Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1110880,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1110880/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 520,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Makueni, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Daniel Maanzo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2197,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Kitonga Maanzo",
        "slug": "daniel-kitonga-maanzo"
    },
    "content": "believe the lawyers who help us with drafting and lawyer Members will make some input to address that matter. It proposes something totally new, which is not in practice and which does not happen under normal circumstances. I will suggest that we have the chairperson at the level of a chief magistrate. They have also suggested chief justice rules to guide the administration of the processes. If for three months the tribunal or the chairperson is unable to operate, then they write a report to the Chief Justice. It is not clear who fixes a hearing date. Is it the Chief Justice or the magistrate who has written a report why a matter has not proceeded for hearing in three months? That is very important especially where somebody’s goods are locked up in a shop or residential house. One of the cases that I heard about was somebody who was locked up in a house and he could not go to work or access the outside. These are some of the mischiefs we are trying to make sure are covered in law. I like what Hon. Nduati has said. The rights of the tenants in this particular law are not sharp. We have more of a bourgeoisie law. It is more about landlords. It depends on who moved it and what they were thinking. You need to balance so that the landlord does not lose and the tenant does not lose. Tenant rights should not be breached. Sometimes, you find someone has children who go to school. During this COVID-19 time, things have been very bad for landlords. In fact, if you have a vacated house and you have not reduced the rent, it may stay vacant even for a year. People have left Nairobi after losing jobs to look for cheaper areas to stay. If you do not reduce the rent or your house becomes vacant, it can stay for a very long time. We have not even gone further to deal with the issue of agency. Many premises are run by ruthless agents. If rent has not been paid, it is a big problem. That is where we get to the question of deposits, whether for three or two months, or the issue of quarterly or yearly payments. The whole matter should be balanced, so that deposit is sufficient or equivalent to the three months by which time a court case should have been concluded. You can still live on your deposit while your case is ongoing. Many times you are evicted and then they use all your deposit to paint or to renovate the house, of which there is no determination as to how much it costs or who should do the renovation. The practice has been that when you leave, you renovate and then claim the deposit. So, I agree with Hon. Nduati that we must relook at this Bill because it seeks to repeal quite a number of statutes, some of them colonial, on the relationship between landlords and tenants. It has been an area of a lot of friction especially for a person who does not have the means or does not own property or not likely to buy his own property for a long time. At the same time, those premises have become a pain and a loss to their owners. You find that out of the rent, which probably should be fixed by market forces, you are not able to make profits and yet you have a huge investment. You probably took out a very large loan to build commercial or residential premises. If the law does not balance the interests, then the landlord is going to lose in big time. You have been there for years, you pay taxes and mortgage. There needs to be a balance. The reason taxes are paid is because some of the tenants pay taxes and so, they have to show they have paid you. It has to always be mathematical at all material times. Sometimes you can be over-taxed. The law must synchronise so that we are able to regulate the sector. The most important aspect of this law is the human rights aspect. Is it constitutional? If we make a law that does not conform to constitutional standards, the Omtatahs of this land will go to court and the law will be nullified. My challenge is that at the Committee of the whole House stage, we should bring amendments like the one I have suggested about moving the chairperson from a High Court Judge level to a chief magistrate level. I thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}