Council houses rent hike

'Evening!

Since sometime last year, tenants who have been living in Council flats anywhere in Mombasa, have been told, when they go to pay their rent, that, it has increased, to an unbelievable amount. Considering that the Council does no maintenance of these houses as well as the fact that most of them are between 60 and 70 years old, this latest rent hike of over 1000/-, is totally ridiculous.

Add to this, the Council has not given us a legal and written notice of 3 months. The rent has also been collected in the most strange manner. Different tenants ended up paying different amounts for different months. If, the Landlord, in this case the Council, does not give us a written notice in due time as required by the law, there is nothing to hold the Council accountable for what it collects, when and how much.

The cashiers have been issuing receipts for payments. I have photographic proof of what they have been doing.

Below, is just one of the emails and the latest that I've written with the attached photos of what is happening.


Raziya wrote on 01-Nov-07 3:02 PM:

'Afternoon!

Below, is my account of what I'd promised you, yesterday....

Razia.

The message is ready to be sent with the following file or link attachments:
So many discrepancies...
If, you look closely, you'll find that there is no Ref. No., the notification is to my late father's name, they have asked me to go to Buxton, while in actual fact we were supposed to go to the Tudor office and nowhere does it say that we should go with our rent receipts. This notification was hand delivered on the mid-afternoon of the 30th October 2007, though, again, nowhere is the date written.

Do these people really know what they are doing?

Then, when, I reached the Tudor office at around 10.30 am, the two clerks (women), were out somewhere on a tea break! There was already an old blind man who was accompanied by another young man who had helped him there, from another Council Estate, waiting. As I, too, waited, another tenant showed up (from my estate). And we all waited....

Eventually, when the two clerks showed up after about half an hour, they lazily strolled to their tables and equally lazily and insolently started working. The person who had come last was dealt with first and if one objected, you were ignored! Like the old man was, by one of the clerks (who could have been his grand-daughter). She was extremely rude and insolent to him and started quarelling with the old man and answering back. This, in our culture is not a done thing and the old man rightly found her behaviour insulting and rude. Therefore, he spoke up and told her so, in no uncertain terms that she was there to 'serve' him and not the other way round. She carried on being offensive but mercifully and eventually, when the old man wouldn't keep quiet, left the room. She couldn't be bothered that she was doing no work in the process. The other clerk, after finishing with the guy who had come in last, took up the old man's case and dealt with it.

Then, came my turn. She took my receipts, which show that rent has been paid till (according to the receipt) January 2008, but, she kept calculating something on her calculator and not explaining to me what she was doing or how she arrived at the figure pictured. Do these people really work transparently? When I brought to her attention that my rent had been paid well in advance, she said, it was not and that it was in arrears. When asked for an explanation, she told me to go see the Housing Manager at Buxton. Knowing how our Council employees work, or don't work, I further asked her what or whom I should see if he/she wasn't in the office. I was told to go to the town office and see the Director of Housing!

The reason, I'm writing this is because, I've had previous misadventures with the Council many, many times and especially so when, soon after my father's demise, I had to let them know and get them to change the name of the tenant. It took many trips to the Council and being shuttled from one office to another and another, before, this simple act was done many months, later!

I wonder what and where is the Minister for Local Government? I've sent him, at the beginning of the year, by post this contentious increment of rent without the tenants being given written notice 3 months in advance as per the law, but, NOTHING seems to have been done about this and business continues as usual at our so-called Council.

The rent paid in advance

Proof of having paid my rent well in advance. Why issue me with a receipt if it's not the correct amount? And why haven't they given us a written notice of rent increment as the law requires? And on what grounds have they increased the rent by nearly a 1000/-?! And from which month/year?

Since the above, I've had to go to a lawyer at Kituo Cha Sheria who wrote a letter to them to explain the arrears of 9250/-. We've, just received, yesterday, another strange figure of 14,750/- as at November 1st (no year), with an attached copy of the Kenya Gazette of 7th July 2006 where it says in one of the pages that the rent for Nyerere is 2500/-!

