brad brace contemporary culture scrapbook

NAIROBI – Drayton Maina looks sharp behind the wheel of his car in a grey suit, colourful tie and shiny leather shoes.

It would be hard to tell that the Kenyan driver — like millions of his fellow Africans — is dressed from head-to-toe in second-hand clothes brought in from the West.

“The only thing you can’t get in a Kenyan second-hand market is a wife!” he jokes, picking out a fleecy top to counter Nairobi’s morning chill for a mere 200 shillings ($2.64) at the vast Gikomba street market.

Maina is proud to tot up the modest cost of his smart work attire: wide-collared suit 500 shillings, white shirt 150, cartoon tie 100, black leather shoes 800.

Despite widespread poverty across the east African nation of 32 million people, that sort of price is affordable for many and underpins the roaring success in the last two decades of the second-hand clothes trade known in local Swahili as “mitumba.”

Popular as the clothes may be among the poor, Kenya’s mitumba explosion has annoyed many in the former British colony.

Textile manufacturers say it has helped decimate their industry, while cotton-growers are equally aggrieved.

And the mass use of second-hand Western clothes has given a sometimes drab look to Kenyan streets — at least in the capital Nairobi, where colourful traditional African dress is rare.

Shipped into Kenya in enormous quantities, vast piles of clothes are shifted at Gikomba, a teeming labyrinth of makeshift stalls, boxes, carts and barrows full of clothes and shoes in a densely-populated, pot-holed suburb of Nairobi.

“MITUMBA FEEDS MANY MOUTHS”

Many of the sellers sit on top of their wares, as buyers rummage through the garments. Some clothes are sold by item, others by weight. Bargain boxes sell women’s underwear and children’s clothes at 20 shillings an item.

Many come to Gikomba to pick up large quantities to take out to the countryside and sell on at smaller markets.

Middlemen buy the clothes in bags known as “bales” from a handful of major importers who draw on charity stores, out-of-date stocks or over-runs in the West or in Asia.

Most importers and middlemen are reluctant to talk about the exact origin of the clothes, whether they pay for them and whether the donors are aware that the clothes are sold on again.

Some people in the business believe traders get the clothes for free by saying they will be donated to poor people in developing nations. Others think they pay a nominal fee to charities, or to Western firms to take seconds off their hands.

Jas Bedi, chairman of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers’ textile and apparel group, says the mitumba industry is exploiting goodwill in richer countries.

“People in Europe and America have sent clothes in good faith to Africa for the under-privileged and the poor, not to be turned into business by unscrupulous traders.”

The source of the clothes may be as muddled as Gikomba’s market but all agree that the clothes are prized.

“Everyone prefers mitumba in Kenya,” said John Omare, 25, next to his pile of boys’ T-shirts in Gikomba. “This is one of the largest open-air markets in east Africa. The mitumba industry is feeding a lot of mouths.”

“NAIL IN THE COFFIN”

Bedi estimates the mitumba trade employs some 30,000 people. That dwarfs the 12,000 left in the formal textile industry, which used to employ around 100,000 in the 1970s and 1980s.

In that heyday, Bedi says, there were some 100 major factories, compared to 7 or 8 now. Cheap Asian imports also played their part in the decline but mitumba gets most blame.

“Allowing imports of mitumba obviously had a negative impact on the industry. Mitumba is sent free, then sold, so with zero procurement costs, how can we compete?” Bedi said.

Between 200 to 300 containers of mitumba, each holding about 10 tonnes, enter Kenya’s Mombasa port each month, Bedi said.

“If you think a shirt weighs about 4 grams, then you can see just how much is coming in. It’s dumping basically. The people (textile manufacturers) who are surviving are barely surviving. They are waiting for the final nail in the coffin.”

Textile firms that have struggled on have done so by virtually abandoning the mass market to diversify into niche areas like school or factory uniforms, or the fashionable local “kikoi”: a colourful cloth worn around the waist or shoulders.

Lobbyists for the textile industry want the government to level the playing-field by raising taxes on mitumba imports — or just by ensuring taxes are paid at all at the ports. But in fact in the last budget in June, Finance Minister David Mwiraria halved tax on a kilo of mitumba.

“We have tried to fight this battle for the last 20 years, we’ve even taken it up at (World Trade Organisation) levels, but we have not won,” Bedi said.

“The politicians say we’re a poor country, we can’t do anything. OK, fine, so why not just give it away then?

Meanwhile, mitumba is every season’s must-have across Kenya, with some estimating that between half and two-thirds of the population wear second-hand items from the markets.

“This is an important service we provide for our nation,” said mitumba middleman Justus Malila in Gikomba, hustling a delivery through a muddy backstreet as the cheers and chants of a religious meeting next door rang out.

Nairobi – Since gaining independence in 1963, Kenya has held four elections. But,
perhaps the most decisive ballot of all has been cast by citizens who voted with
their feet — leaving Kenya for countries that seemed more promising.

Concerns about corruption, economic decline and insecurity have prompted an exodus
of teachers, doctors, nurses and other professionals.

