Patrons avoided bars while the "Mututho Laws" were in effect.
NAIROBI, KENYA – Yusuf Oroba has been in the bar and restaurant business in Nairobi for more than 10 years. Oroba says he had never witnessed a more sobering assault on his business than Kenya’s new alcohol laws, designed to limit hours that patrons can consume alcohol, that were implemented last month and then halted by the High Court last Friday.
Oroba, the bar manager of Genesis Bar and Restaurant in downtown Nairobi, says that while the laws were in effect during the past month he had to force daytime patrons to guzzle down their beers whenever he was alerted of a police crackdown in the city. In the last week before the court halted the laws, 55 patrons were arrested for consuming alcohol outside the newly approved hours – 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. during the week and after 2 p.m. on weekends.
Oroba and other bar owners throughout Kenya say there were elated when on Friday, a High Court judge froze the new laws that restricted the sale and consumption of alcohol after a local merchant’s association claimed substantial revenue loss and other experts speculated that the laws would have a devastating impact on small business, employment rates and tourism.
Anthony Kibuchi of the Nairobi Provincial Police said while the laws were in effect that officers throughout the city were under instructions to search for bars and patrons not following the new law, which was section 34 of the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act of 2010. The laws, which instantly transformed nightlife in Nairobi, where bars were once open 24 hours a day, were a welcome shift for some – including teachers unions and parents groups – but bar owners say the laws took a significant toll on business, and customers questioned whether their rights were being violated.
Oroba, a slightly built, soft-spoken man, says that by 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day he had expected to have a full bar. Typically, New Year’s Day is a day of celebration. He says he sold four crates of beer by midafternoon last year. But this year there was not a soul in his once popular pub. It wasn’t until 2 p.m. – in accordance with the new laws – that patrons started trickling in, and Oroba says those who asked for beer were very cautious.
“I have had to scrap the whole morning shift because there is no business,” Oroba says. “I used to have four waiters in the morning and eight in the evening, but now I can only manage to keep four the whole day.”
Business was also slow for Gladys Mweni who owns Sasin Pub, a bar located in Nairobi West, a middle-class suburb 6 miles from the city center. Nairobi West has dozens of bars and pubs and is commonly known as the drinking district. But on New Year’s Day, the area that is usually characterized by rowdy revelers was unusually quiet. The whole area, Mweni says, took a hit while the laws were in effect.
“Business [was] so down,” Mweni says. “On a good day, I used to sell eight crates of beer. But those days [after the laws], selling four crates was a miracle.”
The story was the same for bar owners across the country.
Bars in Kenya instantly felt the effects of the new alcohol laws, commonly called the Mututho laws after John Mututho, the Member of Parliament who sponsored the laws, which took effect in December. Mututho was not available for comment after the laws were halted on Friday. The laws aimed to regulate the production and consumption of alcohol, which some say has diminished the quality of teaching and parenting nationwide. They were also intended to crack down on chang’aa, a traditional brew that has been claiming hundreds of lives in the country each year. While some say the laws would have gone a long way toward decreasing alcohol abuse here, others say that the laws would have had a negative impact on small businesses and joblessness. Meanwhile, some patrons said the laws violated their basic freedoms.
The laws stipulated that bars could be open only between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. during weekdays and 2 p.m. and 11 p.m. during weekends. In the past, many bars in Nairobi were open as early as 6 a.m. or remained open for 24 hours. The change came amidst a shift to increase focus on education and parenting nationwide. Even supermarkets in Nairobi posted signs announcing that alcohol would be sold only after 10 a.m. to people over 18, the legal drinking age in Kenya.
Bars that sell food and alcohol were allowed to stay open for 24 hours, but Oroba says patrons were still deterred, especially as dozens of patrons were arrested during the last two weeks before the High Court called for further review. Many of those who were arrested say they had eaten, but their plates were cleared when officers came in, making it appear as though they were only drinking.
