Renowned Tanzanian rights activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai was kidnapped on the streets of Kenyan capital Nairobi on Sunday, Amnesty International and her organisation said.

Tsehai campaigns for political change, freedom of expression and women’s rights in Tanzania and has 1.3 million followers on X.

Amnesty’s Kenya branch said she was “kidnapped by three armed men in a black (Toyota) Noah” around 3pm in the Kilimani area of central Nairobi.

Tsehai’s movement, Change Tanzania, wrote on X: “We believe her abductors are part of Tanzania security agents operating beyond Tanzania borders to silence… legitimate criticism.”

Her “courage in standing up for justice has made her a target, but we won’t let this moment silence her voice,” it added.

Kenya has a history of allowing foreign governments to kidnap their citizens and forcibly extradite them in violation of international law.

In October, the United Nations said it was “deeply concerned” over reports that four Turkish refugees had been abducted in Nairobi and forcibly returned to Turkey.

The following month, Uganda said it had worked with Kenyan authorities to seize a Ugandan opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, in Nairobi and take him back to Kinshasa where he faces a military trial condemned by rights groups.

Amnesty International warned it was part of a “growing and worrying trend of transnational repression” in Kenya.

Tanzania has cracked down on opposition forces ahead of elections later this year.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan was initially feted for improving democratic rights after taking over from her authoritarian predecessor John Magufuli in 2021.

But rights groups and Western governments have criticised what they see as renewed repression, including the arrest, kidnapping and even murder of opposition figures.

Hassan’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi party won more than 98 percent in local elections in October. (AFP)