Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Investment, and Industry Moses Kuria has hinted that the government may ban secondhand clothing known as Mitumba.
Speaking at the Changamka Shopping Festival, the newly appointed CS, a former lawmaker, stated that their priority will be to empower the local textile industry.
Kuria stated that the notion that Mitumba clothing is cheap is incorrect. He pointed out that Kenya exports clothes to the United States at a lower cost than Mitumba.
“I will work with the textile industry to ensure that we make cheaper clothes available in this market, and then we will ban Mitumba when we give people an alternative,” he stated.
“The price we are selling clothes to America is much lower than Mitumba so it is not a question of the price it is a question of availability,” he said.
Kuria’s sentiments are surprising given that he opposed the same move when Azimio Leader Raila Odinga proposed it in the run-up to the August elections.
Odinga promised to ban mitumba to empower local textile industries while unveiling his manifesto, prompting criticism from William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza wing.
