NAIROBI, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Tanzanian opposition activist Twaha Mwaipaya was reported missing in Kenya on Sunday, according to a police report seen by Reuters, in the latest case involving the disappearance of a government critic in the East African country.
• Mwaipaya was travelling by taxi to visit friends in Kamulu, around 35 km (22 miles) east of Nairobi, when three unidentified men intercepted him at about 2 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Sunday, Amnesty International researcher Sikula Oniala told Reuters
• The men ordered the taxi driver to get out of the vehicle before they drove away with Mwaipaya inside, Oniala said
• Reuters could not independently verify Amnesty’s account. It was not immediately clear who took Mwaipaya, whether he remained in Kenya or whether he had been harmed
• Kenyan and Tanzanian police spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment
• The case follows reported cross-border abductions of government critics in Kenya
• Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was abducted in Nairobi in November 2024, later appeared before a military court in Uganda, and has since been charged with treason
• Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai was briefly detained in Nairobi in January 2025
• John Heche, vice-chairman of Tanzania’s main opposition CHADEMA party, whose leader Tundu Lissu is on trial for treason, urged the Kenyan authorities to help find Mwaipaya
• “Nairobi cannot remain an abduction hub for dictators,” Heche said
(Reporting by Edwin Okoth and Humphrey Malalo; Writing by Vincent Mumo Nzilani; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Joe Bavier)
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