No word yet for missing Kenyan businessman

Dar es Salaam. The whereabouts of Kenyan businessman Raphael Ongangi remains unknown, with his wife Veronica Kundya saying she has not heard any news since reporting the matter to the police.

Mr Ongangi was abducted on Monday night in Dar es Salaam by unknown gunmen who drove with him to unknown destination. Ms Kundya who was with him at the time reported the abduction to Oysterbay police that night.

Police have not issued any statement about the incident and efforts to obtain comment from them have yielded little results. Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander Lazaro Mambosasa referred The Citizen to Kinondoni police command.

“It is said that the incident was reported in Kinondoni, so ask the area police commander,” he said in a telephone interview. When reached for comment, the Kinondoni regional police commander Mussa Athumani Taibu said he could not discuss the issue on phone.

But the reported missing of Mr Ongangi took a new twist when Kigoma Urban Member of Parliament (ACT-Wazalendo) Zitto Kabwe yesterday linked the hacking of his Twitter account to the abduction incident.

“I have been hacked by the people who are responsible with Ongangi’s abduction,” Mr Kabwe said, after his handle was used to share several tweets to indicate he had switched to support the government. He asked the public to ignore the tweets in the account that was later suspended by Twitter. On Tuesday, a day after the businessman went missing, Mr Kabwe wrote a short statement to confirm that the abducted Kenyan was his friend and personal assistant.

Yesterday, Mr Kabwe did not expound on the said linkage, but ACT-Wazalendo spokesperson Ado Shaibu told The Citizen that Mr Ongangi was responsible for the establishment of many of the politician’s social media accounts.

Mr Kabwe said he has not used his phones and computer which were taken away from him by the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau on June 10 in Zanzibar. Another of his phone was earlier taken by the police who were investigating him over alleged incitement.

Mr Ongangi who runs a cargo logistics business was abducted at about 9.30pm on Monday in Oystebay.