This archive report was first published on 6 May 2020.
On Tuesday evening, police stormed Harry's Tavern along Manyanja Road in Umoja, arresting over 40 people who had locked themselves inside to avoid attracting unwanted attention.
The group, comprising men and women, had been enjoying drinks when the police intervened, cutting short their merrymaking.
Some of the patrons managed to escape by jumping through the windows, but the arrested individuals will be subjected to a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a government facility.
The arrests came just hours after Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe expressed concern over the abuse of COVID-19 rules in eateries and pubs.
According to Kagwe, some individuals have been exploiting the rules by ordering multiple drinks and food items, only to claim that they are not eating or drinking.
“And it has indeed been abused, it’s a fact that people have been going to pubs, or to eateries, they order one sausage with two beers, anakula hiyo sausage moja na beer mbili,” Kagwe stated.
He posed a rhetorical question, asking, “Sasa hiyo ni kitu gani unafanya jameni?” (What are you doing, my friends?)
