Why President Uhuru’s love-hate affair with mitumba will not end soon

Kisumu residents buy second hand clothes commonly known as mitumba at Kibuye market. The mitumba business is booming in the market due to their high demand as traders sell them at a relative low price compared to the shops. [Collins Oduor]

Mitumba business will thrive even after National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich told MPs he intended to slap the items with higher duties in a bid to revive the textile industry.

Kenya has broken ranks with its East African Community (EAC) peers to reduce tariffs on imported second-hand clothes in a strategic decision by President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration to maintain cordial relations with the United States.