Joshua Otieno’s desire to live in the Pangani area of Nairobi was dimmed in the last minute of signing a tenancy agreement, when the landlady, a Kikuyu, raised her Central Kenya eyebrow at his Luo surname.
“She gazed at my ID then said she won’t take me in without further explanation,” recalls Otieno, a freelance photographer who later moved houses to Zimmerman estate, but is still recoiling from the experience.
Why this kind of ethnic discrimination over 50 years after independence? Some landlords and landladies who spoke to The Nairobian rationalised that one’s tribe could determine tenancy. The simple reason they gave is that a majority of people from Western Kenya, mostly Luos and Luyhas, have a communal lifestyle that sees 10 relatives cramming into a one-bedroom house. “These strains services such as sewerage, besides increasing bad blood over such things as kamba za nguo,” argues Mike Kathurima, a landlord in Kasarani, Nairobi and who often asks prospective tenants their home areas to ascertain their ethnic backgrounds.
Kathurima explained that from his experience, and although he comes from Meru, he can hardly rent his house to his kinsmen, whom he says “later behave like you co-own the house at the end of the month and can even threaten to beat you. They threaten to chop off your thende (buttocks) if you keep pestering them. And when they are drunk, they will not be short of vulgarities in the estate.”
Kathurima added that he also denies tenancy to foreigners, including South Sudanese and Somalis, whom he says sleep in shifts, denying others proper sleep. Kathurima claims that, “Somalis have issues with hygiene, while it’s not possible to ascertain what Nigerians do for a living until you see the police asking for the flat owner to assist with investigations.”
While Somalis are good at paying double the going rate, it is claimed that chances are they will have the entire Degodia clan residing in your flat with small kids wailing up and down staircases.
In Umoja and Innercore estates, some landlords have borne the dire consequences of their lifestyles.
Kennedy Ndunda, a resident from Umoja who shared a floor with them relocated after they reportedly turned unruly, picking fights and arguments with other tenants over petty issues like garbage collection.
Lucia Wamaitha, a landlady in Embakasi, narrated her ordeal at the hands of South Sudanese tenants who reportedly unhinged most of the doors in the house, which they turned into beds by laying mattresses on them. “This is why we charge them double rent deposit. Now I have to deal with costly repairs. They even repainted the kitchen red!” she lamented, adding that, “South Sudanese often dig into kitchen floors and cook using firewood.”
The Urban Tenants Association of Kenya (Utak) Secretary General Ephraim Murigo, says tenancy discrimination is alarming and bound to get worse as we approach the elections in August.
“The discrimination has no basis, but there is a widespread belief that for instance in Nairobi, many Kikuyu landlords believe Luos don’t pay rent,” says Murigo. “This was aggravated by the 2007 post-election violence in some parts of Eastlands and slums, where some Luos refused to pay rent and it took years to kick them out through a bloody process. This scared some landlords.”
Indeed, your name can betray you, as some places like Parklands and Highridge, which were initially set aside for Asians by colonial masters in the 1950s, have remained predominantly so. They prefer tenants who are vegetarians and thus lock out nywele ngumu whose names are not Patel or Shah. In fact, most flats around the Southern Bypass to Lang’ata off Mombasa Road, are Indians-only apartments, while religious groups like the Bohras have ‘fenced off’ certain parts of Karen as exclusively theirs.
Deep-rooted discrimination in tenancy matters has remained unspoken but real, which has caused resentment and widened ethnic vitriol in a city like Nairobi, where besides race and ethnicity, gender and marital status are the other ruthless parameters that determine where and how you live.
Murigo who handles disputes between landlords and tenants, says tenancy is like hospitality and nobody should ask you where you come from. “If you go to Kisumu, many landlords are unwilling to rent to Kikuyus, not because they will default on payment, but because they don’t want a relationship with them,” says Murigo.
Kambas, on the other hand, are said to misuse water and flock the small houses with wakwitu (people from my place) and dance to Kativui Mweene.
A property agent who sought anonymity told The Nairobian that Kambas, especially women, “will use water like there is no tomorrow. They can shower thrice a day, keep doing laundry and have entire village visit them, going up and down the building and making noise.”
These stereotypes, says Murigo, hold some truths, hence the reason they have been used to judge entire communities, races and religious groups.
It seems only the well-heeled have it easy irrespective of their racial, ethnic or religious backgrounds, as the rich know only one tribe: money!
