Swala Nyeti: Layman and Lawyer Discuss Legal Questions

In today’s episode, we discuss questions related to children's custody, rights, interests and adoption and they will be answered by Wangui Waihura a Lawyer in Family Law.

Question 1

When we separated from my abusive husband, he never sent me a shilling for our baby. But now that I’m remarrying four years later, he wants joint custody. Can I stop him?

Question 2

My late sister’s husband is a drunk and an addict. Can I rescue my two-year-old nephew from him?

Question 3

My ex-wife, whom I am separated from, is demanding that we share the expenses of raising my son 50 / 50 including the cost of the internet and the household. Is this the law?

Question 4

I want to adopt my sister’s 10-year-old daughter whom I have been living with since her mother took off to live with another man one year ago. What is the process?

Question 5

I earn 10 times more than the mother of my child who is jobless. If we separate, can I stay with the children?

In today's episode, we look at the rights of both the employee and employer in regards to dismissal over social media which is similar to the recent story of Shaffie Weru, Neville and DJ Joe Mfalme, popular radio presenters at Homeboyz Radio, who were terminated by their employer over social media. 

Shaffie Weru, Neville and DJ Joe Mfalme, popular radio presenters at Homeboyz Radio, were suspended then fired after making derogatory comments about a woman who was thrown off a building by her date after refusing his advances. As a consequence, there was an uproar on social media and the sponsors of advertisements aired on their radio show also withdrew their sponsorship.

Their employer, Radio Africa, first suspended their services on the 26th of March 2021 and then terminated their employment on the next day. The employees claim that they heard about their termination through social media and that they were not given a chance to be heard.

The letter making rounds on social media claimed that they were fired due to gross misconduct for making inappropriate and insensitive comments on air. Shaffie Weru felt aggrieved and decided to sue Radio Africa for unlawful and unfair termination and violation of constitutional rights as he learnt of his termination on social media. According to the demand letter, he is asking for one month’s salary in lieu of notice totalling to Kes. 682,500, 12 month's salary for unfair termination, a gratuity amount of Kes. 12,285,000 and a certificate of service.

Can you be fired over Social Media?

Today we discuss questions related to tax and finance questions, which will be answered by Anna Kandu, a Lawyer in Corporate Commercial Transactions, Tax, Banking and Finance

Question 1

KRA has frozen my bank account because I had not filed tax returns for four years when I was studying outside the country, and now I have massive penalties. How do I unfreeze the accounts?

Question 2

I guaranteed my husband a loan before we divorced. How do I get out of that situation?

Question 3

I run a restaurant and butchery under one company, and I’ve gotten an offer from someone who wants to buy the restaurant. How do I proceed legally?

Question 4

I received an email from KRA saying, “Records held by the commissioner of domestic taxes indicate that your rental income tax declarations have been decreasing at an alarming rate. You are, therefore, advised to review the decline by amending your returns and paying up all resultant taxes before close of business today. Failure will result in enforced recovery.” What does this mean?

In today’s episode, we discuss whether a landlord can charge their tenant back rent if they'd already agreed to reduce it? Especially when there is no written tenant agreement. 

I have been renting a property in Kahawa West for the past nine years. When I moved in we agreed that I would be give a one month deposit and be paying 25,000 a month. We also verbally agreed that I would take care of the water and electricity bills. I cannot remember if we signed any document but even if we did, it was to terminate after one or two

years.

For the most part up to last year, my relationship with the landlord has been cordial. Sometimes, I have not paid the rent on time, but I also recover and pay any arrears. I had also ensured that I made mini house repairs where needed and paid for the utility bills.

However, since the COVID pandemic, I have not been able to pay rent on time or in full. I spoke to the landlord to consider waiving the rent payments for sometime. He did not agree but gave me three months to gather myself before I started paying again. However, even after I resumed payment, I have only managed to pay between 10,000 to 15,000 a month and have not managed to pay the full amount. However, the landlord seemed to accept the payments and never demanded the balance. I have also fallen behind on utility

bills, even though when I get money I pay a bit.

Last week, however, I received a call from a house agent sent by the landlord. She told me that she wanted to come and inspect the house. I agreed for her to come but I am now worried.

What does it mean that a house agent wants to inspect the house and can the landlord just kick me out. I need to find a way of remaining in the house, but I also don’t want to be forced to pay arrears from last year.

Research by Muendo Manthi ([email protected])

In today's episode, we discuss if there is a way to punish a company that keeps sending unwanted Bulk SMS. What can someone do, within the law, to stop spammers. 

I have been suffering the past six months from a flood of promotional messages on my Safaricom line from what I think is a vernacular radio station. I have never signed up for these messages and do not listen to that station. I have no idea where they got my number from. Most of the messages ask me to join one promotion or the other and send money via paybill. Every time I get such a message, I block it as spam and sometimes use *456# to try to prevent more messages. 

However, not all the messages give a way in how to stop the messages, so sometimes I just rely on my Truecaller app to block the messages.

However, despite doing this, I keep getting messages. It seems they just change the shortcode and continue sending messages. I have asked Safaricom for help to identify the person or company sending the messages, but they have been uncooperative and instead told me I have to pay for that information. 

