Tenant: Landlady refused to take wall unit worth Ksh50K; she, instead, removed my door over Ksh4K rent arrears

A middle-aged woman from Majengo Estate in Narok County has been forced to occupy a doorless house after her landlady on Wednesday, April 15 removed her door over unpaid Ksh4, 000 rent.

Mary Njeri, a mitumba clothes seller at Kandas Market, told K24 Digital that she arrived home in the evening and found her door missing.

“I have never defaulted on rent payment for the 16 months I have stayed in this house,” she said.

“I tried to explain to her (property owner) why I am currently unable to raise the March rent, but she wouldn’t listen. I offered her my wall unit which I bought at Ksh50, 000 as collateral, but she refused to take it,” said Njeri.

The mother-of-two said ever since Kandas Market was closed in late March as a measure of curbing the spread of COVID-19, she has been unable to raise money for rent and food.

Some of Njeri’s neighbours faulted her landlady over what they termed as “inhumane” treatment of the mother-of-two.

“What her landlady has done, is unacceptable; it is inhumane and demeaning. What would she (landlady) say had thieves stolen the tenant’s house items? This woman (Njeri) has been paying her rent without any delays until when the COVID-19 outbreak hit Kenya,” said John Lekakiny, Njeri’s neighbour.

K24 Digital called the landlady on phone, but she declined to answer or respond to our texts.

This incident comes a week after a Thika landlord removed his tenants’ seven doors over delayed rent payments.

Elsewhere, in a similar incident, a landlady in Eldoret unroofed her tenant’s house over unpaid March rent.