A prominent Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai, has been released after being kidnapped on Sunday by three armed men on the streets of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
Her husband, David Tsehai, disclosed her release, while accusing Tanzania’s national intelligence service of responsibility.
Tsehai, a human rights defender who is critical of Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, was kidnapped and taken into a black car in the Kilimani neighbourhood on Sunday afternoon, Amnesty International said.
However, Sarungi Tsehai wrote on X later that she was now safe. Her brief detention comes as the governments of both Tanzania and Kenya stand accused of abducting critics.
https://x.com/mariastsehai/status/1878493075468623962?s=46
Sarungi Tsehai’s husband said the couple sought refuge in Nairobi four years ago after fleeing Tanzania. He described the kidnap as the scariest moment of his life. He added that there was no doubt the thugs of the Tanzania Information and Security Services were behind the attack.
President Hassan had ordered investigation into the abductions and killings of several government critics las year. However, Amnesty International researcher, Roland Ebole, said Tsehai’s abduction was another example of transnational repression that is happening on Kenyan soil.
