Ugandan Government has asked its Kenyan counterpart to fast track the payment of traders and former employees of Uchumi Supermarket in Uganda.
Late last year, Uchumi supermarket exited Uganda, but beyond the announcement, was a veiled trace of at least 400 unpaid employees, suppliers and rent arrears.
While meeting in Nairobi, Kenya at the sidelines of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), trade minister Amelia Kyambadde told her counterpart Mr Amina Mohammed: “The Kenyan Government needs to fast track the payment of Ugandan traders and former employees of Uchumi Supermarkets in Uganda.”
In response, Mr Mohammed who is ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Cabinet Secretary said the Uchumi case is in the Kenyan Cabinet.
Mr Mohammed said: “We wrote to Cabinet asking for financial support to help Uchumi restructure and she was hopeful that the money would be released soon. This case in Kenya is actually bigger with the company struggling to survive.”
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On October 14, a statement to media houses signed by chief executive officer, Julius Kipng’etich, said the two subsidiaries, which make up less than 5 per cent of the company’s operations were draining Uchumi’s finances at a time when they needed to turnaround the faltering retailer. Thus, they immediately ceased operation.
“Our outlets in Uganda and Tanzania make up only 4.75 per cent of our operations yet they account for more than 25 per cent of our operating costs,” he said.
capital
Capital injected. The two subsidiaries (Uganda and Tanzania) had been getting a monthly capital injection of more than Shs7b, according to details obtained from Uchumi Supermarkets.
Source; Daily Monitor
