24 million Kenyans wear mitumba: Report

Nearly half of Kenyans wear second-hand clothes, commonly known as mitumba, according to a new report.

According to a survey conducted by the Institute of Economic Affairs Kenya (IEA) and the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya (MCAK), mitumba trade is thriving in Kenya, driven by strong consumer demand.

The study, A Future Look at the Apparel and Footwear Industry in Kenya, was commissioned to explore the future of the clothing industry, and focused on data for 2023.

It found that 24.2 million Kenyans bought second-hand clothes in 2023, with the country making Sh16 billion revenue from it.

During the release of the report in Nairobi yesterday, IEA and the mitumba traders sought to dispel claims that Kenya is a dumping ground for used clothing.

“Kenya is not a dumping ground for mitumba, as some people have claimed,” said IEA chief executive Kwame Owino, the lead researcher for the report.

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He said mitumba items are collected from countries in the Global North, where they are sorted and classified according to quality and use, and often repackaged for resale.

Kenya primarily imports second-hand clothing from the EU, UK, Canada-with China emerging as the leading source over the last 10 years.

In 2023, Kenya imported 177,664 tonnes of second-hand clothes, according to the report.

“The mitumba industry is particularly important for women and younger people, offering employment opportunities and a vital source of income that helps strengthen household livelihoods,” the report said.  

The report shows the trade employs over two million people, which is 10 per cent of the extended labour force of 20,641,175 people in Kenya.

It also generates 7.58 jobs in the supply chain across East Africa for every ton of second hand clothes.

In revenues, Kenya collects at least $15,000 (Sh1.9 million) in taxes per container (22–24 tonnes) of second-hand clothes.

In 2023, imports totalled 197,000 tons (8,200 containers), yielding Sh16 billion in tax revenue or Sh1.3 billion monthly, equivalent to over US$ 123 million, surpassing tax revenue from the wine and spirit industry (Sh11.5 billion in 2019).

“These taxes support government services like Universal Health Care and investment in infrastructure,” report says.

Bungoma Woman Rep Catherine Wambilianga said the mitumba trade played a key role in shaping her journey to leadership.

She said she began selling second-hand clothes while in college, starting with just about Sh300.

As the business flourished, she continued with it even after securing a teaching job, selling clothes to her fellow teachers. Her dedication earned her the nicknames Mama Mtumba and later Mwalimu Mtumba.

Leveraging the success and recognition gained through the mitumba trade, Wambilianga, rose to hold several leadership positions, including the National Gender Secretary KUPPET, Bungoma County, and her current role as Member of Parliament.

She pledged to lobby in Parliament for the reduction of taxes on mitumba business, in order to support traders and make the trade more sustainable.

“I know the impact mitumba has had on our people -- how it has sustained countless households across this country,” she says.

Rev Teresia Wairimu, chairperson of MCAK, says she has been in the mitumba business for the last 20 years, starting the business with a capital of Sh3,000. Wairimu and her husband now import second-hand clothes from Canada, USA, Europe and China.

Owino said the mitumba trade and its local apparel manufacturing can coexist and complement each other.

While Kenyan households are hybrid consumers, buying both new and used clothes, as incomes rise, the consumption of used clothes decreases. 

“Our findings make one thing clear: citizens and economies can gain the most when mitumba and local manufacturing grow together. When we remove needless barriers, the combined strength of these sectors can create more jobs, more consumer choice, and more sustainable growth,” Owino explains.

Wairimu says the future of the apparel sector is about strategic coexistence, not competition.

“The report offers compelling evidence that second-hand clothing isn’t a barrier to the textile industry’s growth-it’s part of the solution. We can ensure that low-income families can afford quality clothes while expanding local manufacturing.