The Alchemist bar through a statement issued on Monday, May 30 night announced its closure. The Westlands-based joint has been the talk of town for the past two days over claims of racism against Africans.
The statement which mentioned that the closure was to pave way for investigations by the Nairobi County Government read: “After careful consultation with Nairobi County Government, The Alchemist has agreed to close its doors while a thorough investigation is conducted over the next few days.”
According to the club management, the investigation will review Saturday’s events where the club bouncer was allegedly caught on camera sending a black patron out of the line which appeared to only have non-Blacks.
The probe will find out if the guests in question were denied entry or there was a policy in place to have separate queues for guests. Individuals in the said video, would also be interviewed and footage throughout the entire evening reviewed.
Moreover, the Alchemist on Sunday, May 29 apologized for the incident, saying, they look forward to sitting down together and addressing these issues head-on. Also, through a series of tweets, the club distanced itself from the allegations, writing:
“We have reviewed footage from the alleged incident and we’re sharing it for everyone to see. There is only one entrance line for people to come in from”.
“There’s people of every background in that line,” wrote the bar, alongside what it claimed was CCTV footage of the entrance from Saturday, May 28 night.
They also added that, the club’s management had reached out to the man who was supposedly sent away via phone, and he confirmed he had no issues, and was not aware that camera footage of him had been filmed and was released.
The Alchemist describes itself as “a diverse collective of wacky and determined entrepreneurs in food, fashion, music and more” but is no stranger to accusations of racial discrimination.
