What tenants should do if paying rent is not possible during pandemics

A new bill
by the Senate Ad Hoc Committee, which seeks to caution tenants and their
landlords during the pandemics has stipulated guidelines for payment of rent
during the pandemic.

As the
country still formulate legislations in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic,
residents in urban centers, especially those badly hit by the viral infection
like Nairobi, are finding it difficult keeping up with monthly bills like house
rent.

The government
suspended movement in and out of four counties of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and
Kwale, in a bid to minimize the spread of covid-19, after they recorded high
number of the infection.

A number of
businesses have been affected with employers sending workers on unpaid leave,
some forcing them to take pay cut while others terminating their contract.

If implemented,
the Pandemic Response Management bill stipulates that tenants who may not be
able to meet their contractual obligations should give notice, in writing, to
their landlords or contracting parties.

The bill
also directs that, upon receipt of the notice, the landlord or contracting
parties shall enter into agreement on how the tenant shall meet their
obligations at the end of the pandemic.

The Housing
Cabinet Secretary, with approval from the National Assembly, shall provide
measures to caution landlords and tenants.

The committee
chair Senator Johnson Sakaja said on Friday that the bill is set to proceed to
public participation.

On Wednesday,
MPs passed the Tax Law Amendment Bill 2020, seeking to relieve millions of
Kenyan workers from the verge of losing jobs after the pandemic.

VAT exempt on medicines

The Bill proposed
that employers should send workers on unpaid leave in the event they fail to
pay salary and wedges due to the pandemic, as opposed to pay cuts and contract
termination.

Meanwhile, as
the bill awaits President Uhuru Kenyatta’s assent, the Pharmaceutical Society
of Kenya is now calling for its rejection, citing that the bill has moved
medicines from VAT zero-rated to VAT exempt.

They said
that this will force manufacturers to load operational VAT costs to the selling
price, which will multiply through various distribution levels, hurting
consumers.

“The
National Assembly passed the treasury proposals against our advice. In our
view, this provision is insensitive to the needs of Kenyans and in particular
at this heightened health and economic pressure resulting from COVID-19
pandemic.

The society urged
the president not to assent to the bill, calling on the office of the president
to return to parliament with corrections that will caution ‘mwananchi’.