Tanzania's crackdown on activists tests East African bonds – DW – 06/07/2025

DW

07-06-2025

Opposition activists from Kenya allege that they were detained and tortured in neighboring Tanzania. Leaders there don't seem to like that cross-border economic cooperation has extended to human rights solidarity.
An unusual request from the Kenyan president caused a stir at the end of May. "To our neighbors from Tanzania, if we have wronged you in any way, forgive us," William Ruto told a delegation of Tanzanian MPs at a national prayer breakfast.
Some Kenyans found the gesture appropriate, but others found it outrageous. Less than a week prior, prominent Kenyan photojournalist and activist Boniface Mwangi had returned to Kenya visibly weakened after five days in a Tanzanian prison.
He and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire had traveled to Tanzania to support imprisoned opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is on trial on charges of treason. Lissu and his Party for Democracy and Development (Chadema), the country's largest opposition party, had called for the Tanzanian constitution to be reformed ahead of elections in October.
'Treated worse than dogs'
Early this week, Mwangi and Atuhaire made serious accusations at a press conference. They described how they were arrested in their hotel and later brutally tortured and raped. Mwangi also described numerous details in a lengthy post on the social media platform X.
"We were treated worse than dogs," Mwangi said after returning to Nairobi.
Tanzanian government spokesperson Gerson Msigwa confirmed that Mwangi and Atuhaire were expelled from the country, but denied all other accusations.
"Do they have proof of these atrocities? They cannot just tarnish the country with allegations for which they have no evidence. They have invaded the country and violated law and order," he said. "Nobody should come here and try to impose their country's political culture on Tanzania."
Fear of protests amid economic uncertainty
For Kenyan economist James Shikwati, the motive for the Tanzanian government's actions is clear: "What's happening is the fear of what neighboring countries saw happen in Kenya in June last year when the young people demonstrated and were able to go all the way to parliament," said Shikwati, who heads the think tank Inter Region Economic Network.
The demonstrations, often referred to as "Gen-Z protests," were a reaction by young Kenyans to a bill that would have increased taxes. "I think it made our neighbors have very sensitive skin about anybody who shows capability of mobilizing people," Shikwati told DW, adding that these tensions are taking place in the context of economic difficulties.
Tanzania's intolerance of transnational activism
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"It's income, jobs, opportunities shrinking, the global dynamics changing, militarization of global economy, meaning the normal trade patterns are getting disrupted and the little income these countries were making is disappearing overnight," he said. Meanwhile, international NGOs are withdrawing, USAID cuts initiated by US President Donald Trump are hitting East Africa hard, and the entire region is feeling the economic losses for export giant Kenya, Shikwati added.
'Human rights have no borders'
What does the heated atmosphere mean for the East African Community, founded in 2000 by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania? Citizens have been allowed to travel freely between the member states since the 1960s, and many take advantage of this to work or study in these neighboring countries. But now there is a growing fear, especially among Kenyans, of traveling to Tanzania.
In fact, other human rights activists who wanted to support Tundu Lissu were also prevented from entering the country — including Kenya's former justice minister and lawyer Martha Karua. She is also in contact with Uganda's imprisoned opposition politician Kizza Besigye and successfully campaigned for improving his conditions.
"Human rights have no borders," she told DW about both cases.
Leaders likely to maintain status quo?
Shikwati does not expect any major upsets at government level. For him, Ruto's statements at the prayer breakfast sent a clear message. "They feel that something is not OK and most likely are trying to coordinate on this because you could see the Kenyan government trying to distance itself and say, 'Look, we're not part of the activists, so forgive us if something went wrong'."
Shikwati also said that the tensions show how previous ideas of the economic community failed to reflect reality. While East Africa has relied on good cooperation between governments, it had not been considered that political opposition could also use the community to advance its own goals, he added.
Despite support from neighboring countries, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is facing strong domestic headwinds. Ideas about what Tanzania's "political culture" should be sometimes differ greatly from government actions.
The well-known bishop of a revivalist church, Josephat Gwajima, himself a member of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, said at the end of May: "I want to tell you the truth: kidnapping is not our Tanzanian culture." People should only be arrested on the basis of the law, he said.
Gwajima's church was closed last Monday. The Registrar of Civil Societies in Tanzania said that the church had broken the law by preaching in a way that turned citizens against the government. Their bishop is now missing.
With reporting by Thelma Mwadzaya (Nairobi), Florence Majani