Tribeka Club to lay off 8 shisha attendants after ban

Shisha smoking over the years had become the young peoples’ favourite pastime.

Shisha is prepared from mixing regular tobacco with flavours such as strawberry, mint and other fruity flavours. The smoke is then passed through a water basin and inhaled through pipes.

Tribeka is one of the popular entertainment joints in Nairobi that sells shisha. The manager, Bill Oyoo, told the Nation on Thursday that the majority of shisha smokers are people aged between 25 and 40 years.

“Our shisha patrons are mostly women. Some of these women don’t take alcohol at all. They only come to our club for shisha, usually in groups after work,” Oyoo said.

In most city clubs, one “dose” of shisha sells at Sh800 while the entire pot sells at a street price of Sh5,000.

SIX SMOKERS

“A regular pot of shisha hosts six smokers. Each of these smokers uses a different pipe called a mouthpiece,” Oyoo explained. 

According to him, enthusiasts of reggae music are the main smokers of the shisha pot in Nairobi.

“We sell most of our shisha on Thursday when we host a reggae night. Reggae fans flock the club between Thursday and Saturday nights when we make more than Sh800,000 on shisha sales.”

Shisha is one of the biggest income streams for clubs that deal with the drug. According to the manager, Tribeka generates monthly earnings of more than Sh3 million on shisha sales.

FLAVOURS

“We have attendants responsible for mixing the tobacco with the different flavours, preparing the coal, regulating the smoke and serving the pot to customers,” he said.   

The club, he said, will have no choice but to lay off eight of their shisha attendants.

 “We expect the patrons to keep enquiring about shisha, but a government directive has to be complied with despite the economic consequences,” Oyoo said.