Emuria Lotubae
Nairobi.
A Kenyan teacher shot dead during last week’s election violence in Tanzania has become the rallying point for fresh calls by Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and human-rights lobby group Vocal Africa for urgent State intervention to protect Kenyans caught in the unrest.
The teacher, John Okoth Ogutu, 33, from Siaya County, was killed on October 29 outside Sky School Primary in Dar es Salaam’s Kinondoni suburb while walking home from work. Colleagues who went to identify his body at Mwananyamala Hospital morgue this week said they were informed the remains were missing.
In separate letters dispatched Tuesday to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MP Owino and Vocal Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid demanded that Tanzanian authorities trace and release Ogutu’s remains within 48 hours, repatriate the body to Kenya at State expense, and secure the immediate release of Fredrick Obuya Lorent, 29, a Kenyan lawyer detained at Oyster Bay Police Station since October 31.
The two also urged the Kenyan government to outline clear protocols to safeguard an estimated 120,000 Kenyans living and working in Tanzania amid the ongoing post-election violence.
Owino’s letter, dated November 5, described Ogutu’s death as “a grave injustice” and accused Tanzanian authorities of “a deliberate cover-up” following the disappearance of the body. Vocal Africa echoed the concerns, warning of “credible fears of extra-judicial disposal” and recalling the unresolved disappearance of two Kenyans—Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo—in Tanzania last year.
“Your timely intervention will not only safeguard the rights of these two Kenyan citizens but will also demonstrate Kenya’s commitment to protecting its nationals abroad, especially in moments of crisis,” said Vocal Africa.
Lorent’s family said he has been held incommunicado for six days, without access to legal counsel or relatives, and argued that his detention breaches the East African Community Treaty, which guarantees due process and protection for citizens across member states.
The Tanzanian election violence, triggered by President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s disputed 98.3 percent victory, has paralysed cross-border trade. On Tuesday, fuel tankers formed an 18-kilometre queue at Namanga after Tanzanian police sealed the Longido–Arusha highway.
Mombasa clearing agents reported a 40 percent drop in cargo bound for Dar es Salaam, while maize and sugar exports to southern Tanzania have stalled.
Mudavadi’s office confirmed receiving both letters on Wednesday morning. Government spokesperson Alfred Mutua said a high-level delegation will travel to Dodoma on Thursday to seek “full transparency on the missing body and the detained Kenyan.”