Unrest erupted at a rental apartment owned by a Maua-Meru county resident known as Jack Mati. He claimed that a tenant named Gaia had leased the apartment for five years and had not paid a dime. The lease arrears had accumulated to a tune of Ksh 3 million.
Mr Mati claimed that after the lease expired as agreed, the tenant refused to be evicted and was in the process of changing ownership of the property. He had renamed the building to Al-Furqan.
“The tenant has been served with a court order, and he is being evicted. He’s been in my building for two and a half years and has never paid a dime. He is known as Gaia Diriar, a Somali, and he has a habit of taking people’s property by force.
“He cannot claim that the pandemic is the cause of the unpaid arrears because he never paid before it occurred. He had leased 42 rooms as well as storefronts.
“He is not being forcibly evicted because a court order has been issued. I politely asked him to, but he refused. I never touched him; he was the one who hit me. He threatened to shoot me and two other people. He’s just being arrogant.
“He owes Ksh 3 million in unpaid arrears, including damages. I’d like him to leave so that I can paint my building and use it for other purposes. He cannot continue occupying the building without paying,” said Jack Mati.
“After occupying the building for a long time, he began going around telling people that he would claim the property. We thought it was a joke until he stopped paying rent and stayed for 5 years.
“We went to the land tribunal and were instructed to use force in order for him to leave the building. To scare us away and keep occupying the building, the tenant threatened us with knives and guns. We appreciate the officers from the Maua police station who intervened. Special thanks to Maua police station OCS,” said a resident.
