Last year, Uchumi Supermarkets hired a new CEO to turn it around after swinging to a Sh3.2 billion loss. It had recorded a profit of Sh491 million in its previous financial year to June.
At the time, this did not look like a very complicated task for Julius Kipng’etich, and the retailer’s new management team got working on a turnaround plan to return the business to profitability.