Stomped on head and jabbed with syringes; Mwagodi's 4 days of torture

Kenyan activist Mwabili Mwagodi was reportedly injected in the head, back, and hands with a syringe by suspected Tanzanian security agents who held him incommunicado for three days in Dar es Salaam.

The areas on his back, hands, and ribs where the syringe is said to have penetrated were visibly swollen.

On Sunday, Mwagodi appeared incoherent, weak, and occasionally cried out in pain.

Vocal Africa CEO Hussein Khalid confirmed that the organisation had reached out to Amnesty International to assist with forensic investigations, saying Mwagodi’s mental state appeared unstable.

“He was beaten by his abductors and stepped on the head as well as injected using a syringe. We shall rely on forensic investigations to see the extent of damage,” said Khalid.

Medical tests, including imaging scans, were conducted at Pandya Memorial Hospital in Mombasa, where Mwagodi is currently receiving treatment.

“He has physical injuries and he indicated that he was not in his best mental health status,” Khalid added.

Interviews with people close to Mwagodi revealed he was abducted on Wednesday by two heavily built men as he left Amani Resort in Dar es Salaam, where he worked as a hotel manager.

“They asked him why he was creating trouble in Kenya before they blindfolded, handcuffed, and drove him to a house,” said a family member who requested anonymity.

According to Mwagodi’s account, he was offered a chapati, a boiled egg, and tea before the two men assaulted him and injected him with the syringe.

His 60-year-old mother, Jeslinah Mwabili, issued an emotional plea to President William Ruto to spare her son from further harm and to listen to dissenting voices.

“President Ruto, during the 2022 General Election campaigns, Mwabili went round Sagala in Voi on a motorbike campaigning for you. Spare his life,” she said.

DCI officer’s visit

She said her son’s detention in Tanzania had devastated the entire family.

“We feared the worst when we learned Mwagodi, who is our last born in a family of five, had gone missing after being abducted in Dar es Salaam. Thoughts of him being hurt or even killed made me go five days without eating,” she said.

Jeslinah added that officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Mwatate had recently visited their home regarding her son’s involvement in protests.

“I live in fear since the visit by government operatives. I do not see why my son is being persecuted now for standing up against the church being misused by politicians,” she said.

“They have been tracking him in church since the days he worked in Kericho and Ukunda, before relocating to Tanzania,” she added.

His father, Aleck Mwagodi Mwabili, expressed gratitude that his son had returned alive.

“Yes, he is hurt emotionally and in the hospital, but thank God for His intervention,” he said.

Mwagodi, who joined a protest against President William Ruto during a church service in Laikipia in 2024, was reportedly dropped at the Kenya-Tanzania border at around 2am on Sunday.

Francis Auma of Muslims for Human Rights (Muhuri) said Mwagodi was smuggled into the country through an unofficial crossing point, rather than the legal Lungalunga border, by two Tanzanian security operatives.

“Although syringe torture is not common in Kenya, it appears those who captured him in Tanzania used it. It is up to the doctors to tell us if it was just a needle prick or if drugs were involved,” said Auma, one of the first responders when Mwagodi was found.

At the border, six armed men believed to be Kenyan security officers allegedly took Mwagodi into Kinondo Forest, where he was assaulted and had his phones, laptop, and money confiscated.

“When we picked him up at around 3am, he was wailing in pain. He had walked nearly 3km before encountering a Good Samaritan who lent him a phone to contact his friends,” Auma said.

His uncle, Zachariah Mwabili, who arrived at the hospital, demanded the return of Mwagodi’s confiscated items by Kenyan authorities.

He listed the items as including Mwagodi’s Kenyan passport, yellow fever vaccination booklet, electronic work permit, Absa bank cards (Tanzania and USD), three mobile phones—among them a Samsung S25 Ultra and a Samsung A23—an HP laptop, and a leather belt.

Walid Sketty of Vocal Africa said Mwagodi had disclosed that Tanzanian authorities took him to a government safe house for interrogation.

“He said his handlers in Tanzania went to his house and ransacked it in his presence. They took his phones, laptop, passport, e-work permit, resident permit, and bank cards,” said Walid.

An earlier attempt to admit Mwagodi at the Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa was aborted after an altercation between hospital security and his handlers.

At Pandya Hospital, a physically agitated Mwagodi stormed out of an observation room after learning police might be called in.

It took the intervention of Walid and Auma to calm him down and convince him to return to his room, where he was later joined by relatives Zacharia, Elisha Mwagodi, and Rashid Mazrui.