A recent altercation between a tenant and a landlord has sparked the debate on tenant landlord relationship.
Mary Wambui, a Zimmerman resident in Nairobi County was left in the cold in the company of her three children due to failure to clear her rent on time.
According to the landlord, Wambui had accumulated rent arrears for five months.
Wambui works at a salon in Kasarani and occasionally visit customers in their homes for the salon services to earn extra coins.
Yesterday, she was all about her business when she received a call from her neighbor stating that that landlord had ordered for her eviction.
She rushed back home only to find all her properties and children out in the cold, with a big padlock on the door.
Many people have been in similar situations if not all, evoking the discussions on tenant rights.
Renting a building, apartment or house is part of the program of growing up in Kenyan households.
The relationship between tenants and landlords is not a smooth one, considering the high economy of the country as well as state of joblessness.
Some landlords have taken the power of owning property to subject tenants to all manner of drama antics and horrifying shenanigans with impunity.
Ideally, they also use caretakers to handle their dirty works and serve as small gods to be worshiped and pleased however they want.
This is not the first case of landlords being cruel as a few months back, the public domain witnessed an ugly incident in which an apartment owner in Nairobi’s Lang’ata estate allegedly poured human waste in his houses in a bid to evict tenants.
This is just an illustration of an extent to which landlords and apartment owners can go.
There are other apartments with very strict restrictions such as to be occupied by only corporate working people and not hustlers, or prohibited from certain tribes.
Others have indication notices reading “Not for unmarried people”.
This is wrong and demeaning as no matter the circumstances, the tenants have rights that are to be upheld.
It is thus important for tenants to read their agreement terms and be familiarized with the terms to avert such embarrassing scenarios.
