Journalists from several media houses and police officers were Friday night injured in an assault during a raid by the National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) in Nairobi.
The drama happened at Kettle House Bar and Grill in Lavington, Nairobi, police and the victims said.
The officials were targeting the joint for allowing revelers to smoke shisha.
It is linked to politician Millicent Omanga.
The injured journalists and police were taken to hospitals for medical attention. Some had their equipment damaged.
Three police officers and a driver with Nacada were also injured in the chaos.
Police said 21 suspects were arrested at the joint.
Shisha possession and consumption is banned in Kenya.
Drama broke out when police officers, accompanied by journalists and NACADA officials, arrived at the bar linked to a politician at around 11 pm to arrest club managers and patrons for allegedly smoking shisha, which is banned.
And on seeing the journalists, the club’s bouncers, dressed in black suits and red ties, charged at them, beating them and forcibly confiscating their recording equipment.
The journalists were injured and also lost their valuables and cash.
Among those injured in the scuffle was Nation Media photographer Boniface Bogita, who was stabbed twice in the ribs.
He is in stable condition.
Jane Kibira, a Kenya Broadcasting Corporation journalist was also stabbed in the back while Standard Media Group photographer Boniface Okendo and videographer Francis Odee were beaten and their cameras confiscated and broken.
Police officers later took control of the situation and arrested the bouncers, who had fled, changed clothes and hid in the toilets of the bar to avoid arrest.
This is after they sealed off the place and ordered everyone to get out. More reinforcements were called there leading to the arrest of 21 people.
A knife suspected to have been used in the stabbings was also recovered.
Neighbors have been complaining about the club saying it plays loud music with impunity with no action being taken despite complaints being lodged.
The operation against shisha was led by Nacada Chief Executive Officer Antony Omerikwa and Head of Enforcement Nicholas Kosgei.
Kosgei said during the raid, police officers managed to arrest several suspects and recovered several shisha pots used in the club.
Kenya imposed a ban on shisha in 2017, including advertising, promoting, distributing and encouraging or facilitating its use. Shisha smoking, also known as water pipe, hookah, or hubble-bubble, was outlawed in Kenya in 2017.
The comprehensive ban covered use, import, manufacture, sale, promotion, and distribution of the product. Offenders face fines starting at Sh50,000 or a minimum jail term of six months.
Kenya joined neighboring East African countries Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda in prohibiting the use of shisha.
The agency said they will continue with the exercise in other joints.
In 2017, Kenya implemented a comprehensive ban on shisha, including advertising, promotion, distribution and encouraging or facilitating its use.
“Any person who contravenes any provision of these regulations may, where a penalty is not expressly provided for in any provision of the Act, be liable to the penalty provided for in section 163 of the Act,” the government said when announcing the ban on December 27, 2017.
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