Tenants vacate marooned rented block

A property owner has been left counting losses after all his eight tenants moved out in April when his residential block in Karia area of Ndumberi location in Kiambu County was marooned by floodwaters.
The house that is constructed on the edge of a two-acre parcel of land was marooned during a downpour in April and to date the land is still flooded.
A tour by KNA yesterday found only the daughter in-law to the landlord who identified herself as Diana Kerubo in their house in the backyard of the vacated houses.
She regretted that the floods had caused a lot of suffering to her father-in-law who missed the rent for this month which tenants pay upfront.
“After the tenants saw the heavy rains threatening to block the entrance of their block, they made arrangements and sought alternative accommodation, leaving Mzee desperate,” Kerubo said.
KNA noted on close examination that the floodwater was dangerously moving towards their family houses that are located behind the marooned block.
Asked why she was still staying in the place and yet chances of their house suffering the same fate were high, Kerubo said “we are watching keenly and incase it rains again today or tomorrow, then we shall also vacate. We are still waiting in here because this is home and we do not pay rent,” she said.
She disclosed that the proceeds from the rent sh 16,000 monthly, lack of which had really affected the welfare of the old man amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Kerubo noted that the area had flooded some years back but it did not last long like the current situation. She added the family had evacuated their pigs to a neighbor’s home on higher ground as they monitored the unfolding situation.
Area assistant chief Jane Njuguna who accompanied KNA to the affected area said the area had been a swamp since when she was a child.
“We used to traverse through this plot when going to our home on the other side, but with time, water started accumulating and even the shortcut is no longer used by villagers.
She also said the plot on which the home was built belonged to National Government according to development plan but suspected that someone in the defunct municipal council of Kiambu could have sold it to the old man.
She also pointed to a neighboring plot on which she said the office of the chief for Ndumberi location was to be constructed but plans were halted after the administration noted its swampy nature.
The Director of Meteorological Services Ms. Stella Aura in the March – June weather update issued on 13th May 2020 advised residents living along major basins to be on the lookout as the levels of the rivers will keep rising and that flooding may occur.
By Lydia Shiloya