Now, if you check the attached pictures of the various receipts from my neighbours paid for different and the same months, they all differ.

So, to date, the rest of my neighbours have ended up paying 2300/- since last year while I have been paying the original before this strange rent hike of 1375/-.

Why hasn't the Council given us a legal written notice of this increment. And if one believes the Kenya Gazette, it's a hike of 1200 nearly, for flats which are not maintained, leaking and pretty old, too. Isn't there some kind of law as to how much a landlord, in this case, our redoubtable Council, can increase the rent? These are also low cost housing.

Please, investigate this issue and have the Local Authorities obey the law as they would have us, do so, too.

The 142nd reminder.... to the PERSON/S CONCERNED

It is now nearly 6 months since the launch of the Citizen's Report Cards for water and sanitation both in Mombasa and Nairobi. At the launch, all these 'service' providers talked in the most positive manner about improving their services in the above mentioned fields and our Mayor, Mr. Mwidani even gave his mobile number to the people attending in a moment of extreme enthusiasm. This, he seems to have regretted within a few hours of giving it out because subsequently, people who tried calling it, couldn't get through. He and the others from the Municipal Council of Mombasa in the public health and environment offices had promised us that they would always be available for any feedback or complaints.

This, I found out to my detriment, is completely untrue. I have personally tried seeing the environment people, but, they are hardly ever there and even when one finds them around they are perpetually rushing off to meetings and have no time for you!

While reading these reminders of mine, one must be feeling a sense of utter despair, but, I think, we have a faint light of hope on the horizon where the new Managing Director of the Water Company, Mr Chitavi, is concerned. He impresses me as a very organized and straight person as well as properly qualified and sincerely wants to solve the waterless problem of Mombasa. He also is very enthusiastic about the whole issue of my suggestion regarding desalination. He has borrowed two of the latest magazines on the subject of affordable desalination, filtration and waste water management from me and I believe is going through them.

I hope and pray that his work ethic will infiltrate through the rest of the many bodies that are set up for the provision of water, sanitation and solid waste management, Insha'Allah.

Re: Campaign noise!

How are you? I've just sent you another email with pictures of these rowdy politicians and what they do in their respective neighbourhoods. They are among the most SELFISH creeps imaginable as they care little for anybody other than getting votes by fair means or foul. In this case, it's mostly FOUL!

Then, they call themselves MUSLIMS????! Their behavious belies what they supposedly profess. They are an INSULT to every human being, especially their professed faith! Their behaviour is of the hooligan and gangster type, also.

Therefore, they MUST NOT WIN a single seat in the next parliament. We will have ourselves to blame, if they do.

I'm posting these emails to my blog too, for everybody to read.

Salaams,
Razia.

elijah.agevi wrote on 11-Nov-07 11:36 AM:

Thanks Raziya for the very scurry updates on presidential candidate. What we seriously need is one country that is well governed where resources are equitably shared throughout the nation. Majimbo will not put food on the table!It will not by itself create jobs and wealth........ Anyway mambo ni mengi....  Things are moving on well here in Hargesia but the knowledge and capacity gaps are simply great. We in Kenya take too many things for granted.  As for our beloved country, we can only wish that the Almighty God/Allah will guide all of us during the forthcoming election so that we don't suicidal mistakes. We need divine intervention.  Have a truly blessed sunday. Here it is a normal working day!  Warm regards,  Elijah

Emailing: Have just arrived with those huge speakers..., Our quiet shattered!, They mercifully left, Again Shattering noise of drumming started, When

The message is ready to be sent with the following file or link attachments:

Have just arrived with those huge speakers...
We have some of the most lawless and questionable characters in our neighbourhood who are vying for political seats. As previously written but not captured on camera (but now, have), of their insolence. They insist on playing loud music interspersed with equally loud announcements, which very few can hear or are interested in hearing, all over this estate and further afield. By doing this, they are showing how shallow they are in their quest. Their one agenda is to acquire a civic seat, by hook or by crook and if they are NOW, behaving in this manner, I dread to think, what will be our lot, should they win! God help us!!!

