Employees of Uchumi Supermarkets in Karatina hold demos over unpaid
salaries. They claim they have not been paid for two months. PHOTO |
NMG
Business at the Karatina branch of the troubled Uchumi Supermarkets
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
on 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 Uchumi's group chief executive and a former CEO of Kenya Wildlife Service.
The
local representative of the Kenya Union of Commercial, Food and Allied
Workers (KUCFW) Mr James Mungai said the employees had not been paid
their salaries for the past two months.
Reinstatement
Mr
Mungai blamed the current management for the woes facing Uchumi. The
workers called for the reinstatement of the former managers, including
ousted CEO Mr Jonathan Ciano, who has since been charged with fraud at
the chain.
“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, its two months without getting our salaries, landlords are after
us, we can’t feed our families, what do they expect us to do,” he posed.
The
workers later picketed outside the store shouting Kipngetich must go,
Tano Tena for Ciano” as they vowed to continue with the strike until
their demands are met.
Inside the store, a few
customers who turned up for shopping were a served by some management
staff as some of the shelves remained empty.
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