I now wish to exact maximum punishment to whoever is facilitating this spam. What can I do?

Research by Barasa Wanjala ([email protected])

In today's episode, we discuss whether the police is allowed to follow up on a civil debt. What does the law say in this situation? 

I am a property developer based in Eldoret. A few years ago, I got some people who wanted me to develop a property for them. The agreement was that they pay half of the money and the balance in instalments as I progressed in the construction. They paid 50% of the purchase price, and I began the construction. However, I spent more money than I had anticipated, and was struggling to achieve the next milestone to receive the instalment. I asked if they could pay in advance, but they refused, saying that I needed to first finish what I had promised. I, therefore, got into delays of almost one year looking for money to finish the project to the next milestone.

Eventually, I found someone willing to lend me the balance if I could give them the title deed of the property as security. Since I knew I would get money immediately, I met the milestone I agreed to the Shylock’s terms. However, when I completed the milestone, the clients refused to pay the balance saying I had taken too long, and they were no longer interested in the project. They asked me to refund their money, but I refused, saying they were the ones who owed me. At the same time, the Shylock was demanding his money, and I started avoiding him. I am worried however that he might have transferred the title deed to his name since he is very well connected at the lands office.

Over the past few weeks, the clients have been really threatening me and yesterday they got the DCI to summon me about the case. The DCI said that they would call me every day until I repaid the money. 

What can I do to stop the police from calling me incessantly? I also don’t want to be forced to pay them back since they also did not meet their end of the bargain.

Research by Joy Mutimba-Vétil ([email protected])

In today's episode, we discuss the question of whether a landlord can sue his ex-tenant after locking them out of the property and selling the tenants things. We also look at what rights the tenant has regarding the law.  

I am a business owner that has been sued by my former landlord of my shop. When I moved into the property six years ago, we signed a lease agreement that was to last for three years or until either of us gave a two-month termination notice. However, business became tough since 2018 and I started falling behind in rental payments. In 2019 we agreed that I would do some work for the landlord for and I completed the work and invoiced them. The landlord, however, never paid but kept demanding rental arrears. Eventually in 2020 when COVID pandemic started, I could not continue paying rent for the property. 

In mid-April, I wrote a notice telling them I was terminating the lease from 1st of April 2020 and moved out some of my things. I asked them to meet me at the end of the month to do the handover. The landlord however wrote back and refused to accept my notice. Instead, he wrote to the property manager and instructed them not to allow me to remove any items from the office. In fact, I visited the office a few weeks later to remove a few things I needed for a business presentation, and the security completely refused to let me remove them.

On August 25, the landlord through the lawyer told me that we meet at the office to do a handover but since they refused to let me leave with my things, I declined. I, however, came to learn that on August 14, the landlord had already instructed auctioneers to sell my things which the auctioneers claim they did by public auction on October 3 although I never got any notice or indication. They also sold the items for a very low value compared to their actual value. The landlord is now suing me for the unpaid rent arrears plus 7% interest per month, which is based on a term in the expired lease agreement that said they could charge this interest. However, this interest has never been demanded in the past. The total amount is coming to 350k, although the actual arrears were about 150k.

However, the landlord owes me 100k for the work I did for them, which has never been paid. In addition, I need to be compensated for all the things the auctioneer sold because they refused me to remove them.

I don’t believe I owe any money, in fact, I feel I am owed because I lost so much business when I couldn’t get my things. What can I do?

Research by Barasa Wanjala ([email protected])

In today’s episode, we discuss whether a person can inherit from a lover who was married and has now died. Especially if the case where the will is being challenged by the wife?

My name is Shiro. My boyfriend of six years has died. We lived together for those six years, though he was married but had separated from his wife and three children. In his will, which was signed before two witnesses, he left me some property in Zimmer. The property in Zimmermann is solely in his name. The lawyer who signed the will said my boyfriend was thinking very clearly, and he had told me and my friends many times before that he would give me the property. Now, the wife is challenging the will saying the property is matrimonial property. Although she did not contribute to buying it, she helped him find a tenant. She also claims that her husband was too sick to write the will and the signature on the will is fake.

My question is, do I have a chance of success to get the Zimmerman property?

In today’s episode, we discuss the constitutional rights of a person who is abducted, similar to the recent allegations of controversial blogger Edgar Obare who was taken by unknown people when he was about to attend a court hearing.

Links to the story:

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/entertainment/showbiz/2001392522/kenyans-react-as-edgar-obare-accuses-police-of-kidnap-brutality

https://www.ghettoradio.co.ke/they-stripped-me-naked-edgar-obare-narrates-kidnapping-ordeal/

In today’s episode, we discuss whether the sentencing of three years for fake doctor, Mugo Wa Wairimu, who operated a clinic in Nairobi without a licence is enough.

Links to the story

Nation: https://nation.africa/kenya/news/fake-doctor-mugo-wa-wairimu-gets-11-and-a-half-years--2724510

Capital FM: https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2020/10/quack-doctor-mugo-wa-wairimu-handed-3-years/#:~:text=NAIROBI%2C%20Kenya%2C%20October%2028%20%E2%80%93,the%20Pharmacy%20and%20Poisons%20Board

We are also on Youtube:

http://bit.ly/swalanyetivideos