The whereabouts of activist Mpaluka Said Nyagali, popularly known as Mdude, remain unknown following a violent attack at his home on the night of May 2, 2025. He was taken by unidentified individuals who left behind a bloody scene.
Mdude was at home with his wife, Sije Mbugi, and their infant child when the attackers broke down their door and dragged him away.
According to his wife, she had woken up to breastfeed their child when she heard noises, first a motorcycle, then a vehicle. Moments later, the assailants broke into their home and forcibly removed Mdude from the bedroom.
“Both of us were shouting as they were breaking down the door,” a tearful Sije Mbugi told reporters. “When they entered, one of them stopped me in one of the rooms; he was holding a hammer, and they pulled Mdude to the seating room,” she continued.
The attackers claimed to be police officers. They left with Mdude, who is suspected to be in poor health due to the large amount of blood found inside and outside the house as he was being dragged away.
Accusations Against Police
Mdude’s wife and his political party, CHADEMA, have pointed fingers at the police, especially since Mdude had recently warned that officers were trying to discover his home address.
“The police force in the Mbeya region is looking for the house I live in. I don’t know if they want to come perform rituals or abduct me?” Mdude wrote sarcastically in an X post on April 30, 2025.
“They told one of our members, ‘Please show us the house where Mdude lives, we’ll give you money.’ When he asked them what crime I had committed, they avoided answering. They’ve even gone as far as offering a bribe just to be shown where I live,” he continued.
READ: Mbeya Court dismisses Mdude’s plea, bail process for the activist hit a snag in Dar
“My phone numbers are with the RPC and RCO offices in Mbeya—if they believe there are allegations against me, why don’t they just call me so I can come in? Why are they hunting me down and spying on me?” he concluded.
In a video circulating online, the individual allegedly approached by police named two officers as those who had tried to recruit him to spy on Mdude’s location.
A colleague of Mdude’s in Mbeya, known as Abdulkarim, said Mdude had invited him to visit on May 1, but he was unavailable. Later that night, Abdulkarim received a call informing him that Mdude had been attacked and was missing.
“We called the police at around 2 a.m., only for them to show up at 10 a.m. The Central Police station is just 10 kilometers from here, and there’s a small police post only 4 kilometers away,” Abdulkarim said.
Police Deny Involvement
Mbeya Regional Police Commander Benjamin Elias Kuzaga has denied police involvement in the incident.
“The Mbeya Regional Police Force denies the information circulating on social media, which claims that police officers are involved in this incident,” Kuzaga said.
READ: Court sets free CHADEMA Activist, Mdude Nyagali
He added “The Mbeya Regional Police Force calls upon anyone with information about the whereabouts of Mpaluka Said Nyagali, also known as Mdude, to come forward to help locate him and identify those involved.”
Since 2019, Mdude has faced multiple arrests and instances of torture at the hands of authorities. His experiences led him to write a book titled Five Years of Pain.
On November 22, 2024, Mdude was arrested by police during the local government elections and remained in remand until December 3, 2024. Upon his release, he broke down emotionally, describing the torment he suffered at the hands of police and displaying physical scars.
This recent incident comes just a day after a separate attack on outspoken Catholic priest Charles Kitima, who was assaulted inside church offices on the night of April 30, 2025.