“The economy has been badly mismanaged, reducing the purchasing power of highly
trained and skilled people,” Michael Chege, an economic advisor to the Ministry of
Planning and National Development, told IPS. “You cannot expect them to remain
earning low salaries when their skills are in demand outside, and at a high salary
scale.”

Chege himself is an exception to this trend. He returned to Kenya in 2003, five
years after having fled political repression under former president Daniel arap Moi.

According to authorities, most skilled migrants head for Southern Africa, the United
Kingdom (UK), Australia and the United States.

The results of a survey by the London-based Institute for Public Policy Research
(IPPR) issued earlier this month (Sep. 7), showed that Kenyans made up the
eighth-largest group of immigrants in Britain by 2001. After South Africa, Kenya
sent more nationals to Britain than any other African country.

Kenyan officials say they do not have figures for the number of citizens working
abroad; but, organisations which recruit professionals say these number in the
thousands.

As those wishing to take up residence abroad frequently have to be screened for HIV,
centres which test for AIDS also have an interesting tale to tell. Moses Otsyula,
who owns the Nairobi-based Pathogen Diagnostic Laboratories, says he has screened as
many as 2,500 professionals in one month alone – most of them nurses.

Salaries for nurses in Kenya range from about 200 to almost 530 dollars a month. In
the United States, these medics can earn up to 6,000 dollars per month – perhaps
even more, says Nancy Akinyi, an office coordinator for Hamsdel Professional
Services. This agency recruits nurses from across the country to work in the United
States.

In addition to being paid low salaries, nurses face a dispiriting lack of equipment.

“There is a shortage of resources at government hospitals, especially the ones in
remote areas,” says Mary Muli, a nurse in Nairobi. “This is also part of the reason
why nurses leave for other destinations.”

Similarly, lecturers who earn between about 200 and 400 dollars a month can earn 10
times that in South Africa, notes Chege: “The purchasing power of a lecturer in
Kenya is estimated to have declined by 40 percent between 1980 and 2000.”

Others do not fare as well once they leave. The IPPR’s report notes that just under
a quarter of settled Kenyan migrants in the UK are unemployed. For new migrants,
this figure is about 40 percent.

Atieno Ndede-Amadi, who heads the Nairobi-based Africa’s Brain Gain, also warns that
Kenyans living overseas may find themselves exploited.

“Once they go, they are on their own — they have no bargaining power,” she told
IPS. “The pay they are being given might not be the actual market rate. It may be
lower, and since these people are desperate they just accept it.”

Africa’s Brain Gain conducts research on migration issues. It also lobbies
governments to find ways of assisting people who seek their fortune abroad.

As with migrants from other countries, Kenyans working in foreign countries send
remittances home — although government does not know how much these amount to. The
country’s central bank is now trying to assess this.

However, remittances mean little to patients who find there are too few nurses to
care for them in hospitals – or to parents obliged to put their children in schools
which don’t have enough teachers to give pupils personal attention.

This matter was brought into sharp relief recently during a tribal clash in northern
Kenya, the worst to occur in the country since independence.

Almost 100 people were killed in the massacre, which took place in July when members
of the Gabra ethnic group were attacked by the Borana clan.

Scores of severely wounded people were rushed to a district hospital after the
incident. However, only one doctor was on hand to attend to them.

Situated on the equator on Africa’s east coast, Kenya has been described as “the cradle of humanity”.

In areas of the Great Rift Valley, palaeontologists have discovered some of the earliest evidence of man’s ancestors.

In the present day, Kenya’s ethnic diversity has produced a vibrant culture, but is also a source of conflict.

After independence from Britain in 1963, politics was dominated by the charismatic Jomo Kenyatta. He was succeeded in 1978 by Daniel arap Moi, who remained in power for 24 years. The ruling Kenya African National Union was the country’s only legal political party for much of the 1980s.

Violent unrest – and international pressure – led to the restoration of multi-party politics in the early 1990s. But it was to be another decade before opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki ended nearly 40 years of Kanu rule with his landslide victory in 2002’s general election.

With its scenic beauty and abundant wildlife, Kenya is one of Africa’s major safari destinations. But the lucrative tourist industry has been hit by fears of terrorism; flight cancellations and travel warnings issued by some foreign governments have had a severe impact on the sector.

Despite President Kibaki’s pledge to tackle corruption, some donors estimated that up to $1bn had been lost to graft between 2002 and 2005.

Other pressing challenges include high unemployment, crime and poverty; most Kenyans live below the poverty level of $1 a day.

One of Africa’s more politically-stable countries, Kenya has been a leading light in the Somali and Sudanese peace processes.

* Population: 32.8 million (UN, 2005)
* Capital: Nairobi
* Area: 582,646 sq km (224,961 sq miles)
* Major languages: Swahili, English
* Major religion: Christianity
* Life expectancy: 43 years (men), 46 years (women) (UN)
* Monetary unit: 1 Kenya shilling = 100 cents
* Main exports: Tea, coffee, horticultural products, petroleum products
* GNI per capita: US $390 (World Bank, 2003)
* Internet domain: .ke
* International dialling code: +254

President: Mwai Kibaki

Political veteran Mwai Kibaki won a landslide victory in the December 2002 elections. The constitution barred his predecessor, Daniel arap Moi, from standing for re-election. Mr Kibaki’s National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) won a parliamentary majority.

