Nakumatt protests 'illegal shutdown' of Junction Mall branch

Nakumatt has accused Junction Mall owners of illegally shutting down its branch, saying it will take action to protect its legal rights.

The branch at The Junction on Ngong Road in Nairobi was shut down on Sunday amid cash flow challenges.

This came days after the retail chain merged with Tuskys citing trouble with the settlement of suppliers' debts.

The management, in a notice pinned at the premises, said the store will be closed with effect from October 1.

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But the Supermarket demanded that Junction Mall immediately allows them access to the premises and "desist from the predatory behavior".

"As this had not happened at the time of issuing this statement, we are taking urgent action to protect our legal and constitutional rights," the retailer said.

In a statement on Monday, Nakumatt said the mall's directors and managers "illegally, deceitfully and using trickery," locked their premises in breach of their existing lease arrangement.

"After posting a fraudulent and misleading public notice, the directors and managers prevented us from accessing the premises," it said.

Nakumatt said they entered into an agreement on September 15 with Junction Mall owners and agreed to pay them Sh20 million on or before December 1 - the surrender date.

"Nakumatt has clearly complied with the contents of the agreement. We have taken verifiable steps to ensure that the premises are adequately restocked by 1 December 2017," they said.

"We were waiting for the return of the surrender instrument and were, therefore, surprised by the unexpected turn of events."

Nakumatt said the mall's underhand actions including locking the branch are clearly contrary to the terms of the Agreement, illegal and of utmost bad faith.

"We note that the action of the Junction Mall has hurt our employees, suppliers, and customers at a time when there is a general slowdown of the economy," it read.