Creditors eye Mombasa County houses

By Kevin Odit

Mombasa, Kenya: Mombasa County Government could lose houses in Mzizima and Buxton estates to creditors over a Sh2.8 billion debt.

The debt was inherited from the defunct Mombasa Municipal Council, The Standard has established.

Most houses are residential and have been leased out. The defunct council built them with loans from various financiers now demanding their unpaid money.

When unveiling his administration’s budget estimates for the 2012-2013 financial years, Mombasa Governor Hassan Ali Joho announced the county inherited an Sh2.8 billion debt adding he was proposing Sh1.9 billion to pay some outstanding debts in the new financial year.

“We have inherited a debt of Sh2.8 billion from the Municipal Council and this is an issue we cannot run away from. We have factored a Sh1.9 billion for debt resolution for the 2013-2014 financial years,” said Joho on Saturday.

He said the former council had to let go some residential houses in Makande and Tudor.

“We lost residential houses in Makande to the Housing Finance Corporation of Kenya. Lots of our assets are still at risk of being lost from the incurred debts. And the alarming rate at which we are losing the properties calls for immediate action,” added Joho.

And now reports indicate residential houses in Mzizima and Buxton are at risk of being lost to LAPTRUST over a debt.

Upgrading residential houses

Meanwhile, private investors have shown interest in upgrading Tudor residential houses, which are worn out. A move residents speculate would increase rent.

Asha Husein, a resident, feels the action would not only have an impact on rent but many will be displaced from the manner in which the allocation of the houses will be done after repairs.

“I’ve lived in the houses for the past 10 years and I am ok with rent demanded by the council. But our fear is if they decide to renovate them, we have to relocate to pave way for the upgrade, and most of us will lose our houses after that,” said Husein.