Sonko calls out Sakaja over 'childish' night club ban: 'Who do you think you are?'

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has lashed out at the current county boss Johnson Sakaja over his ban on nightclubs operating in residential areas.

Governor Sakaja in November cancelled licenses for night clubs operating in residential areas following public uproar over noise pollution, a move which has been met with opposition from bar owners as well as Nairobi MCAs.

On Tuesday, Sonko labelled the ban “childish” and criticized the Governor for what he called disrespect to the people of Nairobi.

“People have invested in their businesses and you cannot just wake up one day and decide to shut clubs down. Who do you think you are? Behave! That is very childish,” said the former governor.

He advised Sakaja to instead have a sit-down with all stakeholders in the entertainment sector as well as schools and residential estates, and come up with measures which do not threaten the survival of any party.

“They should sit down with school and estate administrators to come up with regulations,” said Sonko.

“Matatu operators and bar owners are businesspeople who have been operating in this city for all these years and you will not decide to torture them,” he added, referring to the Governor’s other plan to ban matatus from Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD).

Sonko, who was impeached in 2020 on grounds of gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office, gross misconduct and crimes under national law, warned Sakaja that he might soon be shown the door as well if he does not “take things slowly.”

“Aside from being impeached by your MCAs, we can use the power of the people to kick you out. The same way I and Anne Kananu are no longer governors, so can you. We fought Evans Kidero on a daily basis until he went home, so take things slowly,” he told the county boss.

Sakaja has since reiterated that he will not relent in the crackdown on city night clubs, tweeting on Saturday: “There will be sanity in our neighbourhoods. There’s no turning back from that.”

Sakaja's directive seeking to have long-distance matatu operators in the capital relocated to the Green Park terminus at Uhuru Park to reduce congestion has also been halted by the High Court.