Naivas Supermarkets chairman Simon Mukuha dies

Naivas supermarkets chairman Simon Gashwe Mukuha has died.

Mr Mukuha died on Monday evening at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi where he has been undergoing treatment since last week.

Naivas supermarket Chief Operations Officer Willy Kimani confirmed the death.

“Mr Mukuha has passed on this (Monday) evening at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi where he was undergoing treatment after suffering a heart attack,” Mr Kimani told the Nation

DIRECTORS

Naivas supermarket directors include Mr David Kimani who owns 25 per cent stake, the late Simon Gashwe who owned 25 per cent stake, Linet Wairimu who owns 15 per cent stake, Grace Wambui 15 per cent and their late father Peter Mukuha Kago who owned 20 per cent stake.

The death of their father in 2010 opened the lid on the wrangles on the family owned business pitting the family members against their brother Newton Kagira who moved to court to claim part of the ownership of the retail giant.

He claimed in court that he had the rightful ownership of the stake in business. The case has been dragging in court since his father died. He would later open his retail business named Green Mart supermarket.

FEUD

The feud saw South African retail giant Massmart exit from buying the majority stake from Naivas after Mr Kagira moved to court and successfully stopped the transaction
Instead, Massmart would embark on opening their branded stores-named Game, in Kenya. Massmart wanted to acquire a 51 per cent at Naivas.

The growth of Naivas has been tremendous under the stewardship of Simon Gashwe and David Kimani who acts as the managing director of the retailer that has seen the retailer expand its branch network across the country.