City Hall urged to enforce Sonko’s rent waiver

MCAs in Nairobi have called for investigations into claims that tenants in county estates are being threatened with evictions despite Governor Mike Sonko extending rent amnesties.

The MCAs took issue with a lack of enforcement of waivers declarations by Governor Sonko for tenants facing financial challenges.

Kenyatta Golf  Course/Woodley MCA Mwangi Njihia, through a request for statement, said tenants were receiving eviction threats from City Hall staff on pending rent arrears.

He pointed out that Governor Sonko has in the past issued rates and rent waivers through advertisements and informal declarations by the directives are rarely followed by City Hall officers.

Mr Njihia said the move by the governor to issue waiver for house rent arrears owed to the Nairobi City County government by tenants who had failed to clear their debts due to financial challenges was meant to ease the debt burden in rental arrears for most of the tenants and bring a new chapter in management of rental payments for the houses but this has now turned into a nightmare for the same tenants.

Last year April, tenants living in Nairobi City Council houses in Kariobangi South were blocked from accessing their houses by hired goons working in collaboration with some staff of the Nairobi County.

“Pursuant to Standing Order 45(2) (c) I wish to request for a statement from the chairperson of the sectorial committee on County Finance, Budget and Appropriations regarding the rates and rent waivers granted by the County Executive both formally through advertisements and informally through declarations made by the Governor,” said Mr Njihia.

Rent arrears

In April last year, the City Hall boss issued a waiver on rent owed to the county government by tenants living in Nairobi City Council houses.

He said at the time that the waiver targeted tenants who had failed to clear their debts due to financial challenges in a bid to end cases of tenants being evicted from the county houses by cartels who later allocate the houses to new tenants at a fee.

The waiver came about after the then Nairobi Housing Director Marion Rono said that City Hall is owed a whopping Sh224 million by tenants living in the over 16, 000 county houses across the capital in a debt accrued over a period of six years.

“I have issued a waiver of rent arrears owed to the Nairobi City County Government by our tenants. However, I am appealing to tenants occupying Nairobi County Government houses to pay their monthly house rents on time without defaulting,” Sonko said back then while addressing worshippers at St. Stephen's Church along Jogoo Road.

Consequently, the housing committee has been tasked with investigating and reporting back to the assembly on the status of the waivers as well as the measures taken by officers of the planning department to enforce the governor’s declaration and if not, reasons for failure to do so.

The committee will also report on action taken against officials who continue to harass and intimidate tenants over rent arrears despite Sonko's directives.