This archive report was first published on 2 July 2020.
Thika Cloths Mills, a fabrics manufacturing company in Thika, was on the verge of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the company has received a government tender to make fabrics for disciplined forces, which has brought hope to the company.
The company, which depends on making school uniforms and other government tenders, had found the journey rough following the closure of schools and limited or no government tenders in the past four months.
According to the company's Managing Director, Tejal Dhodhia, the containment of the Nairobi Metropolis had shrunk their market as they offer non-essential items, thereby reducing their production capacity and profit margins.
The company had 700 employees, most of whom had been sent on half pay leave. Dhodhia said, 'The closure of schools and the Coronavirus containment measures locked us out of business. It has been four difficult months until the government gave us this new tender.'
The company got the tender to make the Kenya Wildlife Service uniform, which has kept them running. Last year, the company entered into an agreement with cotton farmers from Yatta in Machakos County, Kitui, Homa Bay, Siaya, and Lamu Counties to buy all the cotton produced in those areas.
They also gave farmers seeds, pesticides, and subsidized fertilizers. However, Dhodhia expressed concern about the financial impact of the pandemic on the company and its cotton farmers, saying, 'We have been hard hit by the pandemic financially and I’m wondering what we shall do to our cotton farmers who expect us to buy their produce this month.'
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the company used to make fabrics for uniformed forces, which they supplied to Kitui County’s KICOTEC. Dhodhia said it would take months for normalcy to return to companies, saying most of them have suffered from reduced profit margins and shrunk market.
She added, 'Companies in the metropolis that make non-essential items have been hard-hit by the pandemic. It will take months for normalcy to resume but we hope once the lockdown is eased and the economy opened, we shall compensate for the lost time.'
By Muoki Charles
