Nakuru's cheeky dance with strip club culture

Nakuru’s history with strip clubs has been a wild one, simply because of the conservative culture that has encompassed this town.

One would liken it to opening a pork joint in some Arab country.

Speaking to some of my friends who were here longer than I was, Allan Osiyo* says that this ‘abomination’ started in 2007, with the Blackjack lounge that was right around where Mache Hardware is.

“As far as I can remember, that was the first strip club in Nakuru. It was always full on Thursdays (I can’t remember well because I was in Form 2) but it was always packed. Most folks at the time would go there out of curiosity just to see this new phenomenon,” he says.

Allan continues, “The club was very common for a while but, one day we woke up and it was no longer there. We never knew what happened and the next time I heard of another strip club was SEBS.”

Now SEBS came in bold, guns blazing like the main character of sin city. It was the place to be on Thursdays.

By this time the aspect of kukula kwa macho was very much alive. And although the revellers were still a little shy and hid behind caps, they slowly got bolder and SEBS got fuller with every Thursday.

The party would also go on until morning with cars lined up on the road outside the club.

I remember passing by the club while going to the Regional Commissioner's offices for my internship one Friday morning at 7:30 am and I met people exiting the club. I wondered to myself what madness is this as I judged them harshly.

However, for the better part of three years SEBS brought the city centre to life. Rumour has it that some of the strippers came from Atlanta, USA. Si ni mimi nakushow.

But anyway, COVID came and just like that the colourful, stylish building now stands deserted.

Then came Groundless Lounge.  Its magnificent pole wasn’t just a fixture. It was a throne for fantasies too wild for daylight.

Nakuru had become accustomed to this form of entertainment thus attracting crowds to the Thursday shows. The dancers came from as far as Kisumu and Nairobi, giving a show that would leave mouths talking for months.

Sadly, on the night of March 13, 2024, the teasing lights of Groundless finally dimmed for good, and the last stripper heels clicking like a heartbeat walked off the stage into silence.

For the loyal Thursday night revelers who once thronged the place in search of flesh, fire, and fantasy, all that’s left are steamy flashbacks and seductive echoes that creep in when the night gets just a little too quiet.

Mtaa Wangu could not independently confirm, but we heard that XSCAPE club (that was in NAKA) also hosted the night dancers at some point. But anyway wacha tuachie hapo.

To any investor out there who may be bold enough to start another one, just know you have a readily available clientele, if the past is anything to go by.