Covid-19 hastens death of ailing Akamba handicraft industry

Secretary of Akamba Handicraft industry cooperative society, Stephen Mainga shows some of the carvings at the handicraft in Mombasa. Akamba Handicraft has lost business due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The society has 2,785 members. April 23, 2021. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Along the busy Moi International Airport Road in Changamwe, Mombasa County, sinewy men chisel away at blocks of wood under the humidity of the hot mid-day sun.  

For over 50 years, generations of artisans have converged in the huge makuti-thatched workshop under the banner of the Akamba Handicraft Industry Cooperative Society to practice their craft of turning the blocks of wood into beautiful pieces of art.