Landlord evicts tenant over mosquito spray in Yumbe - New Vision

A trained personnel sprays one of the houses in Okanga cell, Yumbe town council in Yumbe district. (Credit: Adam Gule)

Adam Gule

Journalist @New Vision

HEALTH | YUMBE | SPRAYING

YUMBE - A landlord identified as Hakim and a resident of Takwa cell in Yumbe town council, Yumbe district is in the spotlight for evicting a tenant who allowed her room to be sprayed against mosquitoes in the ongoing indoor residual spray programme.

Takwa cell LC1 chairperson Ratib Latigo Moga said, on November 18, 2022, he lead a team of trained personnel to the home of Hakim in order to spray his houses, but his wife blocked them claiming that her husband instructed that the rooms should not to be sprayed.

Latigo said although they were blocked by the wife of the landlord, Zalika Agua, a tenant in one of the rooms of the commercial house, allowed them to spray hers.

"When we reached there, we found all the other rooms were locked except the one with a drug shop. The tenant gave us leeway to spray it," he said.

The eviction

Latigo added that when Hakim returned home, he evicted the tenant on learning that her room had been sprayed.

Items in one of the homes in Okanga cell, Yumbe town council being parked outside to allow spraying of the houses. (All Photos by Adam Gule)

Latigo said he found the tenant, Zalika Agua, with her property outside yet all her neighbours whose houses had been sprayed had entered their items inside and settled.

"Agua narrated to me the incident with tears flowing. I took her to my home and immediately reported to the top leaders who asked me to go to the Police to record a statement, which I did," he said.

Poison?

Latigo further alleged that Hakim described the chemical used for spraying as poison, which also caused some of his neighbours to reject the indoor residual spray programme.

Unaware of instructions

Agua who spent two days at the home of the LC1 chairperson, said wasn't aware of her landlord's instruction that the houses should not be sprayed. 

"There has been a mosquito infestation in my room and I was happy when the team of trained personnel came to carry out the indoor residual spraying," she said.

"With all the pain I went through, if truly I knew about my landlord's decision, I wouldn't have risked to spray the house. I have lost business," she added.

A man marks on the wall of a house already sprayed.

According to Agua, she is renting the room at sh60,000 per month and pays it on 25th, of every month without fail.

Room opened

Agua said with the help of the LC1 and the security team in Yumbe, the landlord opened the room two days later.

Hakim speaks out

When contacted, Hakim acknowledged that he had instructed the house not to be sprayed and that he also locked the tenant's room.

According to Hakim, he did so because the commercial house where the drug shop is, has three rooms including one with a foodstuff shop and that it has no ceiling.

"I saw that removing the food items from the shop would be hard and I also have a two-week-old baby in my room. So, I decided that the rooms should not to be sprayed," he said.

"I don't have any reason to block a government programme, but it wasn't done in a proper way, which angered me," Hakim added.

He claimed that, the sprayed chemical affected his baby who was by then in one of the rooms and that he took it to Yumbe Health Centre IV for treatment.

What leaders say

Yumbe district vector control officer Levy Matua said besides this incident, there are also other pockets of resistance against the residual spraying exercise from some communities but they are sensitizing them about its benefits.

Yumbe senior health educator Mansur Abassi said the malaria burden in the district stands at 71% and it contributes to over 50% of the deaths in the district.

Yumbe LC5 chairperson Abdulmutalib Asiku, who is also the chairperson for the district taskforce for the indoor residual spray programme, condemned the action of the landlord.

He said, no government will wish the death of its citizens.

"This program has come because of the high malaria burden in the district. We need to own it and support its implementation," he said.

The national indoor residual spray programme kicked off in Yumbe on November 8, 2022 and it is expected to end on December 7, 2022, covering 277,500 households in both refugee and host communities.