Our quiet shattered!
Not only do they disturb our peace in the daytime, where, when one calls the police to restore it, they in turn are very averse to do anything about it, but, hordes of people arrive on the scene even by bus, to add to the din...

They mercifully left
This time, I was ready for them with my camera and when they saw the flash going, they quickly and mercifully departed.

Again Shattering noise of drumming started
Sunday morning brought some drummers on the scene who started the same old ear shattering racket...

When they saw me taking photos, they are being told to leave!
Again, when they saw me taking pictures of them, they were being told by some people at the gate to leave.

As I write this, a whole lot of cars arrived on the scene and one of the 4-WDs, has been fitted with huge speakers and a generator which are in combination continuously setting off my car alarm due to the vibration. And the next time I want to go out, the battery will have died and will have to jump start it.

This persistent noise, has also spoiled my alarm system and despite having got it fixed early last week, it's back to square one! I have also tried calling the cops, and while they promised to send somebody here to restore order, it's anybody's guess, when that will be done!

Don't we have some kind of law in this country about disturbing the peace? The irony is that, there's also a hospital within a stone's throw of this place. Add to this the children who are studying at home for exams and the others who are doing them in their respective schools in the neighbourhood, too.

Do these people have any sense? Or as mentioned above, they HAVE to get into parliament by whatever means to further hurt the Wananchi by doing next to nothing for the next 5 years, yet, getting the highest pay and perks anywhere in the land! WE DO NOT NEED SUCH PARASITES, do we?!

Kenyans BEWARE of such empty headed tactics to get your precious votes. We will all regret our folly for the next 5 years or more...

Re: Campaign noise!

Good to hear from you, again, getting the latest from your end. In a way, it must be better to start from scratch on all those building codes and standards as compared to this place where, though we have or are supposed to have these, nobody applies them.

In your case, those guys just have to make sure that all those things are adhered to. Not undo a whole behaviour pattern....

About the noise and ODM. Fr. Quinn of 'ukweli', last night, sent me some very interesting and disturbing fwds with attachments of actual signed documents that Raila Odinga has signed as MOUs with the Muslims of this country and a write up about him going to South Africa to 'consult' a very expensive witch doctor. A South African paper has done a very revealing story on his misadventures, there! I wish I'd kept the copies that were fwded to me. Then, I'd have been able to share the info with you. But, maybe, somebody else might have sent the same to you, too?

These noisy neighbourhood creeps seem to be spreading their noise pollution all over town and have little regard for other people's sensibilities. Whether we like it or not, we are being forced to listen to the garbage that they spew out. And they call themselves, Muslims? As far as I'm concerned they are an insult to their faith or what they claim to be following. And because, I object by calling the police, they get others to set off my car alarm till now they have spoiled it and it keeps playing for about 5 minutes and eventually the battery will die! Then, I'll have a hard time trying to start the car, when I next go out. The cops, too, are not too helpful as according to them, it's daytime and one can make as much noise as one likes. It's only at nights that it matters but, again, they are very unavailable, then.

About the MOU with the Muslims, I really dread these guys becoming the next government, because, they're planning on Taliban like laws for the Majimbo in the Coast Province as well as North Eastern. Despite being a Muslim myself, I cannot support them, in their quest. They are planning on being extremely intolerant and therefore anarchy will reign supreme.

Isn't our presidential hopeful, Raila Odinga, thinking about the chaos he's going to unleash on both Muslims and non-Muslims, alike with that contentious MOU of his? We will never know PEACE! We have enough examples of such one track minded thinking, among the Muslims, all over the world, I think, to help everybody make an informed choice.

