Agency moves to court over missing Tanzanian activist Twaha
A human rights organisation has moved to the High Court in Nairobi seeking orders compelling security agencies to produce Tanzanian opposition activist Twaha Mwaipaya, who was allegedly abducted by armed men in Kamulu, Machakos County.
Vocal Africa, through Mango Law & Company Advocates, has filed an urgent habeas corpus application seeking to establish Mwaipaya’s whereabouts and secure his release following his alleged abduction on Sunday, October 25, 2026.
The activist, a former national mobilisation coordinator of CHADEMA’s youth wing, BAVICHA, was reportedly travelling in a Bolt taxi with a friend when their vehicle was intercepted by occupants of a black double-cabin pickup.
In an affidavit filed in support of the application, Vocal Africa Chief Executive Officer Hussein Khalid recounts how the friend escaped after the occupants of the pickup ordered the taxi to stop.
According to the account, two armed men wearing blue surgical masks and dark sunglasses alighted from the pickup and moved to block the taxi’s doors.
The friend reportedly forced open the front passenger door and fled, later looking back to see the men entering the taxi in which Mwaipaya remained.
A missing person report was subsequently filed at Ruai Police Station under Occurrence Book number 47/25/10/2026.
“If you see a black double cabin pick up trailing you…………RUN,” said Khalid.
“These are the words of the subject’s friend who miraculously managed to escape from the hands of the ruthless abductors as he helplessly witnessed his friend been taken away to an unknown detention site.”
The application names Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the Officer Commanding Ruai Police Station, the Attorney General and Amin Mohamed Ibrahim, among others, as respondents.
The petitioners argue that Mwaipaya faces an imminent risk of being forcibly transferred to Tanzania, where they fear he could be subjected to torture and detention without access to legal representation or communication with his family.
Court documents describe Mwaipaya as a vocal critic of the Tanzanian government who fled his country in October 2025 following the general election, citing threats to his life and family.
He also reportedly spent 133 days in prison during the late President John Magufuli’s administration and was allegedly abducted and tortured in April 2025 before being abandoned in the Pande wildlife area in Bagamoyo.
The petitioners have drawn parallels between his disappearance and the 2024 abduction of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye in Nairobi, who was subsequently transferred to Uganda and charged with treason in a military court.
The Linda Mwananchi Movement has also condemned the alleged abduction, warning against the use of Kenyan territory to target government critics from neighbouring countries.
The Uganda Law Society similarly denounced the incident, describing it as part of a wider regional pattern of enforced disappearances, abductions and intimidation of dissenters.
Among the orders sought, Vocal Africa wants the court to compel the Inspector General of Police to produce Mwaipaya before the court within 24 hours and require the police chief and DCI director to explain his whereabouts.
The organisation is also seeking orders restraining the respondents from arresting or detaining him, preserving CCTV footage and other tracking records that could help establish his movements, and securing his unconditional release once he is presented in court.
Vocal Africa further wants the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and other relevant bodies to conduct an independent investigatiom and submit reports to the court within 14 days.
