When Covid-19 pandemic emerged in Uganda, the government declared a total lockdown as a way of limiting people from further spreading the virus. This left most people jobless because most businesses were closed too. President Yoweri Museveni also instructed security agencies to prohibit landlords from evicting tenants said to be defaulting on rent payment during the lockdown. He urged the landlords and tenants to reach an agreement on how to settle the payments when things normalise.
“Landlords should not evict people because they have not paid rent. Police should not allow this because they will be exacerbating the spread,” said the President in his address to the nation.
Although the president issued that directive, some landlords kept a deaf ear and went ahead to evict their tenants. Some landlords went as far as removing the iron sheets and doors from their houses, which left hundreds of tenants homeless in the middle of a lockdown.
Arafat Mutyaba, a resident of Kitega Village in Mukono Municipality, is one of those tenants who were evicted for failing to pay rent. On July 24, 2021, his landlady Mary Nanvuma invaded his house and threw him away saying that he had failed to pay the rent.
Mutyaba narrated to us that he entered the house in March and he paid three months in advance and by the time his landlady came and threw him away, she was demanding him only one month. He said the eviction happened in his absence when the landlady moved in with bouncers who helped her remove the roof, doors and windows from the house he was renting.
“Miss Nanvuma hired bouncers to throw out my properties and as the result, some got lost and others got broken like my TV screen, woofers, decoders, flasks, to mention but a few,” Mutale says.
Another victim, Doreen Kagoye, who was also renting on the same house, says that her neighbors called her informing her about the incident and by the time of reaching at the scene, her properties were scattered allover the courtyard without a notice from the landlady.
Kagoye says apart from her properties being destroyed and others being stolen by the hired bouncers, she also had a savings box which belonged to the Women’s Savings Group, which she says was taken by the hired bouncers.
“Up to now, I am in a dilemma not knowing where I am going to get the money to refund the group members’ savings,” she says.
Mr Bendicto Mukasa Lule, the area LC 1 chairperson, says after the declaration of the first lockdown up to date, they have received many such cases in their offices. He expresses dismay over such actions and blames the landlords and landladies for doing such acts well knowing that the President issued a directive on evicting people from the houses in this lockdown. He urges residents to report such vices to authorities.
However, Nanvuma accepted her mistake although she also warned her tenants that whoever failed to pay rent would fall victim.
Annet Alinda Mulerwa, 25, a mother of two and resident of Bugujju Village in Mukono Municipality, who was abandoned by her husband, is also in tears after the landlord threw her out. Her husband is Francis Lubogoya, a boda boda rider in Kampala City.
Alinda says that she is now stuck not knowing where to start because now the landlord is demanding her four months totaling to Shs200,000 yet she is no longer working. She is also currently nursing her first born son who is sick.
“My landlord told me to vacate his house with immediate effect because he wants to use his room. That was after I failed to raise the rent for four months and I am now stuck. I don’t know where to start because my business collapsed after the lockdown,” Alinda explains.
In the Tenancy Agreement Act under Clause 49, the landlord faces a one-year prison sentence or a penalty equivalent to three months’ rent payable, or both, if convicted of unlawful eviction of a tenant. The law permits evicting a tenant who does not follow the terms of the tenancy agreement. However, unless otherwise specified in the tenancy agreement, the landlord must give a tenant a six-month notice to vacate the premises.
Issue a Formal Notice of Eviction and Avoid Taking Things into Your Own Hands.
To have the law on your side, you must strictly adhere to these rules and ensure that you do not give the authorities any reason to doubt that you are an outstanding law-abiding citizen. One of the most critical steps to take if your tenant has been uncooperative is to provide an adequate eviction notice.
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