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{
    "id": 1164174,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1164174/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 101,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherargei",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "This is a very important Bill to those of us who own property or rentals and Kenyans who live on our property will need the protection of the law. The Senate Majority Leader is working very hard to ensure that there is expeditious handling of the Bills that originate from the National Assembly. I wish that the same could be replicated at the National Assembly whenever we have Bills that originate from the Senate. That has been our contention since we moved to court the other time. I hope that the Senate Majority Leader will also ensure that the way we are prioritizing, giving adequate and rare high-level wisdom like that of Senator Ledama Olekina on the matters that are before the House, the National Assembly must also give adequate attention to our Bills so that we complement each other. Madam Temporary Speaker, I have a few comments about this Bill because it is straightforward. These are things that have been done in terms of tenants and landlords. We are just establishing a legal framework that will guide and ensure that there is protection of the law. Most of the people who own rental properties, residential homes and other many places and now we have ownership of sectional properties where there is sharing of clubs, swimming pools, stairs, or the open spaces within apartment in the city and other towns within the country. This guides and gives appropriate framework which should be done in good faith on the engagement of the tenant’s agreement and should always be done in good faith. There is also the issue of the rent increment and reduction of rent increment. This became a challenge during the COVIC-19 period. We saw a number of Kenyans lose their jobs and some of them could not sustain to pay the rent. In spite of this, some unscrupulous landlords went ahead and increased rent. It is good now that the law has provided that at least ninety days, that is, around three months. When a landlord has an intention of increasing rent of residential property and other properties, he should give adequate notice. That is very important because one interesting thing in this country that is currently under discussion is the issue of the increase in food prices. Income, such as salary will remain constant but the expenses will keep on going up. You can imagine if someone was paying Kshs10,000 for a property or a residential home or where they live and maybe their salary is around Kshs30,000. With the caveat of three months, it can give an opportunity to that person to relocate so that they can look for affordable housing. This stop-gap measure is very important. Sometimes, the landlords in our small towns and villages can frustrate you. They wake up one day and say that your rent is no longer Kshs1,500 and that your new rent is Kshs2,500. You can imagine the horror that such a family goes through to adjust with the hard economic times. On the reduction of the rent, we saw a number of landlords of goodwill in Kenya and across the world reduce house rent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the landlords gave rent reliefs of up to three months while others ensured that there was a decrease in house rent as well. I like the wording of Clause 21. It states that- “A landlord shall decrease the rent to the tenant if the tenant ceases to provide any prescribed services with respect to the tenant’s occupancy of the rental promises”. Madam Temporary Speaker, landlords are very good people when you are moving into their houses. They will tell you that we will be mowing your grass, weeding your flowers, washing your cabro pavements, provide security by having a watchman at The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}