Over 400 employees of troubled retail chain store Nakumatt Holdings on Friday took to the Mombasa streets to protest their unpaid six-month salaries.
The employees said they have been struggling to fend for their families for the last six months.
They marched from Likoni, Kenol and Nyali and converged at Treasury Square where they sang solidarity songs.
Some told reporters they have been forced to live under deplorable conditions after being evicted from their houses due to non-payment of rent.
"The last time we were paid was in July, and even then we received half salary," Sammy Kanyiri, one of the employees, said.
The workers said each of them is owed at least Sh100,000.
"My house has been locked and I am sleeping in a neighbour’s kiosk. As you see me here, my stomach is empty," he said.
"Even the matatu guys are avoiding me because they see me as a nuisance. They always think I will ask for a lift from them. If they avoid me I have to walk to work."
Beryl Kingi, who works at Nakumatt Likoni, said some of her colleagues' marriages are in shambles because of the Nakumatt woes.
Kanyiri said their statutory remittances are not being paid adding that their pension has been deducted from August 2016 but has not been remitted to NSSF.
He asked their employers to face them and give them the way forward adding that they don’t want to be sent on compulsory leave.
"If he is closing shop, let him give is our dues and we part ways, Kanyiri, who spoke on behalf of the workers, said.
The management did not pick calls from the Star for comment.
Nakumatt Holdings had four branches in Mombasa among them Nakumatt Likoni, Nakumatt Cinemax, Nakumatt Nyali and Nakumatt Bamburi.
Nakumatt Bamburi, the newest of the three, has already been closed and Naivas Supermarket has already taken the premises.
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