Crackdown on noisy city joints to go on – City Hall
The county government of Nairobi says the crackdown on entertainment joints over noise pollution will continue despite protests from DJs.
The county government was recently under the spotlight from entertainers in the city over what they termed blackmail and extortion by officials from the inspectorate department.
They claimed the officials harass them and ask for hefty bribes failing which they spend the weekends in cells.
The outrage against the officers arose when two DJs were arrested at Jikonis club along Kiambu Road on Saturday for playing loud music.
CLUB OWNERS
The arrest angered other DJs who came out to share their experiences in the hands of the officials, accusing them of targeting vulnerable DJs instead of club owners who should take responsibility for not having soundproof systems in their facilities.
Nonetheless, the director of operations in the inspectorate department, Mr Peter Mbaya, said that the county will not hesitate to arrest people who do not comply with the Nema rules on noise pollution.
Governor Mike Sonko has supported the arrest of the DJs, saying club owners are never at the scene.
HELD RESPONSIBLE
However, Senator Johnson Sakaja differed with the officials and called for club owners and managers to be held responsible for such crimes instead of the DJs.
He has also defended the crackdown
“They have to comply with the law and if they do so nobody is going to arrest anybody. When we started the operations last year we used to arrest around 30 to 50 people in one