LANDLORD OF KSH 200 MILLION PROPERTY LIVING IN ABJECT POVERTY.

Kapen and his family are living hand to mouth after he squandered proceeds he obtained from leasing his 75-acre land for a period of 33 years in 2014.

The father of 13, who hails from Transmara leased his land to a sugar baron who had set foot in the region, with several other locals opting to sell. This has since left many of them impoverished after squandering the money they acquired.

In 2014, prices of land in Transmara appreciated from an initial Ksh 30,000 per acre to between Ksh 150,000 to Ksh 750,000 depending on their location from the Transmara Sugar Company.

People Daily on December 17, 2020, reported that the prices had gone much higher, with an acre of land fetching about Ksh 3 million in 2020.

In an interview with the publication, Kapen revealed that he had leased the land to a tycoon from Ruiru, Kiambu County for a period of 33 years. Six years into the arrangement, he is living in poverty after misusing the money.

After he was paid the last batch of the lease money, Kapen and his family were kicked out of the property and asked to only return upon expiry of the leasehold. He, therefore, resorted to renting a two-roomed house in Kilgoris town.

The publication further reported that Kapen was constantly castigated by his wife, Emily Nashipai for leasing their family land for a long period of time, and above all splurging the proceeds on women and alcohol. This left her to singlehandedly fend for the family.

“When he received the money, he became mad. He left us and returned when he was broke. He only informed me that he had leased the land when the investor came knocking, asking us to leave to pave way for sugarcane plantation. I couldn’t believe it. I cried but nobody, even our village elder could help us,” Nashipai recounted.

“I thought I was dreaming, but it was a reality. I don’t know if I will return to our land ever again. Thirty-three years is long considering I’m approaching 50 years,” she added.

Nashipai revealed that owing to the expanded family, and little to live by, some of her schooling children had dropped out.

Kapen never thought the money would ever run out, and not for a single day did he think of where he would reside should the investor come knocking.

“I thought in the pubs, I would get ideas from other revellers. I spent lavishly without knowing I will run out of money within a short time,” the poor landlord decried his life choices.

However, friends and family estimated that the father of 13, might have been paid to the tune of Ksh 6 million based on what he had told them.

“It was a lot of money. He used taxis all the time, smoked pipes and expensive cigarettes. Women from as far as Nairobi arrived in taxis he paid for. He drunk expensive spirits and wines. He was a generous man,” Saitoti Ngeiwa, a nightclub owner in Kilgoris, told the publication.

Local elder, Peter Magiroi stated that by embracing sugarcane farming in the region, residents welcomed poverty and the fall of family units.

“The sugar has now become bitter. Only a few people have benefited. Since people embraced it, families which were glued together by traditions have fallen apart,” Magiroi stated.

Source: Kenyans.co.ke