When they were reviving the Kenya Meat Commission and Kenya Co-operative Creameries, they should really have considered reviving Uchumi Supermarket as well.
The government-owned retail store sold me a large pack of french fries for lunch during my industrial attachment at KBC, something I’m truly grateful for to this day.
One packet was usually enough for two people with a normal appetite or one person with a large appetite. The cost?
Sixty Kenya shillings only.
I have always loved fries. When I left my office, I usually made a beeline for Uchumi Supermarket just across the road from the University of Nairobi. If I didn’t go to Uchumi to get fries, I went to the place where they served us mukimo accompanied by a piece of meat in some thick stew and a little cabbage that the servers referred to as ‘salad’. Potato, lovable potato.
I was thinking about those fries the other day and wished I could have a packet, just to remind myself how good it felt to be able to afford french fries daily on a student’s budget.
I got a whiff of some great news and I hope it comes to pass. The article read, “Kenya’s Uchumi Supermarket is staging a comeback — starting with a new branch in Unicity Mall, Nairobi, which will open in April this year — raising hopes for the chain that has struggled from debt and low profitability amid stiff competition”
The article is dated 12th March 2024.
Glossary
KBC – Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (the national broadcaster)
Mukimo – a mixture of potatoes, corn, peas and indigenous leaves mashed together.
Kenyan Stories, Awesome Women and African Proverbs. 