Kisumu's Mega Plaza. Kisumu County Assembly risk being evicted from the
building over Sh15.8 rent arrears. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Kisumu County Assembly risk being evicted over Sh15.8 rent arrears.
The
assembly may also have some of its property auctioned to recover the
money it owes to a landlord of a commercial building that houses its
offices.
The rent arrears were
accumulated despite the MCAs and their staff not occupying the offices.
Apart from this, the assembly also owes various suppliers millions of
shillings.
AUDIT
Acting
Speaker Elisha Oraro hinted at instituting an audit of all the assembly
finances to unearth what he termed questionable expenditures by his
predecessor Mr Onyango Oloo.
Through
their lawyers Wasuna and Company Advocates, property owners Shilloah
Investments Limited have issued an eviction notice to the assembly in a
letter dated June 19, 2019.
The letter seen by Nation and addressed to the
assembly’s clerk, the assembly was given the office spaces on the ninth,
10th and 11th floors of Mega Plaza building on July 9, 2018.
The
initial rent from July 2018 was Sh829, 733 per month, but went up to
Sh912, 706 from July 1, 2019 exclusive of service charge.
The service charge payable was Sh204, 750 per month in 2018 but rose to Sh225, 225 from July 1, 2019.
INTEREST
The arrears also continue to attract interest of Sh2 per cent per month for late repayment until it is fully settled.
“By
virtue of the failure by the County Assembly of Kisumu to pay the
arrears as and when they fall due, our client has become entitled to
evict them from the premises and retake vacant possession thereof,”
reads the letter.
It further
threatens to take a legal action against the assembly should it fail to
vacate the premises within 30 days, which had already elapsed by August
1, 2019.
“Should they fail to adhere
to the demands, we shall institute legal proceedings for recovery of the
rent arrears and vacant possession of the premises without further or
any reference at the county assembly’s risks as to cost,” reads the
letter.
But while Mr Oraro confirmed
having received the letter from the said property owners, he blamed Mr
Oloo of plunging the assembly into debt.
“We
are currently engaging the property owners and studying the agreement
we had with them. We are asking them to give us more time to settle
this,” said Mr Oraro.
WASTAGE
He, however, feels Mr Oloo engaged in wastage since they never occupied the building. He told Nation
that the Sh13. 4 million owed by July 1, 2019 could have been used to
construct a building to serve all the MCAs and their staff.
He
said that after scrutinising the County Assembly Service Board minutes,
he did not find an agreement on lease of the office space.
“I
do not understand how we owe people this much yet it was budgeted for. I
was shocked when other suppliers and service providers also wrote
demand letters,” said Mr Oraro.
Apart
from the rent arrears, the assembly owes County Assembly Forum Sh8.5
million for annual subscription, Sh4 million for advertisements in
various media houses and Sh6 million for air travel agents.
POOR STATE
Also
owed are various hotels in Kisumu, Vihiga, Mombasa, Nairobi and Eldoret
where members of various committees have been meeting.
The assembly currently lacks basic amenities like toilets which are in deplorable state.
Communication
in the assembly is difficult yet Sh9 million was allocated and paid for
yet to be installed microphones and other communication gadgets.
There
is no running water in the assembly while committee rooms are in
deplorable state despite Sh15 million having been set aside for
renovations.
“I think an audit will
reveal a lot on these questionable expenditures. I know I am inheriting
both assets and liabilities, but if I do not do this, I will end up
getting in trouble,” said Mr Oraro.
No comments :
Post a Comment