Kenyan Restaurant Owner Breaks Down After ‘Tutam’ Remarks, Offers Free Food as Customers Stay Away

A Kenyan restaurant owner has made an emotional appeal to customers to return to her establishment after claiming that business dropped sharply following her public support for the political slogan ‘Tutam’.

The woman, who appeared distressed in a video shared on TikTok by a user identified as Kokos on Saturday, October 24, said she was struggling to understand why customers had seemingly stopped visiting her restaurant.

Dressed in a work apron, she walked around the establishment, displaying trays and shelves filled with prepared meals. She also showed empty seats, which she cited as evidence of the decline in customers.

“Believe me, Kenya, there is no freedom of speech or anything like that because I just came from saying ‘Tutam’, and people have abandoned my restaurant,” she lamented.

The businesswoman appeared particularly concerned about the large quantity of food she had prepared, questioning what would happen to the meals if customers did not return.

She insisted that she had not intended to offend anyone by expressing support for the slogan and appeared troubled by the possibility that her political remarks had affected her livelihood.

“As you can see, there is a lot of food here, and I wonder what I will do with all of it because people have boycotted eating here. I only said ‘Tutam’, and they do not want to eat here anymore,” she said.

The restaurant owner then showed viewers trays of chapatis, expressing concern that the food could go to waste if the situation did not improve.

“I have noticed that if you say ‘Tutam’, you will suffer,” she remarked while displaying the food.

She subsequently moved to another section of the restaurant, where she showed a variety of prepared meals, including pilau, meat, matoke and njahi.

According to her account, the establishment had experienced a significant drop in customers that day. She pointed to the empty seats as she described the situation, although the video did not independently establish why customers were absent.

“Look, here is another shelf full of food: pilau, meat, matoke, njahi and all kinds of food. And I only said ‘Tutam’, and I never had any ill intentions. Today, customers have vanished in huge numbers. You can see even the seats here are all empty,” she said.

The woman eventually made an emotional appeal to viewers, asking them to visit the restaurant and eat the available meals for free rather than allow the food to go to waste.

“I am now crying. Please just come and eat the food for free because all this food will go to waste,” she pleaded.

Her appeal took a remorseful turn as she asked those who might have been offended by her remarks to forgive her.

“I should not have said ‘Tutam’. Please forgive me,” she said.

The video has drawn attention to the potential challenges business owners can face when their public political views become a subject of controversy.

However, the circumstances surrounding the alleged customer boycott remain unclear, and the businesswoman’s claims have not been independently verified.