Not much was known about Mombasa’s A C De Souza and Company Kilindini Bar until recently when it emerged that it might be demolished to allow the construction of the Likoni bridge.
Following the directive, there are fears that memories tied to the bar which has been in existence for over 100 years might be erased.
The bar has witnessed two world wars and it has previously served as a military base, with only husbands allowed in as the wives wait outside.
Here is the story of A C De Souza and Company Kilindini Bar as told by WoK.
A C De Souza and Company Kilindini Bar was established in 1908, and since then, it has never had a TV set or any form of fancy lights.
Alexio Caeteno De Souza is the founder of the bar. He came to Mombasa from Goa, India by dhow in 1898.
While in Mombasa, he worked at Smith, Mackenzie and Company as a shipping clerk before buying the bar from Costa Bir and Sons in 1908.
Due to racial discrimination, during the World War, the bar was only serving white colonialists as Africans and Asians were barred from accessing the joint.
Around that time, De Souza was fined Ksh 4,000 for serving an African.
Drinks served at the bar was imported from South Africa, Japan and European countries due to lack of a brewery in Kenya.
De Souza ran the bar until 1918 when his two sons John and Ambrose took over the business.
In 1940 Ambrose registered the business as a sole proprietorship assisted by his wife Catherine and his five daughters until his death in 1989.
One of Ambrose’s daughter, Grace, took over the running of the business. Catherine passed away in 2013 after a long battle with cancer.
The business is managed by her daughter, Maura De Souza Abranches and her husband, Clarence Abranches.
At the time of its establishment, women were not allowed inside the bar, and they had to wait for their husbands outside.
“Women were not allowed, they had to remain at home or sit in the car and the men would come here for a big glass of beer,” a lady who frequents the bar said.
The current owner, Maura De Souza says;
“We have a lot of sentimental value to it, we were born and brought up here and this business we always knew as our very own.”
Having been in existence during the 1st and the 2nd World War, the building was taken over by the army and used as a military base.
“It’s survived two wars, we learnt that during the wars, the building was taken over by the army and used as a facility in support of the war,” Taib Ali of Friends of Fort Jesus explained.
While patrons of the bar mark 115 years of its existence, it is facing possible demolition as the location has been marked for the construction of the new Likoni bridge.
“We wouldn’t be an obstruction to development, we know we have old, we have to go but changes have to come for Kenya,” Maura said.
