Killing Mitumba Is An Economic Suicide

By Juma / Published February 27, 2023 | 6:47 pm

KEY POINTS

6.2 million households buying second-hand clothes is equivalent to 24.2 million people while the population living below the poverty line is 19 million people.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

52,209 households of 102,179 households bought second-hand clothes equivalent to 51 percent of all households on a quarterly basis. This means that an average of 6.2 million households out of 12 million households bought second-hand clothes every quarter in 2019.

Anyone thinking about killing Mitumba is not thinking about murder but about economic suicide. At a time the cost of living is unbearable for millions of Kenyans, the unemployment rate above all other countries in East Africa, shutting down any source of income for Kenyans is a sin.

It is important to know that mitumba, a section under the Second-Hand clothes and Footwear Industry employs an estimated 10 percent of the extended labor force. The total extended labor force based on the Labour Force Survey report in 2020 is 20,641,175.

Second-Hand clothes and footwear popularly known as Mitumba employ at least 2,000,000 Kenyans. These are Kenyans who directly depend on the sale of Mitumba to earn a living, pay taxes, have something to eat, and take their kids to school.

Those pushing for the ban of Mitumba remind me of the times of the French Revolution. During that time, people were protesting the high cost of bread. The Queen of France stood on the balcony and said, “Must they eat bread, why can’t they buy cake?”

Stats show that the average number of people that buy second-hand clothes correlates with the number of people that live below the poverty line in Kenya. These are the people who survive on one dollar or less each day. They literally survive on hope.

6.2 million households buying second-hand clothes is equivalent to 24.2 million people while the population living below the poverty line is 19 million people. The poor population lives below $ 1.90 per day (2011 PPP). Without the mitumba industry, 24.2 million people, most of whom live below the poverty line, will not be able to buy clothes.

A survey done in 2019 showed that 52,209 households of 102,179 households bought second-hand clothes equivalent to 51 percent of all households on a quarterly basis. This means that an average of 6.2 million households out of 12 million households bought second-hand clothes every quarter in 2019.

The truth is, the mitumba industry allows more than half of all households in Kenya to buy good quality affordable second-hand clothes.

At the same time, taxes paid by second-hand clothes such as Import Duties, Railway Development Levy, and Import Declaration Levy add up to $ 12,500 dollars per 40 ft container (equivalent to 24 tonnes).

Kenya imported 185,000 tonnes of second-hand clothing in 2019 equivalent to approximately 8,000 containers. The taxes paid amounted to 10.2 billion shillings. The sector contributes at least 1 billion shillings in revenue per month.

Why would one think of killing an industry that is clearly a goose that lays the golden egg?

About Juma

Juma is an enthusiastic journalist who believes that journalism has power to change the world either negatively or positively depending on how one uses it.(020) 528 0222 or Email: info@sokodirectory.com

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