Uchumi staff in Karatina down tools over unpaid salaries
Uchumi supermarket in Eldoret town. Staff at the Uchumi supermarket in Karatina downed their tools on July 4, 2017 over unpaid salaries. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Business at Uchumi supermarket, Karatina branch was paralysed on Tuesday after employees downed their tools protesting non-payment of their salaries.
About 40 workers carried placards, twigs, and blew whistles as they marched in the streets chanting "Kipngetich, We can't survive on an empty stomach you are more experienced in handling wild animals not human beings”.
Dr. Julius Kipng'etich is the current Group Chief Executive and was formerly the CEO of Kenya Wildlife Service.
James Mungai, the local representative of the Kenya Union of Commercial, Food and Allied Workers (KUCFW), said the employees had not been paid their salaries for the past two months.
MISMANAGEMENT
Mr Mungai blamed the current management team for the woes facing the supermarket chain and called for reinstatement of the former mangers led by the immediate former CEO Jonathan Ciano.
“We know the government has been pumping in billions of shillings in a bid to bail out Uchumi but we don’t know where the money goes. It has been two months since we last received our salaries and landlords are after us. We can’t feed our families, what do they expect us to do,” he posed.
The workers later gathered outside the store shouting 'Kipngetich must go tano tena for Ciano” as they vowed to continue with the strike until their demands are met.
