Kenyan Businessman Escapes from Burundi Prison

f
Joseph Mboya Nyamuthe poses for a photo after a rally in Homa Bay in December 2019
Facebook

Flamboyant Kenyan businessman Joseph Mboya Nyamuthe, who had been held in a Burundian jail after been accused of drug trafficking, has escaped.

According to police reports, the businessman exhibited cholera-like symptoms while been detained at Murembwe Central prison. 

This led to Nyamuthe been taken to Rumonge hospital where he eventually escaped.

f
Joseph Mboya addresses a gathering in Homa Bay in December 2019
Facebook

The reports also divulged that two guards had been assigned to him while he was at the hospital. The businessman, however, managed to escape undetected despite police presence within the hospital.

The two police officers guarding Nyamuthe were arrested on suspicion of colluding with him in order to escape. It's also alleged that a top police boss was also in the scheme. 

Nyamuthe is the son-in-law of Permanent secretary Hezekiah Oyugi- one of the most powerful political figures during President Daniel arap Moi's era.  

The businessman came to the limelight after he was roped in as being part of a drug trafficking syndicate involving his pharmaceutical company, top government officials as well as a Turkish national.

The Turkish national was arrested by police officers in March 2021, which led to the police establishing links between the Turk and Nyamuthe. It's reported that his company transported drugs via Somalia to Burundi in the disguise of medicine.

This led to a further probe into the matter as a search hunt for Nyamuthe was launched. The Kenyan government, however, declined to comment on his whereabouts. 

"I have no knowledge of his whereabouts," Government Spokesperson Cyrus Oguna previously informed the media.  

Nyamuthe was eventually arrested in April 2021.

f
Kenyan Investor, Joseph Mboya Nyamuthe (in spectacles) watches as the late President of the Republic of Burundi H.E. Pierre Nkurunziza signs a visitors book at the launch of Mboya's company in 2019
Twitter
  • . . . .