Rent waiver is the latest battleground between Nairobi Metropolitan Services director-general Mohamed Badi and Governor Mike Sonko.
Badi says Sonko has no authority to give rent waivers to those residing in county government houses, since housing is one of the transferred functions.
Two weeks ago, Sonko gave a six-month rent waiver extension for tenants, citing Covid-19 financial challenges.
In his October 23 notice, the governor accused the Kenya Revenue Authority and the NMS of harassing vulnerable county tenants over rent arrears despite their suffering as a result of Covid-19.
“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 KRA and the NMS over rent arrears,” he said.
He subsequently extended the waiver earlier granted for a further six months "as our residents continue to recover economically from the effects the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Badi reminded the governor that housing was among the four transferred functions and as such it was not his mandate.
“It is not legitimate because it is a transferred function. He has absolutely no authority to waive. After all, the Kenya Revenue Authority is the one collecting revenue, not the governor,” he told JKL live on Citizen TV last week.
Early last month, MCAs demanded to be told why county employees were threatening tenants with eviction despite rate and rent arrears waivers issued by Sonko in April last year.
Woodley representative Mwangi Njihia said the waivers were granted by the executive both formally and through advertisements.
“The move by Governor Sonko to waive the arrears was meant to ease the debt burden in rent arrears for most of the tenants and bring a new chapter in the management of rent payments,” Njihia said.
The county has 17,000 houses in Maringo, Uhuru, Kaloleni, Jericho, Buruburu, Kariobangi South, Ziwani and Jerusalem where tenants pay between Sh2,000 and Sh20,000 monthly rent depending on the location.
It also has houses in other parts of the city.
According to Sonko, some of the tenants had defaulted for more than six years before the waiver.
In March 2019, Housing director Marion Rono told the Budget and Appropriations Committee that tenants owed City Hall Sh224 million in rent arrears.
The following month, Sonko waived Sh172 million rent arrears "to end cases of tenants being evicted from county government houses by cartels who later allocate the houses to new tenants at a fee".
- mwaniki fm
