Embu bar owners are unhappy with Governor Martin Wambora for rejecting a bill allowing long drinking hours.
They said the county assembly passed the bill three weeks ago after public participation and the governor should not have declined to assent to it.
Last week, Wambora rejected the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill allowing the consumption of alcohol from 3pm to 11pm on weekdays and from 10am to 11pm on weekends and sent it back to the county assembly with a memorandum citing the clauses he wanted to be amended.
The memorandum also calls for a ban on the 24-hour alcohol sale licence for restaurants and hotels. That part of the proposed law permitted drinking of alcohol at any hour of the day or night if the consumer had ordered food before indulging in quaffing.
The passage of the bill caused an uproar from the national government, local politicians, religious leaders and residents, who all demanded a review.
The bar owners, who met as Embu Bar Owners Association on Wednesday at Prime Hotel, rejected the new liquor and permits licences as they had been increased by 100 per cent.
“We are surprised by Governor Wambora and his team for trying to block and kill our businesses. The rejected bill was passed after wide public participation. We wonder whose views he is representing,” association secretary Susan Nyaga said.
The rowdy meeting under the chairmanship of Alex Kago, also demanded that bar owners pay one permit like other businesspeople instead of a single business permit, liquor licence, and health permit.
They warned the governor that the county risked losing a lot of revenue from the bars if he did not reverse his stance.
The bar owners blamed aides and a few MCAs for misadvising the governor advisers.
Senator Njeru Ndwiga has backed Wambora's decision.
The bar owners further said they will not pay dues to the Music Copyright Society of Kenya claiming that there has not been a notification through the Kenya Gazette that it should collect dues from them and other organisations.
Nationally, the Mututho laws restrict drinking hours to between 5pm and 11pm on working days and from 2pm to 11pm on weekends and public holidays.
