Nairobi county is known for its 24-hr economy, however it is characterized by a noisy night life and equally noisy crusades and keshas over the weekends.
There has been public outcry over noisy nightclubs operating in residential areas causing disturbance to the occupants.
This has been an issue that has been brought to the previous regimes notice, there has been revoking of licenses of some joints and total closure to some.
In October 2022 Citizen TV’s Trevor Ombija went on record to defend his joint that was accused of alleged noise pollution in Kileleshwa.
He was accused of bypassing the county’s bylaws to set up to operate the joints.
“There are genuine complaints that must be addressed but there are also malicious accusations that must be called out,” Ombija stated.
His counterpart K24’s Ex journalist Betty Kyallo is also under scrutiny after her exquisite restaurant ‘The Summer House’, Karen has been flagged by residents as a nuisance to them.
Through their chairman of the Karen Langata District Association, she has been been accused of bypassing the bylaws and failure to notify the residents of the operations of the said joint.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel at Switch TV
The management is also accused of not notifying members of the public of the change from residential to commercial use of the property.
“The county government should move with speed and close the restaurant and withdraw any approvals or licenses issued to the owner. It has caused unprecedented noise pollution by playing loud music at night, causing inconvenience and discomfort to those who live near it,” chairperson Silalteh Samora said.
“There was no public participation before the establishment of the entertainment joint that has hosted some notable names in the entertainment industry like Nigerian hitmaker, Patoranking.
“There is no change of user of the property from residential to commercial by either the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) or the county government,” he argued.
This comes after Governor Sakaja gave orders on the cancellation of licenses of nightclubs within residential areas in Nairobi.
However the governor’s orders have caused mixed reactions among the affected. In the current tough economic times we are facing, this will lead to loss of jobs, capital and assets.
According to the National Chairman of the Pubs, Entertainment, and Restaurants Association of Kenya (PERAK), Michael Muthami,400-500 establishments will be affected and more than 23000 jobs to be lost.
This has no difference with the COVID-19 curfew of 2020 that crippled the entertainment industry.
The governor’s ordrs come as a shock to the chairman and other parties as they were in talks with the Nairobi Deputy Governor on how to resolve the issue.
It has raised concerns on working relationship between the governor and his deputy.
Also if the cancellation of licenses will affect the all night church crusades that are very rampant in various parts of the county.
In light of the same Catholic Priest, Father Charles Kinyua has called upon the governor to look into noisy churches.
“I support his statement 100 per cent. Today’s churches are so noisy. They are noisier than pubs where people go for drinking sprees,” he stated on November 27 during a sermon marking the first Sunday of Advent.
Members of the public have been on social media condemning the noisy means of worship but have had to to tolerate it as churches keep cropping up every single day.
The county’s ban on noise pollution comes days before the anticipated Nairobi Festival, all scrutiny is on it.
Read: https://news.switchtv.ke/2022/11/licenses-of-nightclubs-in-residential-areas-in-nairobi-cancelled/
