KENYAN GOVERNMENT URGED TO LIFT THE BAN ON SECOND HAND CLOTHES

KENYAN GOVERNMENT URGED TO LIFT THE BAN ON SECOND HAND CLOTHES

By Ken Kamau

Officials of the Mitumba Association urged the

Ministry of Trade, Industrialization and

Enterprise Development to lift the ban on

second hand clothing imposed in early March

by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) to

save two million and an additional 19 million

who trade and purchase mitumba items

respectively.

This follows the submission by the Association

of guidelines for the Mitumba operations as

part of an agreement with the Ministry.

The Association’s officials were speaking

during an exercise to donate food and clothing

items to over 140 traders and their families who

were affected by the fire that gutted the

Gikomba Market on wee hours of Friday 26th

June 2020 . During the exercise, all the affected

traders stated that they were unable to restock

their wares since the ban on second hand

clothes and footwear has interrupted the supply

of their wares.

They are concerned that hundreds of thousands

of jobs have already been lost despite the

continued and steady demand for affordable

clothes and footwear by Kenyans facing

economic hardships.

Speaking at the event, the Mitumba Association

Chairperson, Ms. Teresia Wairimu lamented

about the jobs lost and impact on livelihoods,

following the continued application of the

temporary ban on importation of second hand

clothes and footwear. She said: “Following our

meeting with the respective Cabinet Secretary

on Monday, we agreed and thereafter submitted

a set of comprehensive guidelines to guide the

continued importation and trading of mitumba

in the country.”

She added: “As the Ministry charged with

supporting Kenyan entrepreneurs, we are

confident that it has the power and intention of

protecting over 2 million Kenyans and an

additional 19 million who trade and purchase

mitumba items respectively.

We estimate that nearly 350,000 Kenyans in the

industry have already lost their livelihoods and

if the temporal measure is not lifted, millions

more livelihoods will be affected.”

Whereas, Kebs instituted the ban at the onset of

the Covid-19 pandemic, the Mitumba

Association is emboldened by the latest

scientific advice indicating that the importation

of second-hand garments and shoes into Kenya

poses no credible public health risk.

According to the Association, prohibiting the

movement of goods or commodities has not

been recommended by the World Health

Organisation (WHO) as a measure to contain

the spread of Covid-19.

The guidelines developed and submitted by the

Association are poised to enhance the health

protocols effected at countries of origin, ensure

supervised re-fumigation upon arrival at the

port, introduction of additional health clearance

certificate amongst other measures.

Equally, the guidelines provide detailed

workplace protocols for the over 2 million

traders, majority of whom operate from open air

markets across the country.

The importation of Mitumba comprises of set

of processes in the source country that includes

but not limited to collection, grading,

fumigation, packaging, Inspection and

transportation.

This takes a significant amount of time, the

process of grading and filling a 40 foot

container with an average of 530 bales takes

about two weeks depending on the graders

capacity.

The inspection and loading is done on

appointment by a Kebs approved inspection

partner. Upon inspection, the bales are

transported and loaded onto ships depending

on availability of space and prior booking. It

takes a minimum of twelve (12) to sixty (60)

days for the cargo to reach Mombasa

dependant on the port of loading.

Imports from Dubai take approximately twelve

(12) days, those from Europe thirty (30) and

from the US and beyond approximately 45-60

days.

According to epidemiologists, the Covid-19

virus cannot survive on fabric for more than 12

hours. Equally, packaging and repeated

fumigation protects the imported clothes and

footwear from any possible bacterial and viral

contamination.