Uchumi Gulu closes, leaves 90 stranded

Employees stranded at the entrance to Uchumi Supermarket outlet in Gulu Municipality yesterday. PHOTO BY JULIUS OCUNGI

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Halt. Employees say the supermarket was closed to avoid court bailiffs from taking away supplies over payment arrears.

Gulu. More than 90 employees at Uchumi Supermarket, Gulu branch, were stranded on Tuesday morning when they turned up for work but found the business premises locked amid tight security.
Mr Isaac Okello, one of the employees, told Daily Monitor in an interview they were not notified by the management that the place would be closed.
“We turned up for work as usual but on arrival, the place was closed. We sought clarification from the branch manager but she told us they closed temporarily to avoid court bailiffs from removing their supplies from the supermarket,” Mr Okello said.
On Monday, court bailiffs raided the supermarket’s main branch at Garden City shopping mall in Kampala and destroyed property as they attempted to seize merchandise on the orders of Ugachic, its poultry product suppliers.
Mr Okello said the manager allayed their fears of what happened at Garden City. “I haven’t been paid my salary for two months now and the only good thing the management could do is to inform us, make our payments and terminal benefits so that they sort out themselves other than just leaving us stranded,” Mr Okello added.
He said earlier on, they held meetings with the management on issues of their salaries, but they were told that the country manager, who is the signatory to the cheques, was out of the country.
Mr Jimmy Okwera, the chairperson of Workers Union at the supermarket in Gulu, claimed the management had been exploiting its employees by deducting their salaries in the guise of clearing the National Social Security Fund dues yet they are not remitted.
When asked for a comment on the matter, the branch manager, Ms Robina Olobo, declined to speak to Daily Monitor.
Last week, Uchumi supermarket closed down two of its branches in Kabalagala and Nateete in Kampala.

Rent arrears
Mr Donald Lukwiya, the owner of building that houses the Gulu branch, told Daily Monitor that the management of the supermarket has not paid rent arrears amounting to Shs400m. He noted that efforts to get his payment from the management were frustrated as he has received no response from the management.When contacted for a comment on the matter, Mr Gichamba Chege, the Uchumi’s acting general manager in Uganda, said he was still in a meeting.