Billionaire industrialists take on Nakumatt in bad debt row

Last week’s public spat between the Ndegwa family and troubled retail chain Nakumatt over the occupancy of Nairobi’s Junction Mall has exposed the intensity of a bad debts war the supermarket is fighting against wealthy industrialists it owes billions of shillings.

The Ndegwas, who are successors of former Central Bank of Kenya governor Philip Ndegwa, on Saturday night ejected Nakumatt from the Junction Mall where it holds a majority stake, citing failure by the retailer to pay the tens of millions shillings it owes in rent arrears.