Moses Turahirwa, the founder of Moshions, a renowned fashion house in Rwanda, was arrested on Thursday, April 27, for alleged drug abuse and document forgery.
Turahirwa, who identifies himself as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, is one of the best fashion designers in Rwanda who designs for top celebrities around the world.
His arrest comes after Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) revealed that it is carrying out investigation on the renowned fashion designer for suspected document forgery.
The RIB spokesperson, Thierry Murangira, told The New Times that Turahirwa is currently under arrest on allegations of forgery after he posted a photo of his passport claiming that it was issued with his preferred gender of ‘female’.
He said that drug abuse has been added to the crimes Turahirwa is being accused of after Rwanda Forensic Laboratory tests confirmed that he illegally used cannabis.
"Following his summoning, investigations will continue while provisionally detained. Additionally, he is also suspected of using cannabis as per the results of Rwanda Forensic Laboratory,” Murangira said.
The fashion designer has in recent months been in the news for the wrong reasons.
Earlier this month, he claimed that he is allowed to smoke cannabis publicly, including on the streets, for medical reasons, despite the consumption of the psychoactive drug remaining illegal, whether for medical or recreational purposes.
In January this year, the fashion designer was also in the news after a video of him, seemingly in an intimate act with other men, made rounds on social media platforms.
Turahirwa has been moving around promoting his new collection dubbed ‘Kwanda’ that follows ‘Imandwa’.