While Islam preaches and professes complete freedom of religion and practice of tolerance, the MOU sounds just the opposite, unfortunately. Hence, I dread ODM winning these coming elections.

I really can't stand the semi-literates in my neighbourhood who are standing for office. They are pests of the worse kind.

Salaams,
Razia.

elijah.agevi wrote:

Thanks Raziya. I am briefly in Hargesia, Somaliland trying to follow -up on the earlier work I had done on building codes and standards here. As you may be aware there are no guidelines, codes,norms and standards in the whole of Somalilland. Nothing. Everything went with war! War is bad. Very bad and as a country and people of Kenya, we must guard and be opposed to anything that can drive us in that direction.  In Somaliland there are no institutions and qualified people to undertake even very basic issues such as supervision of building sites. There are no clear cut procedures for even accessing and getting a building permit.In short there are significant challenges in Somaliland. The place particularly Hargesia is very peaceful.  I am therefore trying to assess what needs to be done in order to introduce codes,standards and procedures in the country under all these trying circumstances.  Once again keep up with the struggle. You have many admirers for what you are doing with such a passion.  Have a great afternoon and weekend.  Elijah.

Re: Campaign noise!

Thank you once again for your compliment and feedback, which I really appreciate.

You're in Somaliland? Whatever are you doing there? I hope the 'environment' is better than the one we have here, at present, though. Total insanity reigns here, unfortunately!

Re my noisy political neighbours and all the other re-cycled ones like them out there..... These people seem to be living in a massive time warp where they still think and behave like they did and have been doing the last couple of decades and also before that. They are under the impression that the electorate can be manipulated by their loud music and dancing making them think that they are attending a huge party. In the process, the impression they create among the outsiders is one of a typical 'banana republic' going to vote!

That it's a free for all and what can one expect from Africa, after all. What they should, in fact be doing instead, is giving and exchanging ideas (even with the opposition), about how they intend to improve the lot of the much maligned electorate. Answer and discuss the many serious issues confronting them and allowing the public and the press to question their policies...... in public! Show some 'civilized' behaviour, in fact. They would also be setting a good example to their electorate.

This way, they will also, let the people know how professional, ethical, accountable they really are, instead of this present empty headed and slanderous behaviour they expose with regard to their campaigning. For the present, the way they're behaving, one wonders what kind of people are going to be populating the August house comes next year. Most of the males among our politicians also, have little regard or respect for the women folk or their female counterparts and/or opposition. What a horrible and nasty example they set!

And as an aside - that charcoal issue still hasn't been solved and the guy is doing a booming business. I tried ringing that Forest officer in Malindi's number, but, nobody is answering!!! Now, you see what kind of people are out there supposedly 'protecting' our forests!!! They are a thoroughly, unethical and unaccountable lot.

Have a safe trip,
Razia.

elijah.agevi wrote:

Good afternoon and greetings from Hargesia Somaliland madam Raziya. Well put and I couldn't agree more with your accurate analysis! I am indeed happy that for the next one week will be away from this kind of madness. What however surprises me is that as a people we allow ourselves to be carried away with such gimmicks that are leading us nowhere. When shall we ever learn and be wiser!  Have a peaceful and informed afternoon.  Elijah

Campaign noise!

Since, the campaigning has started, my two neighbours have been behaving in the most obnoxious manner. One of them is Mr. Joho, who is standing for the Kisauni seat and the other, Mr. Adan Kushe who is vying to continue being the area's Councillor, both under the ODM ticket.

Now, these two people think nothing of behaving in the most insolent manner, therefore, I wonder (if just trying to attract voters, they are behaving this way), what would we have to put up with should the Wananchi vote for them. I fear that their insolence would know, no bounds!

Every single day and night, there are people gathered outside Mr. Joho's residence's gate. What they want there, is anybody's guess and he was using the whole month of Ramadhan under the guise of giving charity (which we, Muslims, are supposed to do during this Holy Month), handouts to crowds of people.

