Uchumi Supermarkets suffered a huge loss after their Karatina branch in Nyeri County was raided by youth who forcefully evicted workers from the building.
The forceful eviction which occurred on Friday saw scores of youth hired by an auctioneer descend on the struggling retailer's premises accompanied by police officers.
It is reported that the removal commenced at 3:30 pm when the youth began throwing goods out of the building.
[caption caption="Uchumi Supermarket Karatina branch"]
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Present at the scene was Mathira East OCPD Mathews Gwiyo who together with his officers ensured the gathering residents did not engage in looting.
The hired youth destroyed shelves as they removed the retailer's stock from the premise.
[caption caption="Uchumi Supermarket Karatina branch"]
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A clearly distressed Karatina Uchumi branch manager, Mr Patrick Mburu did not speak to reporters as he sought to rectify the situation.
A senior employee told Business Daily that they had not been issued with an eviction notice which was in contradiction of a copy of an ex-parte eviction order that showed the retailer was illegally occupying the premises.
The order was issued by Karatina principal magistrate Elvis Michieka on December 14 after the landlady, Ms Lucy Weru moved to court on December 1 seeking the eviction.
Furthermore, an employee of the auction firm told the newspaper that the supermarket's lease had expired the previous month.
This comes after the retailer temporarily closed down its Nairobi branches to restock the shelves.
