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Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko has extended rent waiver for tenants occupying City County Government houses for the next 6 months citing COVID-19 financial challenges.
In a statement, Sonko accused officers from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) of harassing vulnerable city residents over rent arrears despite the current economic crisis occasioned by the pandemic.
“My attention has been drawn to the outcry of a majority of tenants occupying residential houses belonging to the Nairobi City County Government, following persistent harassment by officers from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) over rent arrears.
Kenya has not been spared from the negative social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that have ravaged the world, with the loss of jobs and incomes being the most notable.
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Nairobi has been the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya, with thousands of our residents consigned to penury from the vagaries of this unprecedented pandemic.
…Pursuant to my earlier waiver vide Cabinet Memo No. 8 of 2019 titled Waiver of Rent Arrears owed by Tenants of NCCG Houses, approved by the full Cabinet meeting held on 30th April 2019, and guided by the provisions of Articles 1, 174 and 187 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Kenya, I do hereby extend the waiver earlier granted for a period of a further six (6) months from the date of this letter, as our residents continue to recover economically from the effects the COVID-19 pandemic"
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Governor Sonko added that Nairobi City County Government is not a profit organisation, but rather established by the Constitution of Kenya to serve the public.
“The Nairobi City County Government is not a profit organisation, but rather established by the Constitution of Kenya to serve the public, as enshrined in Article 174 of the Constitution, and remains bound by the constitutional provisions cited herein above.
Through this letter, therefore, you are hereby instructed to publish a PUBLIC NOTICE in all our mainstream and social media platforms, communicating the same” reads part of the statement.
The move is expected to engineer a standoff between the County Government and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services under Major General Mohamed Badi.