“The law states that if a client wants to have a beer before the stipulated drinking hours, he or she has to buy food first,” Oroba says. “However, some patrons finish their food before their beers, and when the officers find the drinks on the table, it is hard to convince them that the clients have eaten.”
Other clauses in the law included fines and jail time for violations. Drinking outside the newly regulated hours came with a fine of 30,000 shillings – $370 USD – or nine months in jail. Of the more than 50 patrons arrested last week, just 10 were able to afford the fine. The others were awaiting sentencing for their jail time when the High Court issued its ruling.
Other penalties included fining bar owners for serving drinks to patrons who were already drunk. And selling alcohol to people under the legal drinking age of 18 also attracted a fine of $1,800 USD or 12 months in prison – or both.
Mututho, the member of Parliament who sponsored the laws, told reporters before the court’s ruling that one of the goals of the new legislation was also to add increased regulation to the production of local alcoholic drinks, like the traditional chang’aa, a homemade grain distilled alcohol that has been known to cause blindness and death. Mututho says he hopes that legalizing and increasing regulation on the brew will also ensure the safety of the beverage.
Traditionally, chang’aa, which translates to “kill me quick,” can be made with methanol-based substances including embalming fluid and jet fuel, according to a 2010 report in The Economist. The water used in chang’aa has also been reported to contain fecal matter and other contaminants. Police raids in 2009 even found decomposing rats and women’s underwear in confiscated chang’aa brews.
Under the new law, chang’aa brewers would have been required to obtain licenses from the new District Alcoholic Drinks Regulation Committee. The committee was to be charged with regulating packaging for chang’aa, which used to be sold in old tins, too. In the event that the High Court ruling stands, advocates say there is likely to be additional regulations for chang’aa in the future.
While bar owners and chang’aa brewers successfully appealed to the court with the claim that the laws would cause severe financial problems, other groups say they were in favor of the law and are sorry to see it stopped so soon. The Kenya National Union of Teachers in Gatundu, a small town in Kenya’s Central Province, welcomed the legislation, saying it would prevent alcohol abuse in Kenya. In a statement, the union members say the laws made them hopeful that teachers would take their work more seriously and parents would focus on educating their children.
“The rules are the answer to the problems facing this country,” says John Macharia, of the union. “In fact, the government should limit the time stipulated for drinking to two hours.”
He says the new laws came about in light of new research that suggested alcoholism was on the rise in Kenya and contributing to the breakdown of families and education. A 2009 report by the Kenya National Association of Probation Officers revealed that 23 percent of elementary school children drink alcohol in Kenya.
Although some bar owners acknowledged the problem of alcoholism here, they say the laws would have simply driven people to drink at home while alcohol retailers and the tourism industry felt the brunt of the laws.
Sam Ikwaye, chief executive officer of The Pubs, Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya, says he is pleased with the High Court’s ruling. He says the laws were not in line with the country’s Vision 2030, an economic development plan that advocates a 24-hour working nation. The association warned the court that more than 300,000 jobs could be lost as a result of the laws.
Although he says he is not opposed to some alcohol restrictions in the future, he says more consultations with stakeholders are needed to review the operating hours of the bars and restaurants.
“It is not justifiable for the government to set operating hours as it states,” Ikwaye says. “We have people who work on night shifts and [in] early mornings. When can [they] have their drinks?”
Pub and restaurant operators like Oroba and Mweni who had hoped to cash in on the Christmas and New Year festivities say their numbers were down significantly from previous years, but they are hopeful that their patrons will return to the pubs now.
Kennedy Baabu, a father of four, says that to avoid a brush with the law, he chose to host a house party on New Year’s Eve and avoid the pubs altogether.
“My friends came over, we ushered [in] the new year our own way and made merry until two o’clock in the morning,” he says.
The result for Oroba was an empty pub.
“This business was condemned the day these laws were gazetted,” Oroba says.
He says he is hopeful now that the High Court ruling will reinvigorate his business since the laws took a significant toll on his profits during the holiday season.
