Can Uchumi be great?

Uchumi Buru Buru was a beacon of hope in a world going to hell in a handbasket. The Tuskys next door was better stocked and cut-throat in its price competitiveness. Mutindwa remained the preferred venue for certain other orders; Mama Mbogas are not known for being militantly opposed to maintaining wafer-thin margins. It's electronics were shit, quite frankly; semi-knock-off Chinese Hi-Fis were more their stock in trade than the finest Japanese sound systems. What they did well - very, very well; better than Tusky's and Mama Mbogas - were the liquor section and the bananas.

The Uchumi liquor section was a Mecca for the non-teetotal among us. It had a good selection; if you wanted better, quite clearly then, Buru Buru was too down-scale for you and it was time to upgrade your life to Kilimani or some similarly leafy bit of Nairobi. It was pocket-friendly and it never went low on your favourites. That, sadly, is no longer the case. It is now the shittiest bit of the supermarket and I don't really know what Julius Kipng'etich is doing, he clearly isn't doing enough to revive my Uchumi to its glory, booze-soaked days.

I remember when Jonathan Ciano took over and how quickly praise was heaped on him for making what seemed like a miracle turnaround for the troubled supermarket chain. For a while it seemed like suppliers and creditors were taking the turnaround plan in their stride, working with Mr Ciano and his team to bring some sanity to the Uchumi operations. The same positive vibes are being spread of Julius Kipng'etich, recently of Equity Bank, having quit his previous job as KWS Director-General almost a year earlier than his contract warranted.

I have no doubt that Mr Kipng'etich is eminently qualified to run Uchumi Supermarkets but let us not get carried away. Mr Kipng'etich, to my knowledge, has not declared a facility with magic or claimed the powers of s small god. Facts, as John Addams is quoted, are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. Uchumi is not the darling of the securities markets; and it is a pariah when it comes serious and sensible banks.

Nakumatt, Naivas, and the johhny-come-latelys from south of the Limpopo are going to eat Uchumi's lunch and steal its lunch money too. Mr Kipng'etich has hitched a somewhat stellar reputation to a moribund, stodgy, out-of-touch brand that is slow;y becoming a byword for everything that is wrong with corporate Kenya. The insider-dealing, the swindles, the remarkably bad stock performance - these are not things that one would want to be associated with if they knew what was good for them. I will hold my praise for now; if my favourite tipple makes it back on the shelves again, I may raise my esteem of Mr Kipng'etich a notch. Just one. He doesn't need Mr Ciano's big head.