Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 246481,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/246481/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 116,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Kituyi",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Trade and Industry",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 293,
        "legal_name": "Mukhisa Kituyi",
        "slug": "mukhisa-kituyi"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, last Thursday, you obliged me to come back to this House with the progress report this week about the goings on at Uchumi Supermarkets Limited. I wish in the remaining few minutes to update the august Assembly on what has happened since last week. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on 13th June, 2006, I made a Ministerial Statement which detailed the circumstances which led to the collapse of Uchumi Supermarkets Limited. I announced that a high- level Inter-Ministerial Task Force had been put in place to determine the circumstances leading to the collapse and to make recommendations on what needed to be done to protect the public interest in the company. I am happy today to present to the House an interim report on this matter. Mr. Speaker, Sir, initial investigations have identified several anomalies relating to the recent closure of Uchumi Supermarkets Limited and a firm basis for an independent and high-level investigation into the collapse. I did mention before the House that the creditors to this company did not call for it to be declared insolvent. Indeed, as recently as this year, one of the principal creditors gave it an overdraft facility of Kshs200 million. Secondly, the task force has established that, hardly 24 hours after the declaration of insolvency, a representative of a certain foreign company visited the Uchumi Supermarkets Limited headquarters on 2nd June with the intention of buying it. What is even more curious and perplexing is that the news was released to the public when the whole nation was celebrating Madaraka Day and already this foreign investor was coming in to buy the company. Thirdly, the night before the company doors were closed, shares worth Kshs22 million were off-loaded on the stock market. It would be interesting to know who the seller of these shares was and whether this was a case of insider trading. These are grave matters that act as pointers towards an economic crime. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the basis of these events, we have already instructed the Kenya Anti- Corruption Commission (KACC) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), to play their parts and I wish to table the letters to that effect for both institutions."
}