Dar es Salaam – The reported abduction of Tanzanian activist Twaha Mwaipaya in Kenya has drawn new intervention from legal and rights organisations across East Africa, as his whereabouts remain unknown and public responses from authorities leave key questions unresolved.
On October 27, the Kenyan Government Spokesperson’s office told BBC Swahili it had received no formal report about the alleged abduction and was following the matter. BBC also reported that the Tanzania High Commission in Nairobi said it had not received any report about the claim.
Those statements followed a Reuters report that the news agency had seen a police report recording Mwaipaya as missing on October 26. The difference between the accounts has not been publicly explained, and The Chanzo couldn’t independently establish whether police have opened an investigation.
No public statement on the case appeared on the public channels of the Kenya National Police Service, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, or the Tanzania High Commission when The Chanzo checked on October 27, though that is not proof that no inquiries are under way.
Amnesty International Kenya first said on October 25 that Mwaipaya was reportedly taken at about 2 p.m. in Kamulu, Machakos County, while travelling by taxi to visit friends.
The organisation said the people alleged to have taken him were using three vehicles, including a Toyota Land Cruiser hardtop. It said that three unidentified men intercepted the taxi, ordered its driver out, and left with Mwaipaya in the vehicle.
CHADEMA, of which Mwaipaya is a member, has called on authorities to establish his whereabouts, ensure his safety and hold those responsible to account. In a formal statement posted by the party’s communications director, the opposition party said it was seeking facts from Kenyan authorities and urged President William Ruto’s government to ensure a professional and swift investigation.
The Uganda Law Society has taken the case beyond a bilateral appeal. In an October 26 statement, the society described the reported disappearance as part of a wider regional concern over cross-border repression and said, “No individual should be subjected to abduction or denied due process.”
The bar association said that if Tanzania had a case against Mwaipaya, it should seek extradition and follow judicial safeguards rather than bypassing them. But no Tanzanian authority has publicly said it is seeking Mwaipaya’s return, accused him of an offence, or requested his extradition.
The demand is rooted in Kenya’s legal obligations. Article 29 of the Kenyan Constitution protects every person against arbitrary deprivation of liberty, violence, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, while the Constitution treats the right to a fair trial and an order of habeas corpus as rights that cannot be limited.
READ MORE: Attempted Abduction of Tanzania’s Activist in Kenya Foiled
The Pan-African Solidarity Network, known as PASNET, also held a press conference in Nairobi on October 26. Its representative Alex Mukasa urged Kenyan investigative agencies to use the vehicles described by witnesses as leads and to find Mwaipaya, saying, “Kenya cannot remain the abduction hub of East Africa.”
The case has renewed attention on the safety of regional dissidents and rights defenders in Kenya. The Linda Mwananchi Movement has demanded disclosure of Mwaipaya’s whereabouts, protection from any forced removal and an independent investigation.
Those calls are shaped by recent but separate cases. Kenyan officers rescued Tanzanian human-rights defender Mshabaha Mshabaha Hamza in February and arrested three suspects in a reported attempted forced rendition.
Journalist and activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai was reportedly taken in Nairobi in January 2025 and released later that day. Neither case establishes who may have taken Mwaipaya or whether there is any connection.
Mwaipaya came to national prominence through CHADEMA’s youth wing, BAVICHA, where he served as national mobilisation coordinator and campaigned for constitutional reform and police accountability.
Many Tanzanian human rights defenders have sought refuge in Kenya due to the increasingly repressive environment in their home country, particularly following the disputed 2025 elections, which were marred by violence and a brutal crackdown on opposition supporters.