And his neighbour and friend, Mr. Kushe, also has crowds of people who look, to all intents and purposes, layabouts, who hang around the above mentioned 'hopefuls' houses.

They also have a pick-up which is fitted with two huge speakers, which they use to go all over including this estate (I have the misfortune of being their neighbour), playing loud music and 'announcing' things at ear splitting levels. They think nothing of disturbing the whole estate with this noise pollution every single day and night at anytime.

The volume is so high that the proverbial statement of, 'one not being able to hear ourselves think', could be very well applied in this case. The vibrations from these speakers also set off my car's alarm further disturbing everybody. All this bothers them the least! It seems that they are trying to 'attract' our semi- and illiterate masses for votes using this means. The same psychology that noisy matatus apply to attract passengers.

I wish, our candidates would use more intellectual means for attracting voters, because, when you come right down to it, what kind of people will we be electing? Those, who have very little 'upstairs', and nothing much besides and ones who can dance (our many challenges away?), with loud music?

If we vote for such people, we will NEVER improve our lot! Doesn't the public find the huge posters with their photographs, erected all over the place, demagogic? Remember that all dictators, past and present, anywhere in the world have this habit of erecting huge statues of themselves as well as putting up their pictures, everywhere else? This is akin to imposing themselves on the people and forcing them to 'hero' worship them! For what purpose?

So, people, please use your heads when going to cast your votes.

The 141st reminder.... to the PERSON/S CONCERNED

Another week has gone by without any water, of course, and hence this 'reminder'.

As you must have noticed, from one of my emails of yesterday regarding a charcoal dealer in our midst, our Council and it's environment dept., in particular, is not functioning. This means that when they are collecting garbage fees from us, via the water bill, it's only for the sake of collecting money (of which they are overly fond), but, not giving a service in return. The charcoal seller, in the same way is breaking many environmental and Municipal by-laws, but, getting him to stop his business has proved entirely fruitless.

In the same way, there are many neighbourhood wells and boreholes, but, they are allowed to exist, due to the Water Board's and the Water Company's gross and total negligence in providing this much needed fluid. Therefore, they allow, even at the expense of making a mess of our environment, locally and globally, such things to exist and nearly all new buildings that are built these days, have at least one borehole or well to cater for the occupants.

Yet, these insolent service providers continue sending us their contentious and phantom water bills, all in the name of some of us having meters, still, and to add insult to injury, they have now (since nearly a year), added sewage charges! On what grounds?

How dare these people even dream up such charges? When they can't even provide water to the residents on a consistent basis, how can they, then, start charging us for sewage, whose infrastructure is in a shambles and when they release raw sewage into the sea? What nonsense is this?

If, the powers that be, have really 'privatized' the water sector, then why are the same old 're-cycled' employees still existing? It sounds exactly like our government, which has the same old re-cycled people, yet, again, standing for office in the up-coming elections!

We can rightly be called a 'banana republic' when we don't get water and our power supply, too, is shaky in the extreme. The combined efforts of both are effectively taking us back to prehistoric times, I think!!!

 'One learned man is harder on the devil than a thousand ignorant worshipers': Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

The Charcoal seller saga...

Despite having informed, by calling the Nairobi Forestry office this morning, and talking to somebody who gave me his name as 'Yusuf', who promised to mobilize the local (Mombasa), forestry people, nothing seems to have been done about this continued insolence. He has also taken my phone contacts promising to get in touch, but, it's now over 3 hours since I talked with him, but, have got no feedback....., yet.

I would have take a picture of the canter and what it was carrying, but, I don't have my camera with me just now, unfortunately.

The neighbourhood charcoal seller has just received the latest consignment of a Canter full of sacks of charcoal and this time it arrived in broad daylight on a weekday! In the past, it's done so in the middle of the night usually on weekends.

