On Sunday, May 4, 2025, members of the opposition party CHADEMA organized a search effort across various areas of Mbeya, including forests, valleys, and bushes, hoping to find signs of activist Mdude Nyagali, who was abducted two days earlier. Mdude disappeared from his home on May 2, 2025, after individuals identifying themselves as police officers broke in around 2:00 a.m., assaulted him, and took him away, leaving behind a pool of blood.
Speaking to The Chanzo, Abdulkarim Juma, a close confidant of Mdude and the first to arrive at the scene following a call from Mdude’s wife, said he took her to the police station and helped organize the search party. He expressed a lack of confidence in the police, who are accused of being involved in the incident.
“We divided responsibilities among ourselves and formed several groups to search areas where we believe or suspect he might have been abandoned, based on the direction the car was seen heading. We also visited health centers and all the hospitals in Mbeya town, and circulated alerts,” Abdulkarim explained.
The CHADEMA Vice Chairperson for the Nyasa Region, Mwakajoka, emphasized their belief that Mdude is still alive. “We have searched an area covering about ten kilometers in Mbeya, including the mortuary. Mdude is not there. We believe he is still alive,” Mwakajoka stated.
Police Response
The police have said that a team has been dispatched from Dodoma to Mbeya to investigate the claims of police involvement in the attack and disappearance.
“The Police Force is closely investigating allegations made by a citizen — whose identity is still being verified — accusing two police officers on social media of asking him to work as an informant in exchange for payment,” the police said in a statement.
“In response to these claims, the Police Force, through the Office of the Director of Criminal Investigations, has formed a task force that has already arrived in the Mbeya Region to conduct a thorough investigation,” the statement continued.
Two days before his abduction, Mdude posted on his X (formerly Twitter) page that he had been informed the police were searching for his address. He urged the Mbeya police to contact him directly using his known contact information. Following his disappearance, a video emerged of an individual claiming that police had approached him to help locate Mdude.
“These people came looking for me, and I met them at Soko Matola, where they stopped their car. Shabaan told me they wanted to do some spying and said, ‘You have to show us where Mdude is staying,’” the individual explained in the widely circulated video.
He added: “I told them Mdude hasn’t been around for a while — he’s in Tukuyu — but I don’t know exactly where. They said they’d give me money for accommodation while I looked for him. After meeting them the day before yesterday, I was shocked to hear yesterday that Mdude had been arrested, seriously injured, and hasn’t been seen since.”
Demand for Accountability
Both CHADEMA and members of Mdude’s family have pointed fingers at the police, referencing his troubled history with law enforcement.
“We took the initiative to meet with the RCO because the Police Force is the one being accused. Mdude has had a long-standing conflict with the police — he was once framed with drugs, imprisoned, and faces multiple cases. Currently, he has an ongoing case in Mlowo, Mbozi, where he’s accused of injuring a police officer by allegedly throwing a stone — something he has never done,” Abdulkarim told The Chanzo.
At the RCO office, CHADEMA members were informed that the police have begun searching for Mdude’s whereabouts.
