President William Ruto has asked Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja not to evict residents across various estates who have defaulted on their rent payments, weeks after the county government announced a crackdown targeting them.
Speaking during a Sunday service while at the Church of Christ in Africa, Makadara, in Nairobi, Ruto appealed to Sakaja to divert the county resources towards negotiations with the defaulters instead of kicking them out of the houses.
The Head of State revealed that the directives were in line with the national government's pursuit of ensuring that Kenyans, and particularly Nairobi residents, have access to affordable housing options to address the issue of informal settlements.
Ruto, however, hit out at the defaulters over their failure to remit the rates administered by the county of Nairobi before urging the governor to engage with them in a negotiation to unlock the stalemate.
''But let me ask you. Why would you be staying in a house and for the entire 15 years, fail to even remit a shilling to the owner? Is that even in order? I propose that you look for a viable option of instalment payments until completion," Ruto stated.
''So, Governor, I want to ask you to be assertive but engage the leaders. We are not saying that people should be evicted, but rather be engaged on how to pay in instalments.''
On May 10, dozens of residents from Woodley Estate in Nairobi County were left homeless and stranded after the county officially began evicting them from their houses over unpaid rent arrears.
The residents, who argued that they had a court injunction blocking the evictions, blamed the county government for disregarding the orders and forging ahead with the evictions.
Dismayed and in shock, the residents have been left hopeless, with their belongings thrown out of their houses as the county remained adamant about evicting them.
The residents revealed that county officials arrived unannounced and forced them out of the houses they had called home for several decades.
Meanwhile, according to sources from the City Hall, the county’s revenue department, led by Receiver of Revenue Tiras Njoroge, had earlier doubled its efforts and pledged to continue the operation throughout June.
Nairobi aims to collect over Ksh10 billion in outstanding rates, funds that will be fundamental in ensuring 'essential transformation' of the city, according to Njoroge.
