Mr Kamau, a high school teacher, built his dream house in a rural part of Murang’a county, although it was just 20 km from Murang’a town. He lived there happily with his family until one day when he was parking his 4wd car, some bunch of criminals appeared. He pleaded with them not to harm him and luckily, they didn’t They made away with his car. The following morning, his car was found by the police, abandoned near the main dump site in Murang’a town. A few weeks later, the same thieves came to steal his car. This time round, he managed to compose himself and he confronted them about the previous theft. He claimed that they had stolen his car battery and left the car at an unsafe place. In their defense, the thieves said that they left the car intact but there are other thieves that stole the battery. Mr Kamau asked them why they “love” stealing his car and the “honest” thieves told him that since his car was 4 wheel drive, they could work better with it. He then told them that he had a sack of cow feed in the boot of his car. He asked the thieves to carry the cow feed to the store then he gave them one condition, “leave the car in a safe place”. The following day he found his car parked at a petrol station in Murang’a. After these two incidents, Mr Kamau relocated his family to a 3 bedroom apartment in Murang’a town and left rats and ants to rule his castle.
Mr Njoroge, a pastor in a growing church in Nyeri had built his dream house and lived happily with his 5 children. Four beautiful girls and one soft spoken boy. His land was sloping towards a permanent river and he could irrigate his crops and grow vegetables. He could eat fresh vegetables from his garden, drink fresh milk from his cows and eggs were in plenty. One day, thieves attacked his house, stole all his electronics and money. Luckily, the kids were all in boarding school. Later that month, he moved his family to a flat and stayed there till all the kids had finished schooling and were living on their own.
There are endless stories of people who moved from their castles to live in rented houses because of insecurity….one interesting case is where the thieves stole everything in that home including the dog.
There is this family that lived in a block of flats in Kericho county. There were many kids in the neighborhood so Mrs Kemboi’s kids were always out playing with other kids. Then after saving for several years, Mrs Kemboi and her hardworking husband bought a piece of land in the outskirts of Kericho town and built their castle. They were the envy of many of their friends but by the time the kids were getting to teenage, due to the seclusion from neighbors, the once happy outgoing kids were turned into boring movie addicts. There was no one to talk to or play with.
Roamer has it that a certain bank CEO lives in a rented house. He can afford buying a house but he would rather not. He lives in a rented house in an upmarket area in Nairobi’s suburbs. Is there something that he knows that we probably don’t? Does this cause him to enjoy some tax benefits?
Mr Mutua and his wife are in their late 60s. They lived in a 5 bedroom all en suit house on a 3 acre parcel of land in Muthaiga. They have since relocated. They are living in a 2 bed roomed furnished apartment in Lavington. They are paying Kshs 150,000 per month. They have modified their Muthaiga house to include a swimming pool and many other luxury features and rented it out to an ambassador for Kshs 300,000 per month.
Have you heard of the BATUK? This is the British Army Training Unit in Kenya. They have a base in Nanyuki. These soldiers are renting all the available high end houses in that small town. The residents are moving from their own houses to live in small rented units as they cash on these officers who have a currency stronger than the US Dollar.
When you see me living in a rented house, don’t say that my priorities are misplaced, maybe I know something that you don’t!
Kariuki Waweru
