PHOTO CAPTION: Thika Gateway Plaza A resident of Thika Gateway Plaza has reached out to this blog to express deep concern over a recent disturbing incident where a helpless single mother of two was rudely kicked out of her unit under orders from one John Kinyanjui – a serial gambler and former casino operator who owns a section of the apartment blocks registered under Indian-owned Signature Developers.
The source, whose identity we shall keep anonymous for obvious reasons, also revealed that the Indian owner of Signature Developers is notorious for exercising racial bias towards Kenyan tenants at Gateway Plaza.
For instance, he allows Indian tenants to move out of the apartments peacefully, but Kenyan tenants are hauled to rogue auctioneers.
They delegate this duty of harassing innocent Kenyans to an uncouth accountant identified as Francis Chaha—who is always willing to go to extreme lengths just to please his Indian boss. “Dear Cyprian Nyakundi, I write to you as a concerned resident of Thika Gateway Plaza owned by Signature Developers based in Empress Suites, Jalaram Road in Westlands. The company is owned by an Indian who, like all other Indians operating in Kenya, launders proceeds of crime for senior Government officials. His company has been linked to local politicians and is also behind massive developments like Muthaiga Square and NextGen Mall. A very disturbing incident occurred recently where the company evicted a single mother of two in the crassest and most inhumane manner, in collaboration with the owner of her apartment, John Kinyanjui. John Kinyanjui who is a known gambler and former casino operator in Nairobi, first acquired her vehicle by force and sold it at below market price to offset his rent arrears. It was expected that he would deduct his arrears and submit the balance to Signature Developers to pay her service charge balances, but he “ate” the money and used it to forward-pay himself for future rental costs. Together with Signature Developers, they then hatched a plan to evict her while it was raining, and her children had to sleep on a cold hard floor. Don’t forget that her arrears included years in which she wasn’t residing in the apartment but were statutory charges. The genesis of the matter is an accountant by the name of Francis Chacha who, in an effort to display his unwavering loyalty to his Indian boss, sent out emails in February to tenants, demanding the payment of service charge spanning four (4) years. In my experience of dealing with people, I’ve learnt that the staffers who display inordinate enthusiasm at work to please the boss normally use that to mask hidden tendencies like theft and embezzlement. By endearing themselves to pliable bosses, they are able to conduct underhand activities without arousing suspicion. Now here is the crux of the matter. Those emails were only sent to the black (Kenyan) tenants, and the building which houses a substantial number of Indians has been implementing a silent racial bias. Recently, an Indian who has been under the radar of the police over unscrupulous dealings was allowed to move without harassment, even as Patricia was hauled to the narcissistic auctioneers by John Kinyanjui and Francis Chacha. John Kinyanjui has also been conspiring with a Kenya Power Thika official, Asauna, to effect power cuts on select tenants in a bid to extort emergency rental payments to underwrite his gambling addiction. There was one time even those of us without any electricity arrears were disconnected as he made us collateral damage to his cannibalistic extortion antics. To add insult to injury, the high-cost facility is surrounded by noise from a nightclub located within the same building and a host of churches. I write this email because injustice to one is an injustice to all. How does a company which has not been collecting service charges for years suddenly demand a lump-sum payment overnight? Why is Francis Chacha unwilling to accept viable payment plans? Why is it only black tenants being harassed by Signature Developers? What underhand dealings are being conducted by Francis Chacha and John Kinyanjui, and why are they always together? While John Kinyanjui is only the owner of a few units, he’s insinuated himself into the management of Signature Developers, and he’s defining company policy in a very rudimentary and callous manner. We now need to create laws to tame rogue landlords and developers who are exploiting service charges to intimidate and harass tenants due to their greed and narcissistic pleasures. Rogue developers such as Signature Limited will continue committing such crimes against humanity if not curtailed by legislation. Anyone wishing to lease premises owned by Signature Developers should be very cautious,” the source laments.