26 patrons, bar owners, revellers and employees of bars and restaurants in Kileleshwa, Nairobi County were on Saturday, October 1, 2022, arrested for playing loud music.
They were placed in Custody at Kibera and Central Police stations and are expected to be arraigned in court tomorrow, Monday, October 3, 2022.
This is after an operation was done by officers from the County Government of Nairobi, NEMA, Kileleshwa Member of County Assembly (MCA) Robert Alai, and officers from the Liquor Licensing Board.
“Yesternight there was an operation in the area and the bar owners, DJs, employees, and clients of five bars and restaurants were arrested and placed in custody. What we want is the rights of people to be respected. I am not against the bars but they should follow the set regulations and laws because the noise has been too high which is not good,” Alai stated.
“The team had joint operations with the police in Kibera and Dagoretti North Sub-county. The Clubs arrested include; Club 909, Oyster Club, Kettle House, Bar Next door, and Brew Bistro Lounge. They have been blocking people from even using the road as they park in the middle of the road and even smoke Shisha which was banned. There are remaining 17 which if they don’t follow the regulations, we will go for them too,” he added.
The legislator promised to ensure that the remaining 17 clubs follow the regulations or follow suit as their counterparts.
Residents protest
Residents of Kileleshwa ward and Kilimani area have vowed to continue protesting every night until all the nightclubs in the area are shut down due to loud noise and lecherous activities.
Speaking to K24 Digital after the protest on Saturday, October 1, 2022, the residents expressed that they have had a difficult time because of the excessive noise they experience throughout the night.
“We will be protesting every night to ensure these clubs are completely shut down. Lecherous activities have been going on in the clubs and we are not happy at all. They started as liquor stores and suddenly turned into clubs,” one of the residents who sort anonymity explained.
They have further called on the County government to revoke the licenses of the clubs for violating the regulations on the hours of operation and noise pollution.
This comes three weeks after a section of property consultants threatened to move to court to ensure peace is restored in the area.
They accused the clubs of playing loud music from 8:00 pm to 7:00 am.
They further condemned the owners of the bars for setting them up near schools. According to the liquor License Act, the stores, clubs, and bars are restricted from being established 300meterss near learning institutions.
“We demand that you respect the concerns raised and immediately cease playing loud music throughout the night failure to which we shall seek legal proceedings to compel you to do so,” the letter by the consultants to the clubs read in part.
