Inside the Kileleshwa Club that Landed Trevor Ombija in Trouble

On any other day, Samaki Samaki Seafood and Jazz is just another upmarket Nairobi bar and restaurant, wooing clients with music, food and drinks. But on Wednesday, October 12, the location was the center of attention for Kenyans online in a heated discussion on noise pollution.

It all started when a video of Trevor Ombija, the Citizen TV presenter who is also associated with the business, went viral as he spoke at a stakeholder forum that followed the shutting down of several clubs and lounges in residential areas in Nairobi over noise pollution. Samaki Samaki was among 43 entertainment joints whose licenses were cancelled by the Nairobi County Liquor Licensing Board following noise complaints from residents.

In the video, Ombija disclosed that they (Samaki Samaki) had sought to soundproof the house of one neighbour who complained over the noise emanating from the club, provided she provide a lease agreement and permit from the City to perform alterations. Ombija noted that they did so ‘as she was the only one complaining’.

Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai, who shared the video, tore into Ombija as he called for action against clubs violating noise pollution rules in the city. Many Kenyans online also slammed Ombija’s suggestion, imagining the string of hoops they would need to jump through if they were ever to find themselves at the mercy of a noisy club.

If you want to see madness in the entertainment industry in this country, see this.

The owner of a noisy entertainment joint in Kileleshwa offering to soundproof homes.

Do we still have people with brains around?

We show you a lease? Sit down fool! pic.twitter.com/dcOVT01EKg

— Robert ALAI (@RobertAlai) October 12, 2022

 It would later emerge that the woman Ombija was referring to was Emma Too, a celebrated former model who today also runs a landscaping business. In response to the video, a Too shared screenshots of her pleas with the club management over the noise. She also shared one video with a 9:02pm timestamp recorded in her house, in which loud Zilizopendwa was heard blaring.

This is deep inside my house!!!!! @NemaKenya @NMS_Kenya @SakajaJohnson @RobertAlai
Now how do you soundproof a split level house & not the actual club?! What will other residents do? Will they also soundproof the whole street? Turn down the music and stop parking at my house! pic.twitter.com/bcTlF8C52z

— Emma Too™ (@Emma999Too) October 12, 2022

Too maintained that she was determined not to back down, having taken to social media several times in recent months to complain about the noise.

Ombija would claim in response to the uproar, in a tweet, that: “I have a neighbour who wanted us to shutdown because I did not give her a landscaping job. We reduced our volume completely all other neighbours were ok with our attempts, except her so I offered to go the extra mile of soundproofing as a last resort she still refused.”

Too also claimed that Ombija was not the owner of the club, noting that she had previously not named the club owner as she respected her as a woman business owner.

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