• The bar owners on Saturday said they were ambushed on Thursday and forced to shut their businesses despite having the relevant licences
• Mwende said bar owners are the biggest investors in Mombasa county, employing more than 50,000 people
Image: BRIAN OTIENO
Bar owners in Changamwe subcounty in Mombasa have decried the forcible and indefinite closure of their businesses by National Government Administration Officers.
Speaking during a meeting on Saturday, the around 85 bar owners said they were ambushed on Thursday and forced to shut down their businesses despite having the relevant licences.
“They came during the official working hours at around 5.30pm, saying all bars are operating without licences and they should all be closed down. To date we are not in operation,” Faith Mwende, a former county legislator, said.
The bar owners said they have accrued losses running into tens of millions of shillings.
There are more than 100 bars in Changamwe subcounty.
Mwende said bar owners are the biggest investors in Mombasa county, employing more than 50,000 people directly and indirectly.
“We are the ones who pay the most in licences in Mombasa county,” the former Kipevu MCA said.
“But the funny thing is these NGAO came without any county government officials, yet they are the ones who license us.”
She said most bar owners had been given 2024 invoices by the county government, and most had paid.
The county had given them up to March 31 to pay the 2024 liquor licence.
“Apart from that, we have a pending matter in court about the Mombasa County Liquor Licensing Act, 2014,” Mwende said.
“There is also that pending matter of the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act of the national government. Why are they acting on matters that are in court, pending determination?”
The bar owners said Interior CS Kithure Kindiki had called for the relocation of only bars close to institutions such as schools, churches, hospitals and mosques and residential areas.
“And even these should be given adequate notice first,” the bar owners said.
They said all the bars that were closed down are within commercial areas and do not fall under any of the restricted areas.
They said before they apply for the licences, they have to pay Sh10,000 application fee and inspectors sent to cross-check the proposed location to ascertain they are not within the restricted areas before a licence is issued.
Mwende said liquor licensing is a devolved function and the county government issues invoices to bar owners to pay for the licences without giving them the actual licences.
“That is not our problem. That is the problem of the county,” she said.
Mombasa Trade executive Mohamed Osman denied that the county has not been issuing bar owners with liquor licences.
“Licensing is a process. What they are paying for is application. Whatever they are getting is an application invoice, not licence,” Osman told the Star on the phone.
He said the application is then taken through a process of verification and various officers, including public health officers, are sent to the premises to ascertain whether they meet certain criteria.
The County Liquor Board, which has representatives from the bar owners, then sits down to either approve or reject the application before a licence is issued for those approved.
This year, Osman said, they have received only 80 applications, and 20 have been approved.
Only the liquor board has the authority to issue or revoke a liquor licence.
He said the interests of the bar owners are being catered for by their representative in the liquor board.
“As a county, we have left them to manage themselves, so why are they complaining yet they have one of their own on the board?” Osman asked.
He said if any bar owner feels aggrieved, they should write to him and he will follow up on the matter.
He said the process usually takes some time and called on the bar owners to be patient.
He said he has already spoken to the national government and they will have a round table on Tuesday over the same.
Changamwe police said the raid on bars was a routine exercise that will go on in the fight against drugs, illicit brews and substance abuse as ordered by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
“We are simply trying to bring order to the sector to protect our children. You have seen similar exercises elsewhere across the country,” police said.
Image: BRIAN OTIENO