Police in Teso South, Busia, are still looking for a Malaba town businessman who escaped from quarantine two months ago.
Teso South police boss Charles Rotich said on Thursday police are also trying to establish if the man escaped into Uganda.
He said mobile phone numbers used by the businessman have been off since he escaped from the quarantine centre at St Monica Chakol Girls High School on April 22.
Rotich said police officers are determined to locate the man’s whereabouts, arrest and return him to the quarantine centre to complete his 14-day examination against Covid-19.
Chakol Girls High School, where the escapee had been quarantined, is among institutions designated as isolation centres in Busia.
The trader was admitted to the facility on April 20, alongside three friends. The four were arrested while drinking in a locked bar at Kocholya market in Teso North subcounty. The escapee and his friends tried to resist arrest when they declined to open the door.
“He is still at large, but we are still following him up,” Rotich told the Star on the phone.
“He is a resident of Malaba and you know Malaba is a border town. He might be knowing people in Uganda, so he can easily cross into Uganda.”
At the time of their arrest, police used force to break the door to gain access to the bar they were drinking in after the trader and his colleagues refused to open.
The operation in which he was arrested with his friends also netted nine others who were accused of violating Covid-19 rules on social distancing as issued by the Health Ministry. The nine were also quarantined at St Monica Chakol Girls High School.
People who were quarantined with the businessman completed their 14 days at the quarantine facility and were allowed to return home after testing negative.
A day after the businessman escaped, Busia county commissioner Joseph Kanyiri urged him to voluntarily return to the quarantine centre.
“We are giving him a leeway of returning to the facility voluntarily, failing which he will bear the cost of searching and bringing him back,” Kanyiri warned.
He said the businessman may also be charged with violating quarantine regulations.
Edited by A.N
