Nairobi News

Flamboyant city businessman Kevin Obia alias The Don, once embroiled in a fake gold scam and a gun incident, has once again found himself at the centre of a storm of controversy.

Obia, who is known for living a life of opulence and always flaunting his wealth online, including a fleet of luxury cars, is set to lose his household goods on Wednesday, 24 May 2023.

Despite his wealth, The Don has found himself in a tight spot as his household items are set to be auctioned after he failed to pay Sh2.4 million in rent arrears.

According to court documents in the possession of Nairobi News, civil case number E1069/2023, landlord Judith Wanjiku Kibaki, daughter of the late former President Mwai Kibaki, accused her tenant Obia of failing to pay rent as per their lease agreement.

On 1 March 2022, Ms Kibaki entered into a lease agreement with Obia in respect of property L.R. Number 460/3734 situated along Chalbi Drive in Lavington.

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The terms of the lease included a term of 2 years and a monthly rent of Ksh 350,000 payable on the 1st of each month.

However, since Obia occupied the house, Ms Kibaki says he has consistently failed to make payments in defiance of the lease agreement.

“Since occupying the premises in question, the plaintiff has consistently failed to pay the monthly rent. As at 31 January 2023, the applicant (Obia) was in arrears of rent amounting to Ksh 2,780,000. He paid Ksh 996,000 on 28 February 2023 after receiving a demand letter from my lawyer,” Ms Kibaki said in court papers.

Earlier on 16 February 2023, when it became clear that the landlord was going to seize his belongings for auction due to his persistent non-payment of rent, Obia filed an urgent application at the Milimani Commercial Court, asking the court to restrain Ms Kibaki from owning his houses.

The court granted his wishes on 20 March 2023.

But in a rejoinder, Ms Kibaki, through her lawyer Paul Maingi Musyimi, accused Obia of lying when he filed his application against her.

“The said orders were made by concealment of material facts by the plaintiff/respondent which would not have been made had the court been aware of the material facts,” Musyimi argued.

In her supporting affidavit, Ms Kibaki described Obia’s application as a misguided abuse of the court process and riddled with misrepresentation.

“While the applicant is seeking equitable orders against me, he does not deserve them as his hands are not clean as he has suppressed material information thereby misleading the court into granting him undeserved orders. While he lied in paragraph 3 that he has been a tenant for 5 years, the correct position is that he has been in occupation since March 2022,” he said.

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Ms Kibaki pleaded with the court to grant her the right under the Distress for Rent Act Cap 293 to recover any rent arrears by distressing the tenant’s movable assets.

As of 31 March 2023, Obia’s rent arrears amounted to Ksh 2,484,000. Obia, through his lawyers of record M/S Ongoto & Co Advocates, admitted that he was in rent arrears in respect of his tenancy.

On 8 March 2023, in a letter addressed to one Fred Mwangi of Kenya Classic Homes, Ms Kibaki ordered that tenant number 38 of house number 460/3734 Chalbi Drive (Kevin Obia) be evicted from the premises.

“As discussed over the past 5 months, I would like the current tenant of number 38 Chalbi Drive to vacate my house as continued occupancy is in breach of our lease agreement and is therefore unsustainable.

In this eviction notice I am seeking to recover the sum of Ksh2,484,000 from the outgoing tenant based on the following; Accrued rent arrears as at 31st March 2022 (previous lease) Sh730,000, Rent arrears 31st March 2022 to 31st December 20222 Sh3,500,000, Rent arrears as at 1st January 2023 Sh2,430,000. Total rent due as at 31 March 2023 Sh2,484,000,” reads part of the letter.

According to Ms Kibaki, he asked Obia to vacate his premises by the end of 2022 but the businessman made no effort to do so, resulting in her losing a rental income of Sh1,050,000 for the period between January 1 and March 31, 2023, in addition to the outstanding rent arrears.

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Since signing the lease on 1 March 2023, Obia has only paid rent four times: Sh600,000 on 13 December 2022, Sh400,000 on 17 December 2022, Sh800,000 on 20 December 2022 and Sh996,000 on 28 February 2023.

Responding to a demand letter from Ms Kibaki, Obia said he was going through financial challenges and pleaded to be allowed to pay Ksh500,000 monthly from 28 February 2023 to clear the rent arrears as he was also continuing to pay the Sh350,000 monthly rent.

The court lifted the injunction Obia obtained in March restraining the landlord from evicting him and seizing his movable property two weeks ago, allowing Ms Kibaki to move in and auction his house to recover her money.

According to an advertisement in the Daily Nation, Wiskam Auctioneers will sell the following items at the fall of the hammer on Wednesday, 24 May 2023.

Sanyo double door fridge,
Samsung double door fridge,
Kenwood 4 burner electric cooker,
8 piece dining suite and table,
5 seater sofa set,
Makuti round table with glass top and Makuti beige chairs
Makuti brown stools,
Two carpets,
6 x 6 bed with mattress, wooden shoe rack
2 flower pots, 7 empty soda crates
Vacuum cleaner, assorted curtains and other household items.

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