Haruna Sentongo, a Kampala city landlord says he has read the situation of his tenants and realised they don’t have to pay that rent accumulated during Covid-19 lockdown.
Sentongo believes if it’s high time fellow landlords realised the actual BIG Problem in Uganda and acted on it.
The youthful tycoon says tenants have already lost and it is selfish to ask them to lose more.
Haruna has advised fellow Landlords to give their tenants a fresh start by writing off Covid-19 lockdown rent arrears.
The property mogul, who has given his tenants a covid19 rent break, says landlords and tenants need a win-win situation.
On Tuesday, President Museveni officially opened Arcades, Plaza’s and other business centres after three months of Covid-19 lockdown.
However, the major issue at hand is rent arrears and who is to carry that burden, between the tenants or the Landlords!
The owner of several properties in and around Kampala, Ssentongo is in a good position to advise fellow Landlords and tenants on how to walk out of this crisis with ease.
During a presser on Friday, he highlighted that tenants don’t have money to settle their rent arrears being that they have spent over three months at home, however to not lose the business, landlords should put up better negotiations that will favour both parties.
“I realized that people didn’t have that money, and bugging them of money they don’t have won’t help me. And if I hold on to their goods, that will become five months, meanwhile people are already struggling with the one month that they are meant to pay, how about when it becomes five months!” he said.
Adding that if fellow landlords don’t realise the actual problem that is happening now, then the rent problems will just become much bigger for every month that goes by.
“Just take what your tenant can offer, that is the only way we can keep them. I don’t know how other Landlords are seeing it but tenants are the foundation we are standing on that’s why we need to handle them with care.”
Ssentongo owns several properties in and around Kampala city which include, Nakayiza plaza on Kafumbe Mukasa Road, Haruna Towers Ntinda, Haruna Towers Wandegeya, he is the proprietor of Segawa Market located along Mwanga 2 Road in Mengo Kisenyi among other things.
The property tycoon was among the first landlords to give tenants a smile, after he waived their rent and even offered three free months for the new tenants.
He stated that before doing so, he studied the current situation and released that tenants don’t have the money to pay for rent, so it would make no sense to request for money from people who have not been working.
“like it or not, the current conditions can not favour anyone to pay for the past months. People have spent three months not working and when you ask that money from them, that person will just remove things from the shop. with me I talk to my tenants, we discuss and then come to an agreement, most of my tenants are okay.”
He is however very happy for fellow landlords who have borrowed a leaf from him and waived rent for their tenants, and believes that many others will do the same.
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