How bar owners are hitting back at Mututho law

Courtesy of the alcohol control law, which is about a month shy of being a year old, ordinary Kenyans can now join the elite life of members’ clubs without breaking a sweat.

In passing the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, legislators limited the drinking hours for ordinary Kenyans but those who can afford to belong to exclusive clubs and special outlets faced no restrictions.

By restricting operating hours for general bars to between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. and allowing nightclubs to open only between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. Parliament effectively controlled the 24-hour drinking habit that had begun to prevail in the country. Or so it thought.

It appears MPs underestimated the industriousness of Kenya’s bar owners. Now, any adult wanting a drink at any time of day or night can do so within Nairobi’s Central Business District without breaking the law.

Welcome to Sabina Joy Day and Night Club on Moi Avenue. The bar, popularly known as Karumaindo, has been one of the city’s better known entertainment joints since the 1980s.

Karumaindo roughly means a place where fortunes have been lost. And indeed, up to a few months ago, the bar suffered the economic effects of restricted opening hours.

However, Sabina Joy has found a way to make the alcohol control law work for it and can now legally serve its customers alcohol at any time – it is a members’ club.

According to the alcohol control law, a licence for a members’ club within the city costs Sh100,000. (READ: MPs seek to amend Mututho laws)

Its attractions

Though Sabina Joy lacks some of the trimmings of other members’ clubs, such as selling goods and services on credit, it still has its attractions.

For instance, if you request a member’s card, you get one at no cost at all, and are required to carry it with you at all times to be served outside the law’s approved hours. The card certifies that the holder is a member of the club.

In most other members’ clubs, getting in is an expensive affair. For example, to join Nairobi Club, a potential member requires the sponsorship of a proposer and seconder.

Both of whom, state club regulations, must have been full members for at least three years and must have known the candidate for at least three months.

According to a posting on its website, to join Nairobi Club, one has to pay Sh168,000 as an entrance fee, Sh12,000 as development levy and a deposit of Sh15,000.

But a members’ club licence is not the only ticket that can allow one to take an alcoholic drink within the city centre at any time.

Several other joints, such as Amah on Latema Road, Njoguini, Grand Holiday on Taveta Lane and Hornbill can serve you alcohol legally.

They do this by registering as hotels, which means they also serve food and may offer accommodation.

A hotel alcoholic drink licence allows the selling of alcohol “any day of the week to a lodger for his own and his guest’s consumption on the premises at any hour”.

Further, a restaurant alcoholic drink licence allows the selling of alcoholic drinks on “any day of the week to persons taking meals in the restaurant for consumption with such meals”.

Approved by Internal Security minister George Saitoti on December 16 last year, the alcohol licensing guidelines do not specify eating times, so these outlets are always open.

Interrogating the law just before it had been enacted, Mr Ndung’u Njaaga, the proprietor of Menengai Holidays Ltd and Ideal Safari Pubs in Nakuru, argued that a good law must be easy to interpret and enforce with minimum ambiguity, and must be universally applicable to all.

“The law does not apply across the board as it targets bars and not hotels and restaurants, which translates to legal discrimination.

“The law does not bar the rich from drinking when they want. It will just cripple businesses without controlling drinking,” said Mr Njaaga.

“How does a policeman tell whether a customer is waiting for a meal while taking a drink or is finishing up a drink after completing his meal?

“How many drinks should the customer take with the meal and for how long?” asked a waiter at one of the places where they sell alcohol at all hours of the day to illustrate how ambiguous the law is.

But at Sabina Joy, a lady member number 572X who meets her male customers at the club, says business is still slow because many of the former regulars are not yet aware of the club’s changed status.

“I think it will pick up with time as word gets out that it is open for business 24 hours a day, and especially as we head towards the Christmas festivities,” she said.

Nervously enjoyed

As we nervously enjoyed a drink at the club at about midday, as guests of member number 572X, there were just a handful of customers. Our sponsor, without elaborating, attributed the slow business to the depreciating value of the shilling.

However, at Amah, patrons extravagantly enjoyed their drinks with the occasional customer ordering a meal.

On enquiring of a waitress if we would be breaking the law, she assured us that no policemen would raid the place as they were licensed to serve alcohol. “Sit, relax and enjoy,” she told us.