Tuskys Supermarket has appointed its chief financial officer (CFO) Chadwick Okumu as its interim chief executive officer following the departure of Dan Githua last year.
This is the second post for Mr Okumu who joined Tuskys in October last year as the CFO. He had also held the chief finance position at Uchumi Supermarkets.
“Mr Chadwick Okumu is the acting chief executive at Tuskys,” the retailer’s chairman Bernard Kahianyu told the Business Daily in a brief phone interview yesterday.
“The process of appointing a substantive boss has taken long because getting the right person for the job is not easy.”
Mr Githua is currently working at a Mauritius owned firm –AnkoRetail— where sellers can register as vendors and start trading.
He jumped ship as Tuskys financial performance and operations deteriorated from a major cash crunch.
The company has lost most of its stores from a mix of voluntary closures and asset seizures by landlords and other creditors over unpaid debt.
Tuskys has been talking about raising billions of shillings from debt and equity investors but the plans appear to have stalled.
It becomes the latest retailer to struggle in the competitive retail business that favours deep-pocketed operators with solid management.
Nakumatt Holdings collapsed under a load of debt which has also nearly wiped out Uchumi. In contrast, Naivas and Carrefour have continued to expand, taking up space vacated by their struggling rivals.