Space Lounge raided by City askaris in night swoop – PHOTOS
Nairobi City Council officials on Wednesday night stormed into a popular city night club, chased away revelers and carted away virtually everything inside the joint.
The askaris, who were accompanied by a contingent of heavily armed police, raided the Space Bar Lounge & Grill on Ngong Road after receiving complaints of extreme noise pollution from the joint.
The askaris stormed the club a few minutes to 9pm and took over the joint that was just about to roar to life- its usual bust of heavy music blasting from neatly arranged speakers all over the building.
The club had been closed in August when a Nairobi Magistrate ordered for its temporary closure before the determination of a noise pollution case.
The order was issued by Nairobi Resident Magistrate Mary Murage.
However, the joint was again reopened in September after the complainants withdrew the suit.
At the end of October, the city club, through its director John Gitonga, moved back to court to challenge the never-ending noise pollution case, saying closure of Space Lounge & Grill will impede his ability to pay over 240 workers.
And on Wednesday night, the council askaris stormed the club with three lorries that they used to cart away everything in the joint: furniture, glasses, and multiple shisha (hooka) that may paralyze the popular joint.
Shocked workers at the club remained mum as the askaris carted away what used to be their source of living.
Huddled in groups outside the joint, they chatted away time, unsure of what awaited them in the dark night in Nairobi.