Missing Tanzania dissident found ‘seriously beaten’
An outspoken critic of Tanzanian President John Magafuli who was allegedly abducted, has been “seriously beaten” and is in hospital, the main opposition party said yesterday.
The Chadema party said on Sunday that Mdude Nyagali, a high-profile dissident and opposition activist, had been snatched by four gunmen after leaving his workplace in southern Mbozi the previous evening.
“He was very seriously beaten and cannot walk. He was found abandoned in a village about 70 kilometres (43 miles) from his home,” Chadema’s secretary general Vincent Masginji told AFP.
The party wrote on its Twitter account late Wednesday: “We can confirm that Mdude Nyagali has just been found. He is in a very bad state but he is breathing.”
On Monday party spokesman John Mrema said there were “serious reasons” to believe security forces were behind the alleged abduction.
The deputy interior minister Hamad Masauni denied this, saying an investigation was taking place into Nyagali’s disappearance.
Critics accuse Magufuli of unleashing a wave of oppression since his 2015 election, cracking down on opposition figures and curbing press freedom.
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