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Gatundu South: Landladies protest after tenants default rent

Tuesday, July 7th, 2020 14:21 | By
Landladies protest after tenants default rent payment

A group of elderly women from Mundoro village in Gatundu South, Kiambu County have protested after tenants in their property defaulted rent payment for six months.

Carrying twigs and chanting anti-fraud songs, the frail women claimed that four people who have been tenants in a property they built using proceeds of hard menial works like charcoal burning in the 1970s have failed to pay rent for six consecutive months.

Led by Ruth Nyambura Mbugua who took part in the construction of the 6-roomed commercial plot, the 21 elderly women said the tenants who have been operating on their property for years now have breached their tenancy contract and should leave their house immediately.

According to them, trouble started last year when they increased rent fees to match the current market demands.

The tenants (in each room) used to pay Sh 15,000 per year before the women, under the umbrella of Mundoro Farmers Stores hiked the fee to Sh 45,000 per year.

The elderly women said they issued their tenants with 6-month notice to adjust to the new changes which they defied.

They went further and extended the notice for three months but the adamant tenants have failed to comply.

Having sought assistance from local administration including the area chief, Deputy County Commissioner, and police in futility, the aging women who depend on returns from the commercial building for survival called on higher authorities to intervene and help them find justice.

The women want the tenants to vacate their houses with immediate effect after defying their guidelines.
“It is not us who have hiked the rent fees but the global economic situation. Rent hike is happening across the world and our building is not muddy to remain at Sh 15,000 per year,” said Nyambura.

“We want them to vacate our houses. They better remain unoccupied for years instead of the tenants paying peanuts. We want the four tenants who have defied our new guidelines to leave immediately and allow us to live in peace,” said Tabitha Wanjiru, a daughter to one of the women.

However, speaking on phone, Gatundu South Deputy County Commissioner Stanley Kamande said the women should look for a lawyer and an auctioneer to address the civil matter.
He said the women have been to his office and he advised them accordingly.

“They have come to my office and I advised them to look for a lawyer and an auctioneer to help address the civil matter. The dispute is not criminal,” he said.

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