Owners of disco sets in Kilifi County have alleged there has been a deliberate move by the government to deny them their sources of income by imposing a ban on disco matangas.
At least 20 disco sets have been impounded and stored in different police stations since the beginning of the year, with Kilifi and Chonyi Sub Counties being on the lead with the impounded sets.
This follows several threats being made by Interior Ministry administrators among them the area County Commissioner (CC), Magu Mutindika.
According to six disco owners whose sets have been impounded, four in Kilifi North Sub County and two in Chonyi who spoke to the press on condition of anonymity, they took loans from banks to purchase the music sets but they have not been able to repay the loans.
They alleged that their sets which used to be hired on weekends used to raise adequate funds for them to pay fees for their children along with clearing their loans and expressed shock that they have landed into problems after their sets were impounded.
“We are going to use all legal means at our disposal to recover our sets and be allowed to operate as per the guidelines given by the Cabinet Secretary Interior, Dr. Fred Matiang’i who allowed us to operate until 11.00pm,” they said.
But responding to the sentiments, Mutindika said there would be no room for discos in the county and told them to take any action they wished including their threats that they would ensure he is transferred from the county.
“We got shocking cases of 13, 000 early pregnancies in this county last year and one of the contributing factors was identified as the daily operation of disco matangas where minors attended with or without the consent of their parents. We took the action as the county security team to bring the vice to an end,” he said.
Mutindika suggested to the affected disco operators to seek for alternative sources of income generation revealing that it is evil to ruin 100 minors at the expense of one individual.
He added that at least 50 people have been arrested and arraigned in courts since the beginning of the year for defying the order, some of whom have been proven guilty and made to either pay fines or go to jail.
By Harrison Yeri
