The Registrar of Companies on Friday announced that the government will dissolve 32 Kenyan companies with key among them Ukwala Supermarket Limited in Nakuru.
According to the Registrar of Companies Joyce Koech, the 32 companies will cease to operate in December this year, spelling doom to thousands of Kenyans whose livelihood depended on them for employment and other economic activities.
Koech also invited any Kenyan who had opposing reasons as to why the mentioned companies should not be dissolved to show cause in line with the Companies Act.
‘’Pursuant to section 897(3) of the Companies Act, the Registrar of Companies gives notice that the names of the companies specified hereunder shall be struck off from the Register of Companies at the 11th October 2024 the Kenya Gazette notice 4589 expiries of three (3) months from the date of publication of this notice, and invites any person to show cause why the companies should not be struck off from the Register of Companies,’’ stated the Registrar.
Ukwala Supermarket, a once flourishing retail store, became the subject of business news in February 2019 when it applied for the liquidation of its assets in court over a Ksh1 billion debt that it owed its creditors.
The supermarket also owed the taxman Ksh840 million in taxes at the time of the application for the liquidation order and also faced an inability to meet its financial obligations to creditors, suppliers, and employees among other creditors.
“The company is applying to be liquidated because of its indebtedness and inability to meet its financial obligations to creditors, suppliers, and employees and the liabilities far outweigh the assets both fixed and movable,” Ukwala director Vijay Jayantilal Dodhia stated in the court documents.
The move to dissolve the companies will likely have an impact on the livelihoods of many Kenyans who depend on the listed companies with the possibility of more economic woes as a result of job losses.
According to the Companies Act, a company may through its directors or a majority of them apply to the Registrar of Companies to be struck off the register of companies as it ceases its operations and existence.
A company might also be dissolved due to situations where the company could be carrying out any business that is unlawful or when a company is under liquidation as is the case with Ukwala Supermarket.
The Registrar of Companies, however, did not give reasons as to why the other 31 companies on the list are set to be dissolved. Ukwala will add to the long list of retail stores that have closed their operations in Kenya in the recent years such as Uchumi, Tuskys, and Nakumatt Supermarkets.
The announcement of the dissolution of the companies borders a recent notice when Koech announced via a gazette notice in September this year that some other 32 companies were also set for dissolution this year.