Mr Kibaki said he would make the fight against corruption a priority and promised to tackle Kenya’s economic woes.

But two years into his presidency, crime and corruption were widespread and the economy remained weak. A poll suggested that many Kenyans thought that life was worse under the Narc government than under Mr Kibaki’s predecessor.

The president also pledged to introduce a new constitution. Parliament approved a draft in July 2005, paving the way for a popular referendum. But changes to the draft document, which critics said left too much power in the hands of the president, sparked unrest.

A respected economist, Mwai Kibaki served as finance minister and vice president in the 1970s and 1980s. He left Kanu in 1991 and founded the Democratic Party.

His victory marked the end of almost 40 years of uninterrupted rule by Kanu, and it was third time lucky for Mr Kibaki, who lost two elections in the 1990s.

Mwai Kibaki was born in 1931 and hails from Kenya’s largest tribe, the Kikuyu. He studied in Uganda and Britain, before joining the push for Kenya’s independence in the 1960s. He became an MP in 1963.

Kenya enjoys a more diverse media scene than many other African countries, with a large middle class providing a base for substantial advertising revenue.

There is a tradition of a relatively independent press, although newspapers often had to practise self-censorship during the era of Presidents Kenyatta and Moi. The print media is dominated by two major publishing houses, the Nation and Standard, both of which also have substantial broadcasting operations.

Most Kenyans rely on the broadcast media, particularly radio, for news. Until recently the liberalisation of broadcasting had a limited impact outside Nairobi but some private radio and TV networks now have wide coverage of much of the country. TV viewing is substantial, but few Kenyans are regular internet users, owing to cost and access problems.

The Kibaki government came to power promising further media liberalisation, but some incidents since then have alarmed observers. In late 2003 there was a crackdown on unregistered “alternative” newspapers, using a controversial law passed by the previous government.

Months later, a court criticised the information minister for harassing Kiss FM, the most popular private radio station, which had gained a reputation for upsetting the government.

Full-time FM relays of the BBC World Service are on the air in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, and some BBC programmes are also rebroadcast by private Kameme FM. The Voice of America has an FM relay in Nairobi and Radio France Internationale is relayed on FM in Mombasa.

Kenyan security forces battled stone-throwing protesters and looters in Nairobi in a second day of unrest touched off by moves to protect the president’s power in an overhaul of the nation’s constitution.

One person was killed, at least seven arrested and four injured as riot police and troops fought street battles that criss-crossed the capital and shuttered many stores.

Kenyans making their way home from work moved in panicked groups across the glass-strewn streets, fleeing wind-whipped teargas clouds and soldiers chasing protesters and looters.

In several hours of skirmishes, police and soldiers turned water cannons on pockets of protesters, fired teargas, beat ringleaders and hurled back stones tossed at them.

Standing in front of the police lines, scores of people sang songs calling for an uprising. “Even if you kill us, we still want our constitution,” they chanted.

Protesters dragged metal kiosks into the streets to frustrate their pursuers, threw garbage cans, rocks and furniture and lit fires at intersections. Some took advantage of the chaos to steal, leading to one looter’s death.

“He was looting and was cornered by the public and killed,” said Nairobi police chief Kingori Mwangi. “We did not fire even a single live bullet.”

Groups opposed to President Mwai Kibaki’s handling of the constitutional reform process had called for three days of protests before Friday’s deadline for parliament to finalise its version of the new document prior to a referendum.

The protests have been banned by the authorities.

The most contentious issue is the president’s power which the latest version, the Kilifi Draft, by a government-dominated parliamentary committee leaves virtually untouched.

A previous version – the so-called Bomas Draft – from a wide cross-section of Kenyans recommended most authority go to a new prime minister’s post.

‘Havoc’

“The common citizen wants the Bomas draft and a small clique of MPs want the Kilifi Draft,” said Nicodemus Nyabwa, a bystander who was caught up in the chaos.

“This is what has caused the havoc. President Kibaki should give the people the constitution they want.”

Most Kenyans are disillusioned with Kibaki’s two-and-a-half year rule, saying he has failed to live up to his 2002 election pledge to end the tribal politics and corruption that flourished under predecessor Daniel arap Moi’s 24-year rule.

Critics say cronyism is rife in Kibaki’s government, which they accuse of watering down initial cross-party recommendations for rewriting the constitution, drawn up by Kenyans before independence from Britain in 1963.

Members of Kibaki’s National Rainbow Coalition have accused opposition parties of trouble-making hypocrisy, saying they failed to deliver a new constitution in the past.

By late afternoon, the streets of central Nairobi were strewn with stones and garbage. Police barricaded roads and shops were locked up, many with people cowering inside.

“They are just looters, idlers, thieves and time-wasters throwing stones. It’s just stupid people. We cannot leave now or go about our duties,” said Vicki Lucas, a pharmacist locked in her store with about 10 other people.

Many shop fronts, telephone booths and car windows were smashed. Several dozen movie-goers were forced to stay in a downtown theatre while the mayhem died down.