“Why city landlords are avoiding bachelors, students”

Job Ogenche was elated when he got a job in Nairobi. Mr Ogenche, 25, was working in Kisii and had just about a week to move, so he had to act fast. By a stroke of luck he found a house in Kahawa on the outskirts of Nairobi that seemed tailor-made, so he contacted the letting agent...However...the landlady told him he could not move in after she discovered he would be living alone. "She told me...that she does not let out her houses to bachelors"...She then ordered him out of the compound, leaving him stranded with a truckload of possessions.

Mr. Ogenche is just one of the latest victims of such discrimination which, according to the secretary-general of the Urban Tenants Association of Kenya (UTAK) Mr. Ephraim Murigo, is rife across the country. "We receive many complaints from our members, who claim that they have either been denied housing or evicted on account of their religion, tribe, nationality or marital status," he offers...

Ms. Agnes Sikuku, a teacher in Lokichogio, blames landlords for feulling religious tensions between christians and muslims in the area. "Many houses in Lokichogio are owned by christians, who deny housing to muslims citing security concerns...I feel this should stop because it threatens harmony in our community," she avers.