Keroche Breweries CEO Tabitha Karanja now says the company is on the verge of laying off 400 employees following the closure by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) over tax arrears.
Tabitha disclosed last week on Tuesday, June 14 that the company had been shut down again by KRA enforcers.
Following the closure, Tabitha now says the company is contemplating firing over 4oo employees adding that beer worth Sh350 million could go to waste.
"The company is at the verge of laying off over 400 employees due to the illegal, punitive, and draconian actions by the KRA. The Ministry ought to be concerned and interrogate the matter as it is constitutionally mandated to safeguard the welfare of labour and legally obligated to protect all Kenyan workers.
"I was also at pains as I looked at all the beer in the tanks that we shall be forced to drain to waste and wondered why and how the following relevant ministries remain so indifferent to the dire consequences of the current closure of the company’s factory," she stated.
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Tabitha called on the ministries of labour and industrialization to interrogate the matter and protect local investments.
"Ministry of Industrialisation and Enterprise Development. As the ministry's name indicates, they should at all time defend local investments and enterprises, and take all lawful measures to support them to develop and grow. Does the Ministry understand how long it takes to build an enterprise even half the size of Keroche Breweries? she posed.
After a long-running, publicized saga, KRA and Keroche struck a deal in March 2022 that allowed the latter to resume operations.
The deal announced by KRA was centred on a new payment plan that would see Keroche pay Ksh957 million over 24 months.
However, last week Karanja said that they were compelled to enter into the agreement with KRA whose implementation could not be supported by the company.
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