• Ombija, who happens to be an owner of a restaurant in Kileleshwa, gave his views on how to approach the closure of noisy bars and restaurants.
• highlighted a scenario where one of the tenants around his restaurant has persistently claimed that his restaurant is noisy.
Image: Courtesy
TV Presenter Trevor Ombija on Wednesday received backlash from social media users over his remarks on the closure of noisy bars.
In a video that has since gone viral, Ombija, who happens to be an owner of a restaurant in Kileleshwa, gave his views on how to approach the closure of noisy bars and restaurants.
In the meeting between bar and restaurant owners, residents and Nairobi County leadership, Ombija highlighted a scenario where one of the tenants around his restaurant has persistently claimed that his entertainment joint is noisy.
He said this was despite other residents being comfortable with them being around.
The Citizen TV news anchor explained that he even offered to soundproof the neighbours' houses if they insisted that his restaurant was still loud but the neighbour refused.
"I have a neighbour who wanted us to shut down because I did not give her a landscaping job," Ombija said.
"We reduced our volume completely, all other neighbours were okay with our attempts, except her so I offered to go the extra mile of soundproofing as a last resort, but she still refused."
He added that it should only count when there is a complaint against a bar or restaurant when more than half of the residents in an area raise issues.
Kileleshwa Member of County Assembly Robert Alai shared the video and poked holes in the remarks by the journalist.
"If you want to see the madness in the entertainment industry in this country, see this. The owner of a noisy entertainment joint in Kileleshwa offering to soundproof homes," Alai tweeted.
Following Alai's tweet, the news anchor has come under fire as social media users question his point of view.
Other social media users, however, told off Alai, accusing him of fighting other people's businesses.
Ombija, in a statement, defended himself saying that Alai was not at the meeting and he took his views out of context.
He insisted that not all complaints are genuine and some are malicious with an intent to end others' businesses.
"Yesterday, there were great steps made between the bar owners and residents' associations on how to address the issues, your accusation is devoid of context because you were not there and that's okay, I am only interested in dealing with the issues, not verbal abuse," Ombija said.
This comes at the backdrop of the debate on the closure of noisy bars and restaurants in Nairobi that are within residential areas.
County director of liquor Hesborn Agwena announced that at least 43 entertainment joints in Nairobi will be closed due to noise pollution.
However, on Tuesday Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration rescinded the decision to revoke their licenses.