Mitumba dealers call for level field to secure jobs

Mitumba

Second-hand clothes traders sell their wares in Kibera, Nairobi, on January 26, 2021.
 

Photo credit: Diana Ngila | Nation Media Group

An association says 5,000 jobs were lost every day due to the ban on importation of second-hand clothes and footwear in the country last year.

Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya chairperson Teresia Wairimu said the industry was among the most affected by the Covid pandemic and wants some of the barriers placed on mitumba importation and trade removed.

Ms Wairimu spoke yesterday in Nairobi at the launch of a report on a study by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on the extent and impact the trade has in the Kenyan economy.

“This sector paid over Sh19 billion to the exchequer in 2019, which is why we are calling for formulation of policies to govern the mitumba industry. This report will set pace for safeguarding the mitumba industry and creating assurance to thousands of traders who depend on it,” she said.

Institute chief executive Kwame Owino said research has shown that the trade does not conflict with local textiles firms, but that if fills a niche in the clothing industry.

New clothes

“Kenyans spend about 2.5 percent of their income on clothing and many see brand new clothes as expensive. Thus, economically, giving consumers choices expands competition between peers and therefore, there is no need for government intervention in a working competitive system as consumers are getting the best prices and quality of goods,” Mr Owino said at the launch.

The government imposed a ban on importation of the popular used clothes and footwear to curb spread of Covid-19 though no evidence showed any connection.

It was, however, lifted five months later after guidelines for fumigation and cleaning protocols of the products at entry into the country were put in place.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) showed that the value of second-hand clothes and footwear fell by Sh600 million in the three months following the import ban on the products.

Another set of data from the statistics body also shows that the mitumba industry employs about two million Kenyans, which is about 10 percent of Kenya’s entire workforce.