According to the Busia County Lands, Urban Housing and Development County Executive (CEC) Member Mr Peter Odima, Tesia Holdings Ltd woes are far from over since its Halisi Maize milling plant and warehouse have encroached on the Busia-Kisumu highway road reserve and the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Busia airstrip land, these structures are set for demolition
A multi-billion shillings business empire with its main base in Busia town, Tesia Supermarkets Ltd. has collapsed. The collapse of the once-vibrant business has witnessed the closure of its other retail outlets in Bungoma and Malaba towns in quick succession. Trouble at the supermarket started manifesting itself just before the eruption of the deadly Covid 19 virus and its associated lockdowns when stocks started drying up from the shelves of their pioneer outlet in Busia town, popularly known as Tesia Frontier.
Tesia Supermarket Ltd was among the first to establish a major supermarket outlet in Busia and Malaba towns followed by another branch in Bungoma in a near whirlwind expansion. The main branch in Busia town was opposite the National Bank of Kenya, the main branch was housed in a multi-billion shillings ultra-modern storied property built by the owners of the enterprise. It was stocked with hundreds of millions of shillings worth of goods on its six floors which have now dwindled to nothing. The collapse of the Busia outlet was quickly followed by another of their outlets in Kanduyi on the outskirts of Bungoma town along the Malaba – Eldoret highway.
However the tragic story of the collapse of the enterprise that started from scratch in Busia town did not end there, soon after the collapse of the Kanduyi branch, another outlet in Malaba town immediately followed. The collapse seems to have permanently ended the life of the formerly fast-expanding retail business leaving it only with a struggling Bakery, maize flour milling plant and a restaurant which was recently brought down in the ongoing demolitions of illegal structures built on road reserves, sewerage system and on government land by Governor Paul Otwoma.
The Tesia Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive (CEO) John Kariuki refused to answer and or return/respond to text messages sent to his mobile phone by The Weekly Vision.
The Lake Region Economic Bloc counties Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) spokesman Herman Kasili confirming these developments said: “It is true that as KNCCI we are fully aware about the tragic events of the Tesia Holdings retail supermarkets, a multimillion shillings enterprise.” “It was an upcoming and promising homegrown business that was employing hundreds of our people and contributing both to our counties, regional and national economies but that is no more.”
Emerging facts on the ground indicate that in Busia the collapsed Tesia Prime outlet has been taken over by Shivling Supermarkets while the Kanduyi -Bungoma branch has been taken over by the powerful emerging regional supermarkets giant Khetias that also took over the Nakumatt branch in Bungoma.
According to the Busia County Lands, Urban Housing and Development County Executive (CEC) Member Mr Peter Odima, Tesia Holdings Ltd woes are far from over since its Halisi Maize milling plant and warehouse have encroached on the Busia-Kisumu highway road reserve and the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Busia airstrip land, these structures are set for demolition.
The family’s multi-million shillings residential homes near the maize milling plant may also not be spared either, The Weekly Vision has established that they encroached on the airstrip, road reserves and the town’s sewerage system land.
