Cocobean club refutes discrimination accusations

The issue went viral as the lady who goes by the name Uyauya on twitter, showed great distress after she had been allegedly denied entry because of her skin disorder [albino].

She tweeted, “I had a lovely Saturday. Until @CocobeanKgl denied me entry into the club because I am albino. Apparently a person with albinism “causes a scene”, and a “no albinos” policy was placed.”

This has been strongly refuted by the nightclub officials

Speaking to IGIHE, Cocobean’s proprietor, Eugène Habimana [popularly known as Cobra] said that Ncomanzi’s accusations and testimony were very different from what actually happened—a reality supported by the footage from the club’s video cameras.

The footage shows Ncomanzi with her three friends at Cocobean, staying a long time outside the club, while smoking. It also shows one of her friends talking to the bouncer who claims that he refused them entry because they were drunk—a policy of the club that is applied to everyone.

“In our club, everyone is treated equally. If a patron is sober and has money, why would we refuse him/her entry? It doesn’t make sense” Cobra countered. “But if our bouncers notice that the patron in question shows some signs of drunkenness, it is in everyone’s interest that the patron is denied entry, as most times they are the ones who are most prone to causing scenes and fights,” Cobra explained.

“We reserve the right to refuse entry for various reasons, but racism or discrimination over skin color is never one of them.” He added

Cobra who has been in the business for 27 years said that it was the first time he encountered such an issue in his entire career.

Testimony of the Bouncer accused of ‘Social Discrimination’

The security guard of the club [Bouncer], Ishimwe Arnold who was accused of social discrimination, says that his actions were informed by the club policy of denying entry.

Ishimwe says that he did not hold any discussions with the Zimbabwean woman who accused him of social discrimination. He further added that if he had to send her away because she was Albino, he would’ve said it straight to her rather than address the matter to her friend.

“The female Zimbabwean came with her three friends around 12:30 and 2am; they stayed out for a long time; at first, I thought they were waiting for someone, but I came to find that they were only smoking joints.”

“I and some other bouncers started wondering why these people were standing outside for such a long time and we finally decided to question one of the male friends. As he was responding, I caught a whiff of booze on him, which is why I denied him entry,” he explains.

Ishimwe added that all patrons were subjected to the same rules and that the club had absolutely nothing against Albinism as it was being accused.

Cocobean’s front entry is adorned with a notice board that show that the club does not allow a patron wearing shorts; a patron who has been drinking too much and may be prone to causing a scene; if the patron is underage; and other various reasons.