Prominent Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi has raised alarm over his safety after a tense standoff with armed men claiming to be Tanzanian police officers who showed up unannounced at his hotel room in Dar es Salaam on Sunday night.
The incident unfolded just hours after Kenyan opposition figure and leader of the People’s Liberation Party (PLP), Martha Karua, was arrested, detained, and deported upon arrival in Tanzania. Karua was accompanied by Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Council member Gloria Kimani and Pan-African Progressive Leaders Solidarity Network member Lynn Ngugi. The three were detained at Julius Nyerere International Airport before being deported, Karua revealed in a social media post.
Later that night, Mwangi, who was staying at the Serena Hotel, said armed men dressed in civilian clothes knocked on his door, claiming to be police officers and asking him to step outside. He refused, citing fears for his safety.
“My life is in danger. I’m at Serena Hotel, Dar es Salaam, and there are armed men in civilian clothes outside my room. They claim they are police officers, but they have refused to identify themselves. They will have to break the door to remove me. I’m not going to open it,” Mwangi tweeted.
In a video he shared online, the men can be heard trying to persuade him to come to the hotel reception, insisting he would be safe. However, Mwangi questioned their motives and demanded identification. A man who introduced himself as a hotel staff member named Robinson also attempted to reassure him, but Mwangi refused to open the door and asked for identification to be slid under it instead.
The standoff escalated when one of the men, frustrated by Mwangi’s resistance, warned him he was making things worse. Mwangi then told them to break down the door if they wanted to arrest him. The armed men eventually left his room, later moving to the hotel lobby.
“The unidentified armed men have left my door. I’m informed they have moved to the hotel lobby. My bags are packed, and I’m ready to go with those people when the Tanzanian lawyers who are following up on this matter arrive. For now, I will stay put. Thank you for the solidarity,” Mwangi later posted.
He also explained his refusal to comply in a recorded statement, citing concerns over growing repression in Tanzania. “I’m scared for my life because there are a lot of abductions in this country, a lot of executions in this country, and people are in jail for refusing [President] Suluhu’s dictatorship,” said Mwangi.
Tanzanian authorities are yet to issue an official statement on the incident. The events have sparked widespread concern and condemnation from civil society groups across East Africa.
