Nairobi West businesswoman in property tussle with former tenant
A Nairobi landlady fears she could lose prime property she inherited from her father in the wake of a tenancy battle that has escalated to the corridors of justice.
In court documents seen by Nairobi News, Renee Ng’endo Chege says she risks losing a piece of land she inherited from her deceased dad when she was a minor in 1998.
The property seated on prime land in Nairobi, has reportedly been leased by Osidai Limited for close to two decades.
Ms Chege asserts that the lease period agreed between the tenants and her late father has lapsed and she, having come off age, has struggled to agree to fresh terms with Osidai Limited.
The disagreements opened up a can of worms forcing her to move to court and seek Osidai Limited’s eviction.
In 2023, and with no other means of evicting Osidai Limited upon what appeared like a successful legal battle, Ms. Chege with the assistance of her lawyers filed a court case at the Business Premises and Rent Tribunal for the eviction of Osidai Limited.
“The Respondent, Osidai Limited, was a tenant suit property up until 2021 when its lease expired,” a correspondence from Wahome and Akedi advocates to the Business Premises Tribunal, seen by Nairobi News, states in part.
The Tribunal granted her relief on October 19, 2023, by ordering the eviction of Osidai Limited through the assistance of police officers.
She says she struggled to obtain police assistance but finally got reprieve on November 24, 2023, and effected the eviction.
As the property is situated in a prime area, the premises had new occupants in less than 2 days.
The eviction was the start of a confrontational chapter as Osidai Limited have now moved to the same Tribunal and obtained orders to reinstate it on the contentious property.
And that’s not all.
The company whose owners are said to be powerful real estate players have, and are said to have sublet shops on the property without consulting its tenant, obtained further orders to forcefully take over Ms. Chege’s property under the pretext of the orders issued by the Tribunal. The Tribunal is said to have granted the company orders to forcefully reinstate itself on the land.
The case is scheduled for hearing on December 11, 2023, even as Ms. Chege denies engaging the company to enter into a new tenancy agreement.