Balala rushed to hospital

Tourism minister Najib Balala was on Monday night admitted in hospital after collapsing in his office following breathing complications.

A doctor at Nairobi Hospital, who did not want to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said the minister underwent a minor nasal surgery.

He said the minister was operated for turbinate hypertrophy, a condition caused by the enlargement of the turbinates -- the small structures within the nose that cleanse and humidify air as it passes through nostrils into the lungs.

However, his family said the operation had been scheduled earlier and the minister did not collapse.