UK retailer Tesco has suspended supplies from Kakuzi following a move by law firm Leigh Day to take legal action against UK firm Camellia whose subsidiary runs Kakuzi. Camellia owns 50.7% of Kakuzi.

Kakuzi has been accused of systemic human rights abuses in a new lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses Kakuzi guards of perpetrating the abuses since 2009.

“Any form of human rights abuse in our supply chain is unacceptable,” Tesco said. “We have been working closely with the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), alongside other ETI members, to investigate this issue and ensure measures have been taken to protect workers.”

Kakuzi stock was trading at Ksh 380 per share at the NSE on Monday. The stock has majorly been dormant with no activity since 18th september when 100 shares were traded at an average of Ksh. 385 per share.

Kakuzi earnings for the first half of the year grew by 11.08% as the company enjoyed lower taxes. Half-year net profit grew to Ksh 272.8 million up from Ksh 245.6 million in H1 2019, following the government’s directive to cut corporate tax by 5% to 25% to cushion companies against the effect of the pandemic.