When The gods Conspire Against You: Landlords now reject Nakumatt

The woes of the ailing Nakumatt Holdings Limited are far from coming to an end after 14 landlords stated that they do not wish the retailer to continue being their tenant.

In a statement, the 14 landlords for Galleria, Nyali, Likoni, Karen Crossroads, Nakuru, Eldoret Household, Cinemax, Nanyuki, Highridge, City Hall, Diani, Malindi, Meru, and Highport, noted that their position had been reached following detailed consultation and an objective review of the recovery proposals.

The landlords disclosed that they do wish to continue with Nakumatt as a tenant and do support the proposals for recovery advanced by the Administrator, Mr. Peter Kahi.

“Our decision was not intended to prejudice or influence any ongoing litigation or dealings any other individual landlord may have with the Administrator of Nakumatt,” read the statement.

According to the statement, 2 landlords will not be renewing their leases with Nakumatt, which are soon coming up for expiry. A further 5 landlords have sued Nakumatt; leaving a balance of 9 stores which may possibly wish to continue with Nakumatt as a tenant.

“We note that the Nakumatt/Tusky’s deal has fallen through with no viable alternative offered, leaving us with no other conclusion than that Nakumatt has no hope for recovery. Several of us landlords developed our outlets on borrowed funds and we now stand at risk of having our properties seized by the banks following Nakumatt’s massive default,” further read the statement

The landlords disclosed that due to the retailer’s failure to adequately stock its shelves, footfall within their properties had fallen drastically and this, in turn, had affected other tenants, leading to significant losses and a wider risk of bank default and job losses being visited on these and other third parties.

“All Nakumatt creditors and stakeholders should be advised accordingly so that they establish their individual positions with these facts in mind,” read the statement.

They finished off by stating that they had to issue out the notice so as to set the record straight on their position regarding Nakumatt’s continued tenancy at their properties.