The pain and joy of selling mtumba at Gikomba Market

Data shows that 49,176 tonnes of second-hand clothes were imported into the country in the third quarter of last year compared to 13,334 tonnes.

Kenya has a strong tradition of entrepreneurialism and many young Kenyans are now embracing businesses.

Mugambi said the fire had only ravaged the market’s Simba yard area adding, there were no casualties reported.

Fires incidents at the Gikomba market have become rampant.

MCAK asks President Kenyatta to declare Gikomba Market as an open-air market

The 3am fire razed stalls and buildings, destroyed business premises and wares before it was put off.

KRA has been poking his nose in these marketplaces, hitting most of the products sold here with higher tariffs.

A sewer line serving the market has blocked, pushing out filth at the junction of Kinyanjui Street near Solidarity Building.

Gikomba market is popular for the aggressive hawking

The trick, therefore, is cutting out these middlemen, with some traders preferring to directly source their produce at the farmgate.

Exporters are struggling, as are traders and customers in often poorer nations who rely on a steady supply of used clothes.

Market starved of goods as import restrictions due to Covid-19 weigh on businesses.