Stephen Mukuha, the Tuskys Director, passed away on Sunday, February 27, after spending a month in a coma at a hospital in Nairobi.
His family confirmed that his passing came shortly after he underwent a brain tumor surgery at the same facility after suffering from cancer.
At 64 years, however, Mukuha had rode the Tuskys supermarket wave from its heydays till the fortunes closed in on the retailer, forcing it to close almost all its outlets.
Since 2020, the company had found itself battling bankruptcy and forcing its owners, including the director, to come out in its defence.
With a stake of 17.5 per cent, Mukuha took the front row in trying to resuscitate the retailer after boldly noting that its downfall had partly been caused by family wrangles.
“There’s a prayer I prayed many years ago that Tuskys would not be sold to foreigners, that Tuskys will be ours forever.
"We wanted to prove we can also do retail like others. It is a big thing for us to have Tuskys run by locals... regardless of colour,” he stated at the time.
Founded in Rongai area of Nakuru by a former employee of the now defunct Nakumatt, Tuskys achieved national status several years later. Mukuha, joined the company as a full time employee immediately after completing his high school education.
“I own everything that has happened in this organisation... I own that 100 per cent. The success of this organisation is for us all, but the failure is mine, we are going to make it good because we are committed as a family,” he maintained in 2020.
His run-ins with suppliers, and by extension, the Law, had however began a few years earlier when Mukuha and his brother George Gachwe were accused of misappropriating up to Ksh1.64 billion from the retailer by their siblings.
In 2016, the complainants accused them of taking the money after coming across it by the virtue of their association with the company. They had both served as directors.
At the time, the duo owned 17.5 per cent of the company each. In the same year, his other brother, Yusuf Mugweru, took him to court for allegedly slapping him.
“It is in the public domain that the relationship between the shareholders is not good. We have been working very hard to make sure that every one of us speaks up," he explained in 2020 as the family came together to resuscitate the company.
In May 2021, the company had received an investor who was willing to pump Ksh2.1 billion into the retailer preventing it from impending closure.
