Bouncers manning nightclubs in Kisumu have been accused of harassing revellers after a man was allegedly assaulted at a nightclub in the city's Central Business District.
A number of revellers told The Nairobian that the incident is not an isolated case but an example of the several cases of assault by rogue bouncers.
Maurice Ouma, a reveller who frequents clubs in the town said that security is guaranteed after one pays a small tip to the bouncers.
"If you normally tip them, they will always treat you like a king," said Ouma.
On Tuesday, a group of clubgoers convened a press briefing in Kisumu to protest an assault on one of their colleagues. They are members of a group called 'House of Lords' and have threatened to take legal action against Alleyways Club in Kisumu. They accused the club of failing to reign on their security personnel (bouncers) who are notorious for harassing revellers especially when they are drunk.
The revellers were reacting to an incident at the club on Saturday night in which one of their members by the name Dave Oludhe was brutally beaten by the Club's bouncers following an altercation over alcohol bills. Oludhe who is currently nursing numerous injuries at the Avenue Hospital in Kisumu reportedly refused to pay for one of the drinks he had ordered for, arguing that he had not used it.
The club however refuted Oludhe's argument saying that the patron had removed the seal thus they could not take back the drink to the counter. According to Lenox Omondi a member of the "House of Lords" and Oludhe's friend who was with him on a fateful day, an argument ensued pitting Oludhe against the club management.
The argument, Lenox says, ended up in a violent confrontation that saw the bouncers beat up an already tipsy Oludhe.
"These guys had ordered some three or four bottles of Mattel but there was one which they did not drink. The club wanted them to pay because the seal had been removed. So Dave(Oludhe) was in dispute saying that he can't pay for it because they have not drunk it," Omondi explained.
According to Nick Omollo, another member of the group, the club ought to have considered the fact that Oludhe was perhaps too drunk to think critically, and being someone known to the club as he was a regular customer, he ought to have been allowed to go and the issue be sorted the following day when he's sober. "They don't sell tea at Alleyways, they sell alcohol. If they knew Dave was intoxicated, why didn't they handle him with decorum yet he's someone they know very well." Omollo posed.
Omollo added that the group has already initiated the process of legal action against the Club and its bouncers. The move he says is intended to be a lesson to other clubs who employes rogue security personnel with a tendency to harass revellers.
According to the management of Alleyways Club, the man fell down while trying to get off the hands of the club's security personnel who were escorting him out of the club.
The Standard Group Plc is a
multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper
print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key
influence in matters of national and international interest.
join