Twiga Accused of Secretly Orchestrating Mass Layoffs and a Fake Liquidation Plan

Twiga Foods, long viewed as a symbol of Kenyan innovation and a flagship of African agri-tech, is facing explosive new allegations from an internal whistleblower who claims the company is executing a calculated plan to liquidate, fire most of its staff, and quietly restart operations under a different name.

The allegations, made anonymously to Tech-ish.com, accuse current leadership – including CEO Charles Ballard – and major investors Creadev and Juven, of engineering a mass restructuring that could affect hundreds of livelihoods. Internal presentation slides leaked alongside the letter show what appears to be a step-by-step plan to dissolve the current entity and form a new company – without honoring core obligations such as staff contracts or commercial lease agreements.

While Tech-ish.com cannot independently verify every claim, much of the content in the email aligns with prior reporting on Twiga’s funding history, its leadership changes, and past rounds of layoffs.

From High Growth to High Risk

Twiga’s story has been one of both promise and decline. Between 2019 and 2022, Techish reported on Twiga’s KES 3 billion Series B funding led by Goldman Sachs, its $10 million investment in commercial farming through Twiga Fresh, and its recognition as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Companies. At the time, Twiga was praised for digitizing food distribution and giving informal retailers access to better pricing and supply.

But by 2023, cracks had formed. The company began facing cash flow issues, delayed staff salaries, and struggled with unpaid vendor bills – including a KES 30 million lawsuit from Incentro, a Google Cloud reseller. In August 2023, Twiga laid off 283 employees. One year later, in August 2024, Techish reported a second wave of layoffs affecting 59 more.

Founder and CEO Peter Njonjo exited in March 2024 after a $35 million fundraising round. He was replaced by Charles Ballard, a former Jumia executive, who pledged to streamline operations and guide the company toward profitability.

Now, new documents and testimony suggest a far more drastic – and ethically troubling – strategy is underway.

“Project Easter”: The Alleged Plan to Restart as “NewCo”

One of the two leaked internal slides is titled Project Easter and outlines a detailed plan to incorporate a new entity (“NewCo”), sign a new distribution center lease in Syokimau, and begin operations by August 2025.

Key points include:

• The full incorporation of NewCo with clarified ownership
• The licensing of the Twiga brand and customer base to the new entity
• The use of third-party logistics (3PLs) to run warehousing and supply chain functions
• The hiring of a small group of 10–12 employees, transferred from the current Twiga staff pool

The whistleblower alleges this is not a genuine business turnaround – but rather a method to escape costly obligations like the lease at Tatu City, which they describe as “bloated” and signed for optics during an earlier growth phase.

“They’ve fired most of the staff, gutted salaries, and bled the company dry. The only remaining anchor is the lease. Their new round of funding is contingent on solving it,” the whistleblower wrote.

Internal Breakdown of Layoffs

The second slide provides a staff breakdown of 435 people, showing:

• 319 employees marked as “leaving”
• The largest impact is in the supply chain department, with 267 exits
• Only 83 office or distribution center staff and 33 field staff remain
• A note next to 18 retained employees indicates they are “likely to be fully transferred to Jump” (believed to be a codename for NewCo), which could shrink to just 10–12 after filtering

This supports the whistleblower’s claim that most staff are being offloaded while a small internal team is preserved to relaunch under the new entity.

“A Shell Held Together by Underpaid Labour and Fear”

The whistleblower describes a toxic work environment under the current CEO, accusing him of micromanagement, lack of operational knowledge, and frequent “explosive outbursts.”

“Charles is running a shell held together by underpaid labour and fear... Despite over $200 million in funding, the company remains stuck in a manual, outdated grind.”

More alarmingly, the letter alleges racial exclusion and favoritism:

• Qualified Kenyan professionals are allegedly being pushed out of leadership roles
• Foreign nationals – mostly French – have been brought in for key roles, some of whom reportedly lack proper qualifications or experience
• Black staff are excluded from strategy meetings and decision-making, with no pathway for internal growth

“Even jobs requiring just two years of experience are routinely filled by foreign hires, flown in and placed above better-qualified local staff,” the letter reads

The Tatu City Lease: Burden or Blunder?

