Brookside shuts down Taita Taveta milk factory, joining list of companies that are struggling with losses

Brookside shuts down milk factory, joining list of companies that are struggling with losses

Tony Mukere

February 13, 2020 3:06 PM

Bad news

Brookside shuts down milk factory, joining list of companies that are struggling with losses

Brookside Dairies, a company owned by President Uhuru Kenyatta's family, has become the latest victim of the poor economic situation that has since multiple companies downsize or shut down.

Brookside Dairies on Thursday announced it would be shutting down its Taita Taveta regional factory, Wumingu Cooling Plant, effective March 1st 2020.

The Ruiru-based company cited losses as the reason for closing down the factory that has in the past decade offered jobs and a livelihoods to hundreds of locals in the area.

Wumingu Cooling Plant, located in Wundanyi town, has a capacity of processing 10,000 litres of milk on a daily basis.

In 2017, Brookside paid Taita Taveta dairy farmers a total of Sh52 million for supply of raw milk at the Wumingu plant.

The company's exit from the region is expected to cause a setback for dairy farmers as the company has hitherto bought over 45 percent of the entire raw milk in Taita Taveta.

The country has witnessed numerous shutting down or downsizing as the economic situation has deteriorated.

The Jubilee government has been blamed for the tough economic climate that has been attributed to unfriendly government macroeconomic policies.

In 2019, data from the Registrar of Companies, 388 companies had been dissolved between March and August alone with the situation expected to get worse in 2020 - according to Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge.