A Kenyan businessman Joseph Mboya Nyamuthe has escaped from police custody in Burundi.
Nyamuthe has been in custody since April over alleged links to drug trafficking.
According to Ishami TV, Mboya escaped from Rumonge Hospital where he was being treated on Friday night.
Security agencies in Burundi say Mboya was rushed to Rumonge Hospital for treatment by the deputy head of the Murembwe Prison Hospital Adeline Ndayisenga after developing cholera-like symptoms.
Police say the suspect may have colluded with rebels who facilitated his arrest.
There were two guards at the hospital offering security when he escaped and they have since been arrested.
Cops say that Mboya’s escape was facilitated by FDD rebels fighting the Burundian government.
He is the son of former Permanent Secretary in the Daniel Moi era Hezekiah Oyugi.
He moved to Burundi in 2019 and established a pharmaceutical company.
The late Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza launched it.
He has been in prison since April 2021, according to official sources. His pharmaceutical company was accused of importing and exporting illegal drugs.
The axe fell on Mboya after a Turkish national was arrested in Bujumbura in March ferrying narcotics.
After questioning, Mboya and other top government officials in Burundi were arrested in connection with the narcotics trade in Burundi.
His company was reportedly used in moving narcotics to Burundi through Somalia in the guise of ferrying medicine to Burundi forces on peacekeeping missions.