The whistleblower claims the lease for the Tatu City facility, which Twiga once used to signal its growth, is now an albatross around the company’s neck. According to the email, the company has attempted to renegotiate the lease twice – both attempts were rejected.

“There are strong whispers that these deals personally benefited those who approved them,” the source alleges, while also pointing fingers at the previous board and executive leadership.

With the lease proving financially unsustainable and investor patience wearing thin, the alleged liquidation-and-restart plan appears designed to avoid the burden of termination penalties or public scrutiny.

If Proven, What Could Be at Stake?

If these claims are verified, they raise serious questions about:

• Employee rights under Kenyan labour law – Were workers given proper notice? Were terminations legal?
• Investor conduct – Are funders knowingly backing an asset transfer to escape liabilities?
• Regulatory oversight – Is this restructuring circumventing insolvency procedures or tax obligations?

Tech-ish.com is not making legal conclusions. However, the whistleblower describes a “bait-and-switch” in which a company, with investor backing, discards its obligations while preserving its assets and market value.

“This is not a business turnaround. It is a cold, calculated betrayal of the very people who built this company.”

Twiga Responds to Allegations

Following our request for comment, Twiga Foods – through the CEO – has provided a detailed written response addressing each of the key allegations. While maintaining that no wrongdoing has occurred, the company acknowledges the intensity of its current restructuring process and attributes some of the concerns to internal misperceptions during a time of transformation.

On Alleged Mismanagement:

Twiga says its leadership team was appointed to deliver “profitability and operational discipline” and that Creadev and Juven remain committed investors. The company cites a full internal tech stack supporting operations, including its SokoYetu eCommerce platform, WMS, ERP system, and a new Salesforce-based field app.

“While this level of transformation may have led to mixed perceptions internally, the leadership remains confident that the direction taken is the right one for the business,” Twiga said.

On Cost-Cutting and Pay Cuts:

Twiga denies reducing salaries for existing junior staff. The company says only newly designed entry-level roles were adjusted, in line with market standards, and no existing employees had their salaries slashed.

“Claims that junior staff salaries were lowered from KES 50,000 to KES 20,000 are incorrect.”

On Discrimination and Foreign Hiring:

Twiga states that only 3 of its approximately 450 staff are international hires—less than 1%. It says Kenyan professionals have been appointed to leadership roles across warehousing, fulfilment, and quality control, and that a Kenyan Chief People Officer is expected to join shortly.

“We remain deeply committed to creating employment and development opportunities for Kenyan professionals.”

On the Tatu City Lease:

Twiga says the Tatu facility is a premium logistics hub built to its own specifications. It denies any corruption or personal benefit linked to the lease deal.

“The current leadership and Board have seen no evidence of corruption or personal gain linked to this lease.”

On the Alleged “Fake Liquidation” Plan:

Twiga dismisses the claim that it is creating a “NewCo” to escape obligations as a misreading of strategic planning documents. It says no liquidation has been initiated, no assets have been transferred, and no new entity has been formed.

“No liquidation process has been initiated or approved. No assets have been transferred, and no ‘NewCo’ has been created to avoid obligations.”

The company says it takes the allegations seriously but insists they “do not reflect the reality of the company’s current situation.”

A Legacy at Risk

For nearly a decade, Twiga Foods has positioned itself as the champion of Africa’s informal retailers and smallholder farmers. It promised efficiency, affordability, and dignity for the people at the base of the food supply chain.

If the whistleblower’s allegations are true, what is unfolding now risks wiping out that legacy in silence – and setting a dangerous precedent for startups across Africa.

At the very least, Twiga’s leadership and investors owe Kenya’s tech ecosystem – and its workers – answers.