Give us his body, family of slain teacher John Ogutu tells Samia

The morbid aftermath of Tanzanian government's brutal crackdown on protesters during the chaotic elections last week continues to unfold, as Kenyan rights groups allege that up to 3,000 people could have  been killed.

The Kenya Union of Post Primary School Teachers (Kuppet) is calling for the repatriation of up to 150 teachers allegedly trapped in the country.

“They are held hostage with very limited communication gadgets open to them and this is very unfortunate,” said Secretary General Akelo Misori.

According to Misori, the teachers were taking their masters programme at the Aga Khan University where they are held hostage.

He called on the government to expidite their return in the country.

Meanwhile, the family of a Kenyan teacher who, it has emerged, was killed in Tanzania by people believed to be security officers, is now calling on Presidents Samia Suluhu and William Ruto to facilitate the repatriation of his body. 

According to the family of John Okoth Ogutu, the teacher  was shot dead while on his way to get supper after elections violence broke out in Dar es Salaam and other parts of Tanzania.

The family, through his elder sister Celestine Ogutu, however says that his remains are yet to be traced.

“The government said that they are following up with the Tanzanian embassy so that they body of my brother can be brought back to Kenya, what I do not know is if they have found the body,” she said.

She added that the teacher's  colleagues at  Sky Schools told them that they had confirmed his death but were yet to see his body despite searching in different morgues.

Lobby groups, Amnesty International, Defenders Coalition and Vocal Africa, also called for the release of another Kenyan, Fredrick Lorent Obuya, who they claimed is being held incommunicado. They said there might be more than 20,000 Kenyans working in Tanzania.

They added that Obuya was taken into custody by Tanzanian security forces on October 31, 2025 and is held at Oyster Bay Police Station in Dar es Salaam.

Ogutu’s family said the loss of Ogutu comes at a time when it is reeling from the loss of their patriarch, who was laid to rest in May this year.

Celestine said that her brother’s employer told them that on the day he died, he was on his way home from offering tuition lessons to one of his students at their home.

“We were told that after the tuition lessons he went to get supper and that is when he was killed,” she said.

According to the sister, her family was on the edge about his well-being after reports showed that election violence had broken out in Tanzania’s capital after citizens took to the street to protest what they said were sham elections.

The incumbent Samia Suluhu Hassan, had a smooth sail to State House after the jailing of her two main opponents . Shed won the contest by an overwhelming 32 million votes.

“We are deeply concerned by statements by Samia Suluhu Hassan and other state officials that foreign nationals. and particularly Kenyans, are responsible for the violence that has claimed hundreds of lives in recent days. These claims are unfounded and present serious risks to the safety of Kenyans and other foreign nationals,” they said in a statement.

They called on the Kenyan government to ensure the safety of Kenyans living in Tanzania saying that it bears the unequivocal duty to protect its citizens abroad and to demand accountability where their rights are violated.

“While we welcome the bilateral engagement between the Tanzanian and Kenyan Foreign Ministers yesterday, we urge them to swiftly and comprehensively act to protect Kenyan nationals residing and working in Tanzania.”

Amnesty’s Irungu Houghton said that they do not have numbers of the people killed or injured in the demos since lobby groups had found it hard to go on fact finding missions citing intimidation and harassment by authorities.

Jennifer Atieno, who is Ogutu’s cousin called on the Tanzanian government to keep its word after its ambassador told them that his body had been moved to a different location.

“He told us that we are going to get the body asking us to be patient for a while because if they are the people following there are processes they are supposed to go through.”

She added that the ambassador told them that if they need the body faster they should travel to Tanzania and go to the Kenyan ambassador who would help retrieve the body.

“We are just pleading with them to help us retrieve the body of our brother.”

The lobby groups called for a post mortem to established what killed Ogutu and an apology from Suluhu’s government.

They also want the Kenyan and Tanzanian government to bear the cost of bringing the body back home and the burial, while calling for a comprehensive statement on the safety of Kenyans working there.

“Failing these actions, we will press for a case to be filed by bar associations and human rights organisations within the region before the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) to seek justice for the victims and accountability of the perpetrators.”

“Some have been brutally beaten on their doorsteps and then dragged away by the police, whereas others were murdered in their very own homes. The youngest, who was shot and murdered, was a one-year-old. Twins, also intern doctors, were both murdered at their gate,” said the lobby groups during a presser at the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) yesterday.

The lobbies said that they had verified the figure through sources in and outside Tanzania.

“We are in touch with Tanzanians within Tanzania and we are also in touch with Tanzanians who are in touch with their countrymen but are in the diaspora because we know whatever statement we make we must be credible,” said former Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana while defending the claim.

They called on Suluhu to “accept an independent international fact-finding mission to ascertain the extent of the reported grave human rights and civil rights violations, thereby avoiding unnecessary confusion over what has transpired.”

They added that the Suluhu government was tracking people from photos and videos posted on social media reporting that some 55 people had been killed in October alone.

According to the lobbies the brutality was not only targeting perceived dissidents but had been extended to street families, medics, business people and other professionals.

In their statement the cited a case where they said authorities stormed a cage where 10 men were and they had them lie on the floor before executing them.

They said that they had received information that the government was behind the digging of mass graves in major towns across Tanzania, including Arusha, Mwanza, Dar es Salaam, Geita, Mbeya, Songwe, Mara, Katavi, and Moshi. BBC reports on Thursday indicated that the government had been moving bodies from the mrgues to unknown destinations.

“A worker involved in burying unclaimed bodies says he has never seen so many corpses in his life.”

They alleged that police were going after bodies taken to hospitals and morgues and quietly disposing them which they said was tampering with key evidence.

According to lobbies, hospitals were under heavy guard from Tanzanian and foreign security agents to prevent access.

They added that the agents were confiscating phones from doctors, nurses, family members, and those in critical condition, as well as deleting any photos and videos.

“We have also been informed that doctors and nurses were being given orders to 'maliza (kill) those who were in critical care from gunshot wounds.”

They said that these atrocities were being committed by a specialized paramilitary unit that consisted of foreign actors they believe could be from Uganda.

“Suluhu's regime is also allegedly running an incinerator outside of Dar, in the Pwani Region, where many innocent souls bodies are being incinerated in a further attempt to destroy evidence.”

They said that some families have been harassed, intimidated and had their loved ones jailed for asking the whereabouts of the kin while some hospitals have refused to give information for fear of being targeted.

The nature of the injuries showed that the killers were using high grade weapons which Tanzania authorities are not mandated to carry.

“We have established credible indications that the illegal military-grade weapons being used to murder Tanzanians were imported by Abdul Ameir, Suluhu's son.”

They said that it was rare for the Africa Union (AU) to call out countries over sham elections like it was the case with Tanzania which the said only confirms their claims.

“In its findings, the AU states that the process failed to meet democratic standards, citing ballot stuffing, an intentional state-imposed internet blackout, excessive military force, politically motivated abductions, and systematic disruptions of independent observation.”

They called on Suluhu to step down saying she lacks legitimacy while asking her to stop target critics whether real or perceived.

They also want the AU and the Southern Africa Development Community to urge Suluhu and her administration to stop the human rights violations.

Meanwhile, at least 100 youths were arraigned in a Dar es Salaam court, where they were charged with treason. AFP footage showed busloads of the suspects arriving under heaving armed guard, and kater emerging from the buses. Both males and females emerged from the buses, some appearing weak and dusty, as they headed one by one to the courts. During her swearing-in, President Suluhu had called on the police and army to round up all those involved in the skirmishes and bring them to justice. Under the Tanzanian law, treason carries between life and death penalties.

 Additional reporting by Alex Kiarie