Nakumatt suppliers turn to govt for intervention over payment

What you need to know:

The supermarket was put under receivership last month.

Following Nakumatt Supermarket being put under receivership, its former suppliers are calling on the government to intervene and ensure they are paid their dues, amounting to Sh 4.7 billion.

The supermarket was put under receivership last month.

The chairman of both Nakumatt and Uchumi suppliers’ union, Mr Joseph Mlay, told The Citizen that a team visited the supermarket headquarters in Kenya for talks with the management on how they will be paid.

However, he said the management declined to hold talks with them on grounds that they were put under receivership since January 22, this year. “The management declined to talk to us because they have been put under receivership and therefore cannot make any decisions,” he said.

Mr Mlay asked the government to intervene and suggest how the owner of the supermarket could pay the money he owes suppliers.

In another development, Mr Mlay said that they had recently had talks with Uchumi Supermarket management and agreed that they would be coming to Tanzania within 30 days for verification and preparing a payment plan.

He said, so far, 224 names have been verified and another 59 names are still in the process of verification.

“We hope the agreement we entered on January 31, this year, will be honoured and they will come to complete the payment process,” he said.

According to him, Uchumi closed shop in 2015 and since then the suppliers have been seeking audience with them to pay their arrears of Sh8.6 billion.

The government of Kenya, which has a 14 per cent stake in the retail chain, agreed to pay the money.

In total, the suppliers are owed by both supermarkets Sh13 billion.