Arusha – Joseph Mrindoko, one half of the Wachokonozi duo whose case was dropped by the District Court of Arumeru, has used a new Facebook post to cast the prosecution as both a political drama and a personal trial.
In the post, Mrindoko wrote: “Grandfather used to say the world has never tested weak people.” He added that some moments do not arrive “merely as dates” but “as marks on the wall of history” in a reflection that linked his release to a larger public struggle.
Mrindoko and his co-accused, Jackson Kabalo, were freed after the prosecution failed to continue leading evidence in a case in which they had been accused of publishing false information online and operating an online content platform without a licence.
The court said the matter had dragged on too long and ordered their release under section 242(5) of the Criminal Procedure Act.
In his statement, Mrindoko thanked the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC) and the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), as well as “all upright journalists and activists nationally and internationally” for standing with the pair.
READ MORE: Arusha Court Drops Case Against Wachokonozi Duo After Prosecution Stalls
“You showed the world that humanity is not about wearing clothes, but about calling evil by its real name,” he wrote.
He also reserved special praise for his lawyers, naming Ally Mhyella, Peter Nyamwero and Simon Mbwambo in the post. Mrindoko said their legal representation “was not just work, but an act of devotion to this noble profession” and argued that when law is worn “with a clean mind, it becomes a weapon of civilisation.”
The strongest lines in the post were aimed at those he believed engineered the charges.
“For those who wrote the script of those stale charges, I thank you for that weak script, because the work of darkness is to teach the value of light,” he wrote, in a passage that underscored both resentment and triumph after nearly a year of legal uncertainty.
Mrindoko also praised the Arumeru court’s handling of the matter, saying the magistrates had reaffirmed the meaning of a court as “not a field of trickery, but a bridge that restores a citizen to his rightful standing.”
He said the ruling showed that the judiciary still retained “its seat of honour at the table,” before asking: “My anxiety is, what does the person playing games with it really want?”
READ MORE: Viral Tanzanian Political Podcasters Wachokonozi Arrested for Alleged Social Media Abuse
The Wachokonozi pair first drew national attention after their June 2025 arrest in Arusha. Their podcast had built an audience by discussing politics, elections, religion, debt, and other public issues, helping to turn the case into a broader test of how authorities treat outspoken digital commentators.
Mrindoko’s wider public profile suggests he occupies several identities at once. His public presence describes him as an entrepreneur and founder of Nyumbani Care Ltd, a psychologist, and a lawyer.
He is also a singer and songwriter who goes by the stage name of JOMRI. He is also a public speaker and author.
That blend of activism, commentary and self-styled intellectualism helps explain the register of his post, which reads less like a routine thank-you note than a manifesto after acquittal.
It also reinforces why the Wachokonozi case has resonated beyond the two defendants, in a media environment where online and broadcast content providers in Tanzania face a complex regulatory regime.