In fact, I'd gone to see Mr. Mwamela, our local District Forestry Officer who has recently taken up his post, replacing Mr. Mwai, on Friday, last week, but he didn't give me his contact number nor did he sound very enthusiastic about protecting our dwindling forests.

When, I told him that the charcoal seller had recently finished his supply and he would soon be rec'ving more, he told me that he would get in touch with his predecessor, Mr. Mwai, and find out what his investigations had revealed. Also, that this week he would be unavailable as he would be attending a workshop the whole week!

Now, my question to everybody concerned is - with such 'officers', it is any wonder that our forest cover is getting destroyed? Btw, the Canter's registration number was/is - KAU 865J and it arrived here at 10.00 am, 6th Nov 2007, if anybody is interested and anything can be done about following this up. Of course, the guy will have no sign or trace of charcoal in the Canter by now, but, if the relevant people had arrived here on time, they would have caught and been able to question both the carrier and the seller. Now, the seller might or will pass the buck to the carrier!

Hoping, that this will be investigated and stopped.....

Emailing: So many discrepancies..., The rent paid in advance - And example of how our Council 'works'...

Below, is my account of what I'd promised you, yesterday....

So many discrepancies...
If, you look closely, you'll find that there is no Ref. No., the notification is to my late father's name, they have asked me to go to Buxton, while in actual fact we were supposed to go to the Tudor office and nowhere does it say that we should go with our rent receipts. This notification was hand delivered on the mid-afternoon of the 30th October 2007, though, again, nowhere is the date written.

Do these people really know what they are doing?

Then, when, I reached the Tudor office at around 10.30 am, the two clerks (women), were out somewhere on a tea break! There was already and old blind man who was accompanied by another young man who had helped him there, from another Council Estate, waiting. As I, too, waited, another tenant showed up (from my estate). And we all waited....

Eventually, when the two clerks showed up after about half an hour, they lazily strolled to their tables and equally lazily and insolently started working. The person who had come last was dealt with first and if one objected, you were ignored! Like the old man was, by one of the clerks (who could have been his grand-daughter). She was extremely rude and insolent to him and started quarelling with the old man and answering back. This, in our culture is not a done thing and the old man rightly found her behaviour insulting and rude. Therefore, he spoke up and told her so, in no uncertain terms that she was there to 'serve' him and not the other way round. She carried on being offensive but mercifully and eventually, when the old man wouldn't keep quiet, left the room. She couldn't be bothered that she was doing no work in the process. The other clerk, after finishing with the guy who had come in last, took up the old man's case and dealt with it.

Then, came my turn. She took my receipts, which show that rent has been paid till (according to the receipt) January 2008, but, she kept calculating something on her calculator and not explaining to me what she was doing or how she arrived at the figure pictured. Do these people really work transparently? When I brought to her attention that my rent had been paid well in advance, she said, it was not and that it was in arrears. When asked for an explanation, she told me to go see the Housing Manager at Buxton. Knowing how our Council employees work, or don't work, I further asked her what or whom I should see if he/she wasn't in the office. I was told to go to the town office and see the Director of Housing!

The reason, I'm writing this is because, I've had previous misadventures with the Council many, many times and especially so when, soon after my father's demise, I had to let them know and get them to change the name of the tenant. It took many trips to the Council and being shuttled from one office to another and another, before, this simple act was done many months, later!

I wonder what and where is the Minister for Local Government? I've sent him, at the beginning of the year, by post this contentious increment of rent without the tenants being given written notice 3 months in advance as per the law, but, NOTHING seems to have been done about this and business continues as usual at our so-called Council.

The rent paid in advance

Proof of having paid my rent well in advance. Why issue me with a receipt if it's not the correct amount? And why haven't they given us a written notice of rent increment as the law requires? And on what grounds have they increased the rent by nearly a 1000/-?! And from which month/year?