Former Nation Media Group CEO Linus Gitahi is among creditors and suppliers owed hundreds of b***ions of sh***ings by Na***att. Mr Gitahi, the owner and chairman of Tropikal Brands, is owed Ksh56.3 m***ion by the struggling retail chain, which has lately been facing cashflow difficulties.
Mr Gitahi says numerous boardroom talks with Na***att management have yielded little, forcing the company to move to court.
“We have watched the company deteriorate for about a year now,” Mr Gitahi is quoted as saying by Business Daily. “Following negotiations, they started issuing us postdated cheques which at some point started bouncing.”
Even with these credible signs of financial weakness, Tropikal Brands continued supplying its products to Na***att, which include air fresheners and pesticides among, “because they were a major retailer.”
READ: Linus Gitahi returns to Aga Khan empire as director
Gitahi is among a number of wealthy industrialists w** are trawling the retailer seeking settlement of debts worth b***ions of sh***ings. Most of them have moved to court to secure their dues.
The list of Na***att’s prominent creditors also includes the Kenyatta family (Brookside Dairies), Chris Kirubi (Haco Industries), Kimani Rugendo (Kevian Kenya).
Brookside, w**se executive chairman is Mu**** Kenyatta, is owed Sh457 m***ion. Mr Kirubi is claiming Sh71.8 m***ion, Mr Rugendo (of the Pick ‘N’ ***l brand) Sh90.2 m***ion while Mr Gitahi is seeking to recover Sh56.3 m***ion from the retail chain.
The row between the Ndegwa family and Na***att over the occupancy of Nairobi’s Junction Mall exposed the intensity of bad debts ***s the supermarket is ******** against wealthy industrialists.
The Ndegwas, w** are successors of former Central Bank of Kenya governor Philip Ndegwa, on Sa****ay night ejected Na***att from the Junction Mall where it **lds a majority stake, citing failure by the retailer to pay the tens of m***ions sh***ings it owes in rent arrears.
The contractual disputes, which have been boiling under for a year, finally burst to the surface, dragging the reclusive Ndegwa family into the limelight they have avoided for years despite having their footprints all over the national economy.
Na***att’s problems were complicated this week by the resignation of the chief marketing officer, Mr Andrew Dixon, barely 10 months after he was appointed.
ALSO SEE: Nakumatt exposes family-owned chains’ struggle to adapt
Mr Dixon is the former executive of UK-based retailer Tesco. He had been appointed to be Nakukatt’s chief marketing officer help boost Na***att’s strategic outlook and consumer engagement. Mr Dixon confirmed his departure via his official twitter page and a text message he directed to Citizen Digital.
This is the second high profile management exit from Na***att following regional and strategy director Thiagarajan Ramamurthy w** left in April to become the chief executive officer of Bidco Africa.
Na***att is involved in takeover talks with Tuskys Supermarkets for a merge as well debt restruct****g negotiations with lenders.
Na***att has been ******d by acute stock s**rtage as suppliers severed ties over unpaid deliveries forcing the retailer to close as many as four of its stores in Kenya.
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