
You Own A Unit In A Building, With Common Areas
Sectional property ownership is not well understood by many people, so to discuss it, let’s begin with a story.
Among the interesting tales in Swahili folklore are stories about a hilarious and witty character named Abunwasi.
In one such tale, Abunwasi built a storey building and sold the upper floor to someone who was looking for a new home. A few months down the line, however, the neighbour upstairs crossed Abunwasi and matters escalated to a point where Abunwasi wanted his neighbour out.
So Abunwasi approached the neighbour and asked him to move out. But even after several eviction notices, the neighbour remained resolute that he had legally bought the house from Abunwasi and would not be forced to move out.
One day, Abunwasi went up to his neighbours’ house and told him: “It seems like you’ve decided you’ll live in this house forever. That’s all fine by me. I have come to let you know that from midnight tonight, I’ll be demolishing my ground floor home and you can’t stop me because it’s my house.”
“What am I supposed to do?” asked the agitated neighbour. “It seems that you love your house very much,” Abunwasi said cockily. “I suggest is that as I’m demolishing my house, you hold tightly to your upstairs apartment so it doesn’t come tumbling down.” The stubborn neighbour moved out that very night.