An employee from QuickMart Mtwapa has added their voice to the growing chorus of workers speaking out about deep-seated management issues within the second-largest supermarket chain in Kenya.
This time, the focus is on an acting Manager at the Mtwapa Express branch whose leadership style is being called into question by numerous staff members. The employee’s allegations against the acting Manager paint a worrying picture of a toxic work environment.
According to the employee, the acting Manager has fostered a workplace culture marked by tribalism, unfairness, favouritism, and a blatant abuse of power. These allegations are disturbingly familiar and fit into a larger pattern of complaints about poor management practices at the supermarket chain. Across various branches, staff have consistently raised concerns about unfair treatment, favouritism, and a general lack of accountability from those in leadership positions.
This particular situation at the Mtwapa Express branch has been further complicated by the absence of a permanent Manager, leading to the acting Manager’s appointment. However, the employee’s testimony suggests that this has led to an unsettling power vacuum, allowing the acting Manager to run the store with little oversight and zero accountability.
The employee’s concerns about the acting Manager’s leadership style are vivid and troubling, with the worker describing how the acting Manager makes decisions that seem arbitrary and unfair. For instance, they claim that the acting Manager awards off-days, leaves, and work shifts without any semblance of fairness or consistency. Such actions, according to the employee, have created a sense of uncertainty and fear among the staff.
The employee goes on to describe how the acting Manager continues to exert control over all departments within the store, disregarding established hierarchies and protocols. This has the effect of undermining section heads and other mid-management staff, leaving them feeling powerless and ineffective.
What’s more, the employee accuses the acting Manager of regularly belittling staff members, talking down to them, and generally displaying poor communication skills. They cite one instance in which staff members were forced to explain themselves simply for requesting a password from the acting Manager. Such arbitrary displays of power, claims the employee, serve only to create an atmosphere of fear and subjugation within the workplace.
Furthermore, the employee points to what they see as a clear conflict of interest in the acting Manager’s relationship with his wife, who also works at the same store. According to the employee, this contravenes company policy, yet went unchecked, a fact that some staff members might see as emblematic of a broader management failure.
The overall impact of the acting Manager’s leadership style has been to create a work environment that is hostile and unpleasant for many staff members, the employee alleges. Ultimately, some staff members who disagree with the acting Manager or who fail to comply with his directives might find themselves singled out for unfair treatment, transferred to less desirable roles, such as at the Sameer RMS store, or worse.
