Nairobi News

T he well publicised New Year’s Eve gospel event, the Groove Party 2013, turned disastrous on Tuesday night as hooligans took advantage of the night event to mug people.

Held at the Safaricom stadium, Kasarani, party-goers were mugged outside the stadium from around midnight.

According to a witness who requested anonymity, the muggers took advantage of the long lines of fans trying to access the stadium and forcefully parted them with their valuables, including handbags, wallets, phones and cash.

“One woman was even stabbed as she tried to resist being mugged,” said the witness.

Although security inside the stadium was tight, outside it was unmanagable until 3am when reinforcements from the Kenya police arrived.

The event organiser, Kevin Mulei of MoSound Entertainment, said they were overwhelmed by the numbers that turned up at the event.

“In 2012, we had a successful event at Nyayo Stadium and the security was good. However, lots of people were rained on and this time round we had to look for a better venue, that’s why we opted for the indoor arena at the Kasarani stadium,” said Kev in a telephone interview.

“However, we were overwhelmed by the numbers that turned up at the event. After consultations with security personnel, we shut the doors to avoid a possible stampede inside the stadium.”

He added that some hooligans took advantage of the situation and started robbing those who had been locked out of the event.

“I thank the Kenya Police who were very cooperative and worked hard to contain the situation that night.”

The Groove Party New Year’s Eve event is an annual event held to usher in the new year. Kenya’s top gospel artistes and DJs performed at the event.