The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is set to acquire a prime land adjacent to Wilson Airport, located along Lang'ata road, Nairobi for military use.
The land, estimated to be worth more than Ksh500 million, serves host to cash strapped Uchumi supermarket, Lang'ata branch.
Reports indicated that the supermarket defaulted on a Ksh172 million loan which prompted the bank to push to auction the property.
However, in a turn of events, the KDF sought to acquire the same piece of land which the supermarket sits on, for its use.
According to media reports, the National Land Commission (NLC), is working on the papers to arrive at the actual value of the land in order to finalise on the deal.
Uchumi Supermarket CEO, Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed, had initially stated that a court order had barred the planned sale and all debt recovery cases until a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) was acted upon first.
Under the CVA, the supermarket and more than 120 suppliers were to agree on how to settle the Ksh4.2 billion owed to them.
“For now, we cannot comment further on the value of compensation until we receive the award letters for compensation from the NLC. We are confident that the expeditious completion of the process will go a long way in implementing the turnaround strategy."
"We are still committed towards implementation of the CVA and we believe that this could be a golden opportunity for Uchumi to resolve its historical issues," Mohamed told the media.
The local bank had pointed out that the supermarket had used the land as security for the defaulted loan.
Details of why the KDF is pushing for the land remain scanty despite NLC stating that talks about compulsory acquisition of the Uchumi property were ongoing.
