The whereabouts of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan advocate Agather Atuhaire remained unclear Wednesday, a day after reports emerged of their release from police custody in Tanzania.

The two were reportedly freed around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, but have not made contact with their families or close associates, fueling speculation and concern.

According to Boniface Mwabukusi, president of the Tanganyika Law Society, the pair was released from police custody but not deported, contrary to earlier reports.

“It has now come to our attention that, contrary to initial information, the two individuals have not yet been deported. We have since established that they are no longer in police custody but remain held by the Tanzania Immigration Department,” he wrote on X.

“Our legal team on the ground is actively monitoring the situation and exploring appropriate legal remedies to facilitate a just and timely resolution,” he added.

On Tuesday night, Sema Ukweli, an organisation affiliated with Mwangi, claimed the two were taken from the police station in a military vehicle believed to be headed to the airport. However, passenger manifests for Nairobi-bound flights did not include their names, leaving their whereabouts unknown.

“It is very concerning that the Tanzanian government can unlawfully detain foreign nationals without following due process, and continue to keep them incommunicado,” a statement by the organisation read in part. 

Mwangi and Atuhaire were part of a delegation of human rights lawyers and activists from Kenya and Uganda who had traveled to Tanzania to attend the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu. 

Lissu faces non-bailable treason charges, an offense punishable by death under Tanzanian law.

Most of the delegation was denied entry at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. Mwangi was allowed in but was later detained.

“We urge authorities in Tanzania to allow the families of Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire to communicate with them and give us accurate information of their whereabouts at this moment,” said Ramah Abubakar, the President of East Africa Law Society.

Meanwhile, human rights groups across the region are demanding the release of the two activists, expressing growing alarm over Tanzania’s shrinking civic and political space.

“Boniface Mwangi is still missing. His family is in anguish. The Tanzanian government continues to hold him and Agather Atuhaire without cause. We demand their immediate release,” said Vocal Africa. 

“The silence from the governments of Kenya and Uganda reeks of complicity of both Presidents Yoweri Museveni and William Ruto in the actions of Suluhu,” Inuka Kenya rights group said on Wednesday.

Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, on Tuesday night said the Kenyan embassy in Tanzania was engaged in the matter, following criticism over what some have called a weak response from Nairobi.

President Suluhu, meanwhile, has warned foreign activists against interfering in Tanzania’s internal affairs, vowing to defend the country’s sovereignty.