Nairobi landlords are on the spot for allegedly extorting United Nations staff.
This comes amid claims that landlords fail to give back house deposits when tenants who work at the UN vacate their houses.
A section of UN employees has claimed that they pay refundable deposits when moving into houses in Nairobi but every time they inform their landlords that they want to move out, the landlords come up with endless excuses that result in them not refunding the deposits.
The employees have now written a letter to Ambassador Rose Makena Muchiri, seeking diplomatic intervention.
Muchiri is the permanent representative to the Kenya Mission for United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON).
“It is now widely-acknowledged that one of the key negative reasons expats and UN staff are apprehensive of serving in Kenya is this threat. I believe this is causing serious reputational damage that could be unwarranted if addressed properly and transparently,” said UN Nairobi Staff Union President Martin Njugihu in the letter as quoted by Nation.
The employees listed posh residential areas including Kilimani, Gigiri, Runda among others as the key places where they are being exploited.
According to the UN staff, monthly rent in the said areas ranges from Sh150,000 to Sh400,000 and they are forced to pay at least one month deposit, only for their refundable deposit to permanently end up in their landlords' pockets.
The employees, through their UN Nairobi Staff Union, have noted that they will look for alternative measures to tackle the issue.