EA states join hands to ban importation of used clothes, cars

Residents of Kisumu town, Kenya, buy second hand clothes at a market. The proposed ban is aimed at promoting the region’s textile and leather industries. PHOTO | FILE |

East African heads of State have proposed a ban on the importation of second hand-clothes and the reduction of used vehicles.

The leaders proposed a ban on second-hand clothes, bags and shoes. This, they said, would promote the region’s textile and leather industries, which will eventually weed out the importation of used clothes popularly known as mitumba / mivumba.