Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei reacts as thousands of Brookside staff face job losses

In the wake of reports that Brookside Dairy is laying off hundreds of staff, Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei has opined that monopoly enjoyed by the company owned by the Kenyatta family is coming to an end.

According to the lawmaker, the news is sweet music to his ears.

"The era of milk monopoly of the market by Brookside co. Ltd is now over as farmers this is sweet music to our ears. They had killed many milk cooperative societies in our country," Cherargei noted on Twitter.

He linked the company’s woes to allegations that retired president Uhuru Kenyatta is funding opposition protests.

"This is what is irking Uhuru to fund Tinga violent maandamanos to try and intimidate govt into giving in their family businesses and Kenyans should know that Tinga/ uhuru is NOT fighting for them but for their interests of their family businesses," he added.

Troubled times at Brookside

Reports indicate that the company’s operations in Uganda have been impacted heavily after the Kenyan government failed to give it permit to export to the Kenyan market.

Brookside fires half of Uganda staff following Kenya's export standstill/Courtesy Pulse

The company’s human resources manager, Winnie Mirembe Mugabi revealed failure to get the permit denied them an opportunity to access 75% of its market in Kenya.

"For us to continue running the factory, we have no choice but to scale down all our operations across the entire value chain to match our current level of business which is a paltry 25% of our normal operational volumes," Mugabi said.

"Under section 81 of the Employment Act, we would like to take this opportunity to inform you of our decision to lawfully terminate employees whose number exceeds 10 on account of structural reasons. 50% of our staff will regrettably be affected by way of a retrenchment intended to take effect in July 2023," Mugabi added.