Mike Sonko waives Sh224m debt owed by city tenants
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko when he appeared before Senate committee on Devolution on April 24, 2019 where he cited improved revenue collection as one of his main achievements. Mr Sonko has waived millions owed by city tenants to save them from eviction. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- City Hall said tenants owed Sh224 million in rent arrears accrued over six years.
Tenants living in Nairobi City Council houses in Kariobangi South claimed rowdy youth had kicked them out of their houses.
The tenants said that they have been spending outside at night enduring biting cold after they were evicted from their houses at Mtarakwa Road.
Tenants living in Nairobi City Council houses with rent arrears can now heave a sigh of relief after Governor Mike Sonko waived the debt.
Governor Sonko said he announced the waiver to stop cartels from evicting the tenants from the city-owned houses.
Last month, City Hall Housing Director Marion Rono, while appearing before the Nairobi County Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee, said that City Hall is owed Sh224 million by tenants.
The city owns 16,000 houses across the capital, a debt Mr Sonko said has been accrued by tenants over the last 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,” said Mr Sonko, speaking on Sunday while addressing worshippers at St. Stephen's Church on Jogoo Road.
ROWDY GANG
Earlier this month, tenants living in Nairobi City Council houses in Kariobangi South claimed rowdy youth had kicked them out of their houses.
The tenants said that they have been spending outside at night enduring biting cold after they were evicted from their houses at Mtarakwa Road near Mahutini by a group of about 50 rowdy youth who have been camping at the council houses harassing the tenants, breaking into their houses and carting away their belongings.
“The houses are being occupied by hired goons who are threatening us and invoking the name of the governor in collaboration with some staff of the Nairobi County. Our household goods were all ferried by the county officials claiming that they will auction the items to recover the said bills,” said one of the residents.
