If you missed your usual Mitumba seller an hour ago odds are he or she was demonstrating outside treasury because of non-implementation of the tax reduction on mitumba.
The 2012/2013 budget had proposed that duty on second hand clothes be revert back to KES 1.1 million, from KES 1.9 million per 20 foot container. This aimed at encouraging importation of second hand clothes. During the Budget Policy Statement on June 14, Finance Minister, Njeru Githae, noted that the increase in duty on mitumba had led to many mitumba traders, mostly the youth, close their businesses leading to unemployment.
Reduction on duty has led to sharp criticism as the Kenya Footwear Manufacturers Association expressed dissatisfaction with the move. The association’s secretary Simon Ng’ang’a said the reduction of imported duty is greatly affecting their business. He claimed that the sector has become a major employer with 100,000 direct jobs across the value chain and another 80,000 indirect jobs in the supply of accessories and services both in the formal and informal sectors.