They've been crying in their beer all over Kenya.
It's noon and Kamau and two friends are sitting outside Sophia Joy bar and restaurant sipping alcohol from clear plastic cups.
Situated near the busy Koja bus terminus in the Nairobi capital, the entertainment joint operates 24-7.
On a regular weekend, there could be hundreds like Kamau and his pals sharing drinks over meandering conversation but today there'sonly a handful. It's business unusual.
"We came here early to have some little fun before they close the bar again," Kamau tells the Star.
Similar scenes have been witnessed in cities, towns and villages throughout Kenya.
The disruption has mandated by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i. He ordered all bars, pubs, entertainment joints to close from 5pm Saturday to 2pm Sunday. Then again from 5pm on Sunday till 5pm on Monday.
Meantime, the Kenyan Government announced last night that because many people have yet to be counted, the census would be conducted throughout the night until 6am today.
The management of Sophia Joy tells the Star their bar has never been closed since it was opened.
"We operate 24 hours a day and since I came here a year and a half ago, we have never closed for any reason," the manager says on condition of anonymity.
"Today we didn't purchase any alcohol from distributors because we have not sold anything from their previous stock."
It's not unique to Sophia Joy. Other clubs along the same street such as Liddos and Club Bavon also remain closed.
A guest house attendant next to Liddos Club tells the Star they have not received any guests from yesterday, although the government said it would extend the census to hotels and guest houses.
"Business is very bad because our clients were forced to leave entertainment joints at 5 pm for the census," she said.
The situation is the same at Sabina Joy one of the oldest entertainment joints in Kenya. They said it was last closed during the 1982 coup attempt.
"We have never seen this place closed and we don't understand why they had them close down on a Saturday when most of us want to relax after a long week at work," a client outside the club tells the Star.
A few meters outside Sabina Joy, a beer distribution truck stands with two employees counting the remaining stock. They have sold fewer than 50 crates of beer.
They distribute to about 20 entertainment spots in the capital.
"We normally have about 600 crates in the truck and depending on the weekend we make anything between Sh600,000 to Sh2 million for deliveries," one of them said.
The distributors said they're getting turned away because their customers don't have any customers.
"We even wonder why we came to work today, there is no business. Normally by now half of the truck is already sold. We have sold almost nothing today," he said.
Avenida Lounge and Restaurant along Moi Avenue remained closed by 4.30 pm on Saturday.
The lounge and restaurant are side by side on the same floor.
The club management said it lost Sh700,000 to Sh800,000 on Saturday night.
"Yesterday was game day for big teams in the Premier League. Even if we sell on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the combined funds won't cover the losses we made, the manager said.
Avenida Lounge and Restaurant manager Bernard Maundo said they are only open today (Sunday) because the restaurant area does not sell water.
"When the customers order water, it is purchased from the lounge area and since the restaurant is not affected, we had to open the lounge area as well to cater to those customers," he said.
The bartender reveals he sold less than Sh50,000 yesterday afternoon. At about 2 pm, the club was packed but had been emptied by 4:30 pm.
"At exactly 5 pm, the police Landcruiser was outside our premises to see if we had closed. We had to use force to make some customers leave. They wanted the bar to be closed with them inside which we, unfortunately, could not do," he said.
A supervisor at a popular club in Westlands said they made a loss of Sh400,000 from closing their business on Saturday.
"We aren't even open today because we know the business will be slow and we also don't want any problems with the law," she said.
Speaking in Kibera yesterday, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga urged Kenyans to ensure they participate in the census that will run through Saturday next week.
"They are asking very many questions but I urge you to be patient because there is a reason for it. We want to know the exact number of Kenyans," he said.
Raila added that some people lied in the previous census and inflated population numbers that they don’t have.
"So this time, the government wants to eradicate the theft so that we can know the number of Kenyans, how many mothers are pregnant, how many have not been married," he said.
Eunice Ogeya, Nairobi executive officer of the Pubs Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya yesterday said their businesses have lost tens of millions of shillings due to Matiang'i's directive.
She expressed concern that the entertainment business is a soft target for the government and there's a boom in profits between Friday and Sunday.
The association with 313 registered members also questioned the logic behind closing down the entertainment businesses while other businesses like the transport sector remained unaffected on Saturday.
"Look at it this way. In a month you have four weekends. These are basically the days businessmen get money to carry out operations and profits... So disruption of such a nature goes a long way in affecting normal operations," Ogeyo said.
She said efforts by the association to reach out to the government were futile.
"It was not necessary to close down our businesses. Other businesses were not closed... These are legal institutions that operate with licenses and pay taxes just like any other, thus, we feel targeted," she said.
Alcoholic Beverages Association of Kenya corporate relations director Eric Kiniti, however, said the closure was not targeting the industry.
The umbrella that covers manufacturers and importers of alcohol are yet to feel the heat of the closure as distributors make orders upfront.
"The exercise happens once every 10 years so it is okay to give the requested time as it accounts for only a fraction of what they have been making," he said.
