edgar informed them that he was first taken to Arusha (600 Kilometers) where he was tortured.
“There was no blood on his clothes, but there was some blood on his head, and he was pierced with a sharp object around his ear. We are on the lookout for the people who did this to him,” said SACP Ngonyani.
While the motive behind the kidnapping is unclear, some social media users speculate it may be linked to Mwakabela’s recent post supporting a traders’ strike. He is currently receiving treatment at Mpimbwe Hospital in Katavi.
X users who organized the campaign #WhereIsSativa have started another initiative to raise funds for his treatment, a total of Tsh. 4,439,000 has been collected.
