After reportedly being defrauded of over P100 million, Kamoso Africa has undertaken a cost cutting exercise to ensure that the company remains sustainable, the company’s Group Human Resource Manager, Seabe Ratsoma, has said.
In the measures, the CEO of Kamoso, Ian Dewar, was suspended while the company’s Chief Financial Officer, Wilfred Mwiwa, resigned following revelations that the company had lost money in possible fraudulent activities.Some of the cost cutting measures include reducing consultancy fees and operational costs, as well as restructuring.
Ratsoma says more than 150 employees could be affected by a mutual employment separation agreement. The company is offering them a retrenchment package of a one-off payment plus two months’ notice pay, severance pay and leave pay in return for an amicable termination of employment.
According to Ratsoma, some have signed the agreement but others are yet to do so. As consultations are ongoing. The company is using the mutual employment separation agreement as a last resort to stay afloat, he says.
However, it appears that certain departments are being dissolved in a move that came as a shock to a number of employees. Ratsoma says like any other business, Kamoso Africa has been affected by the challenging trading conditions of the past two years due to the COVID–19 pandemic. “Unfortunately, restructuring is part of any business at some point,” he told The Business Weekly & Review.
“Kamoso, like any other business, is undergoing a restructuring exercise to decentralise and ensure long term sustainability. Those affected have been compensated. In line with His Excellency the President’s appeal for companies to avoid retrenchment, Kamoso has constantly looked at ways to avoid retrenchment in consultation with its employees by way of streamlining its processes and departments.”
Founded in 2015, Kamoso currently has 1,238 employees across different business lines and has established itself as one of southern Africa’s leading manufacturing, supply and distribution companies. Kamoso’s product range consists of diversified fast‐moving consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, liquor, building materials and equipment.
