Members of Parliament want a special audit of Quickmart’s KSh15 billion share sale, one day before the supermarket chain debuts on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) under the ticker QMRT.
The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy put the question to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday. Its chairman, Pokot South MP David Pkosing, asked whether the regulator had examined Quickmart’s finances before approving the offer. Trading is scheduled to begin on Thursday, 12 November.
What the committee asked the CMA
The committee wanted to know if the CMA had reviewed Quickmart’s financial position, operating cash flows and supplier obligations. It also asked what protections exist for Kenyans who buy the shares.
“As the market regulator you have an obligation to protect Kenyans from potential loss of funds,” Pkosing told CMA officials.
Members cited Uchumi, Nakumatt and Tuskys, three retail chains whose collapse cost suppliers, staff and shoppers money. Quickmart took over the Eldo Mall space in Eldoret that Tuskys vacated in 2021. Kaloleni MP Paul Katana asked the CMA to name the steps it had taken to stop a repeat.
“You have taken advantage of Kenya’s ignorance,” Katana said. “Kenyans are crying, hurting.”
Why the structure of the sale matters
The offer covers two billion existing shares priced at KSh7.50 each. Quickmart will not receive the proceeds. They go to the selling shareholder, Sokoni Retail Kenya Limited, which holds the shares through the 2019 merger of Quickmart and Tumaini Self Service Retailers. Sokoni keeps the other 50%.
The sale is a partial exit by private equity investor Adenia Partners and the company’s founders. Khusoko reported when the offer opened that the price values the chain at KES 30 billion and that no new shares are issued.
Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris asked whether ordinary investors understood that arrangement. “Why would this shareholder want to exit?” she said.
Pkosing put the same concern more bluntly. “Has it come to your mind that this is robbery? Friendly fire kills, so even this soft robbery is robbery. Ever thought that they are floating shares to liquidate then shut doors?” he asked.
CMA chief: Quickmart is an exit, not a rescue
CMA Chief Executive Wyckliffe Shamiah defended the approval. He told the committee the offer went through a full review and met the required thresholds.
He said Quickmart does not rely heavily on debt and funds most of its operations from internal cash. He described the company as a small and medium enterprise whose finances differ from those of the chains that failed.
“So we are dealing with the exit,” Shamiah said.
He added that Nakumatt and Tuskys never offered shares to the public. They therefore sat outside the capital markets regulatory framework, and the comparison does not hold, he argued.
“Capital markets thrive on risks”
Pkosing asked whether the CMA could arrange insurance for investors. Shamiah said it could not.
“No… capital markets thrive on risks,” he said.
Passaris rejected that view. “Capital markets shouldn’t thrive on risks. It should thrive on profits,” she said. “Pray that the risk you’ve taken will not lead to a loss.”
Soy MP David Kiplagat said the committee had already given the CMA a detailed account of past supermarket failures. He said the regulator would struggle to win the committee’s acceptance unless it showed it had assessed the risks.
Shamiah conceded that the CMA should study the lessons of earlier collapses. He said the authority lacked some of the figures MPs asked for and promised to supply them.
CMA launches new system transforming Kenya’s capital markets
The supplier numbers behind the debate
The committee’s questions on supplier obligations match figures in the offer documents. Khusoko’s review of the filings found that Quickmart owed suppliers KES 10.9 billion at the end of 2025. Gross trade payable days stood at 101, up from 89 a year earlier.
The same review noted that a note in the audited accounts describes the company’s KES 3.7 billion net current liability as a possible material uncertainty over its ability to continue. The directors concluded the company can continue, and the auditor’s report carries no separate going concern section.
The offer document also lists mitigants: net cash excluding leases, a mostly undrawn bank facility and consignment terms for some fresh categories. Bank borrowings stood at KES 6.8 million at 30 June 2026.
Demand ran ahead of supply
Investors applied for KSh18.41 billion against the KSh15 billion on offer, an oversubscription of 22.7%. Oversubscription measures demand. It does not measure whether the price is fair or whether the shares suit every investor.
The offer carried a condition that applications cover at least 75% of the shares, or 1.5 billion. The International Finance Corporation had conditionally committed up to USD 15 million, about KES 1.94 billion, subject to its board approval.
Pkosing said the committee’s worry goes beyond Quickmart’s shareholders. “As MPs we are the direct representatives. If you see us worried, the people of Kenya are. I can almost bet that Quickmart is dying and we will remind you that you signed it up,” he said.
He told Shamiah the committee was dissatisfied with the answers. “We are not pleased. I can hardly give you a D+,” he said.
What the special audit would cover
The proposed audit would examine:
- the ownership and financial arrangements behind the transaction
- the circumstances of the selling shareholder’s exit
- the CMA’s approval process
MPs also want to know whether the regulator carried out enough due diligence and whether the offer protects buyers.
The committee’s central question is whether the sale is a change in shareholding or a route to losses for Kenyans who applied. Trading on Thursday will be the first market test of that debate.
Follow the full run of coverage on the Khusoko Quickmart tag page, and read more business reporting at Khusoko.
