The Mitumba Association of Kenya is urging the government to lift a ban on the importation of second-hand clothes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The association argues that the clothes do not pose any health risk since they undergo a rigorous fumigation process before they are shipped into the country.
The sector paid over Sh13.4 billion last year to the exchequer.
The goods are being shipped for 45 days on average, in sealed containers.
The traders are now promising to adhere to the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 containment protocols, if allowed to resume their businesses.
There has been no clear scientific fact with regards to how long the coronavirus can survive on an inanimate object, but some researches have said that not more than 9 days.
Also, the World Health Organisation has not recommended the prohibition of the movement of goods or commodities as a measure of containing the spread of COVID-19.
