Naivas siblings get court orders to sell big brother’s shop

Corporate News

David Mukuha, of one the sons of Naivas founder Peter Mukuha. Five of the Mukuha brothers and sisters have been given the green light by the High Court to auction a store belonging to their eldest brother, Newton Nyoro, over a debt. PHOTO | FILE 

By ABIUD OCHIENG and DAVID HERBLING

In Summary

• High Court judge Fred Ochieng gave the green light to the younger siblings — who control Naivas — to recover Sh12.1 million from Mr Nyoro’s Greenmart Supermarket in Nairobi’s Kayole estate.
• The siblings told the court that Naivas had supplied their elder brother with stocks worth Sh46.3 million between 2008 and 2009 but he had refused to settle the debt.
• The younger siblings further accused Mr Nyoro of siphoning Sh230,000 from the Rongai store, leading to his arrest.

The sibling rivalry at Naivas Supermarkets has taken a new turn after the High Court allowed five children of the retail chain’s founder to auction a store belonging to their eldest brother Newton Nyoro Mukuha over a multi-million-shilling debt.

High Court judge Fred Ochieng gave the green light to the younger siblings — who control Naivas — to recover Sh12.1 million from Mr Nyoro’s Greenmart Supermarket in Nairobi’s Kayole estate. The debt originated from supplies delivered to the store six years ago.

Mr Nyoro’s younger brothers and sisters — Simon Gashwe, David Kimani, Peter Kago, Grace Wamboi and Linet Wairimu — told the court that Naivas had supplied their elder brother with stocks worth Sh46.3 million between 2008 and 2009 but he had refused to settle the debt.

“This court has seen through the deliberate and mischievous actions of Newton Nyoro Mukuha. He incurred debts in the name of the business that he was running,” said the judge.

“I find and hold that if the court stopped the process of execution that would be tantamount to assisting the defendant (Mr Nyoro) run away from his legal obligations. I refuse to do so.”

Justice Ochieng’s judgment effectively means that Bealine Kenya Auctioneers, the bailiffs appointed by Naivas, can now move in and attach Greenmart Supermarket’s assets to recover the debt.

The judgment amounts to a double loss for Mr Nyoro — the eldest son of the late Naivas founder Peter Mukuha Kago — who in October lost his claim to a 20 per cent stake in Naivas and failed to get court orders stopping South Africa’s Massmart from buying out the Kenyan retailer.

Court documents show that the younger Mukuhas helped their brother to set up Greenmart in April 2009, after Mr Nyoro allegedly ran down a Rongai store he inherited from his father.

READ: Big brother loses as court battle for Naivas ends

The younger siblings further accused Mr Nyoro of siphoning Sh230,000 from the Rongai store, leading to his arrest.

The decision to help Mr Nyoro establish a store in Nairobi’s sprawling Eastlands district followed a family truce brokered by their mother. The agreement was that Naivas would supply Greenmart with goods for sale on credit.

“Out of sheer goodwill, after he had run down the business at Rongai, the petitioner (Mr Gashwe) and other family members assisted the objector (Mr Nyoro) to set up a supermarket named Greenmart Supermarket situated in Kayole estate Nairobi,” the younger siblings said in a sworn affidavit.

The High Court in October dismissed Mr Nyoro’s claim to a stake in the retail chain that is now Kenya’s third-largest.

Mr Nyoro had moved to court in 2011 claiming a fifth of the retail chain, a move that effectively blocked Massmart’s plan to buy a stake in Naivas.

Naivas then filed a case seeking to recover Sh12.1 million from Mr Nyoro and his company, Greenmart Stores which trades by the name Greenmart Supermarket.