By Samson Wire
Nairobi, Kenya: Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has extended a waiver on the rent payable to the Nairobi City County for another six months to cushion the city residents from the negative economic impact.
The city boss on Friday said Kenya has not been spared from the negative social and economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and Nairobi has been the epicenter of the disease in the country.
In a letter to the County Secretary and Head County Public Services Justus Kathenge on Friday, the Governor said his attention has been drawn to the outcry of the majority of the county tenants.
The residents are complaining of persistent harassment by officers from the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) over arrears.
“Nairobi City County is not a profit-making organization, but rather established by the Constitution of Kenya to serve the public. Therefore, I do hereby extend the waiver granted for a period of a further six months as our residents continue to recover economically from the effects of Covid-19 pandemic,” directed Sonko.
John Momanyi, 60, a resident of Jamhuri Estate said they have been harassed for quite some time and Sonko’s intervention came at the right moment.
“We have been having sleepless nights for being harassed by the officials from KRA and NMS. Our calls for help are not being answered and that is why we have asked the governor to step in,” he said.
Mercy Njoki, a grandmother at High Rise Estate said that they would be happy if the governor waived the rent arrears to give them ample time.
“We have been affected so much by this coronavirus and all we need is support from the governor during these hard times,” she said.
Other residents also applauded the Governor’s initiative terming him a people-driven and a person of humanity. “As people who have been staying in city-county houses, we are very happy today about the initiative.” Said residents of Woodley estate who did not want to be mentioned.
