A widow and her three children in Kisumu were left without shelter after their landlady removed the roof of the house over rent arrears.
Caroline Achieng’, a resident of Nyalenda slums, was woken up by a fundi removing the roof on Sunday.
“I woke up to find a fundi on my roof. He said he was under instruction to remove part of the roofing over non-payment arrears,” Achieng said.
She is in arrears of Sh2,400.
She said her earlier efforts to plead for an extension proved futile as the landlady demanded she vacates immediately.
“I pleaded with her that I have children and I am not in a position to vacate but she would hear none of it,” she said.
Achieng says the strict government directives on curfew hours forced her into unemployment.
“I work with an organisation that looks into the welfare of sex workers. With the curfew orders in place, we are forced to stay home and lack allowances that come with it,” she said.
Amina Swaleh, a paralegal, unsuccessfully pleaded with landlords to work on new terms of payment given the stressful times occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Everyone is suffering, we need to share the burden,” Swaleh said.
Landlords need to sit down with their tenants and work on giving waivers or extension periods given the hard economic times,”Amina added.
The landlady only identified as ‘Nyakano’ refuted claims of indirect and forceful eviction.
Nyakano said she is only doing repair works on the roofing after recent heavy rains.
The landlady while showing the extent of the damage to her house, however, admitted to having issued a vacate notice to Achieng’.
Achieng’ has pleaded with well-wishers to come to her aid as she risks spending the nights in the cold with her three children at a time heavy rains are pouring in the region.
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