A letter addressed to President Uhuru Kenyatta has been doing rounds in social media allegedly from a trader from Nyamakima area of Nairobi.
In the letter, he explains how his business has deteriorated to a point of closing it down and because of his employees losing their jobs.
The letter is just one way that is being used to raise attention to the plight of traders in various parts of downtown Nairobi. They have been complaining of various issues that have affected their businesses and claiming that the government has been ignoring their concerns.
The traders, united through various groups, are from Nyamakima, Kirinyaga Road, Dubois Road area, Gikomba Market, River Road area and other places.
Ann Nyokabi, the Organizing Secretary of Importers and Small Traders Association (ISTA) traces their problems to the demonstrations that rocked the capital during the last General elections. She says business was affected and the traders could not afford to clear the goods at the port, therefore, attracting huge penalties.
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Thereafter, Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) petitioned the President on the increase of counterfeit goods in the country and war on them began. Among the new requirements by the government was that every trader must import own container and of similar goods to improve traceability of those who import fake goods.
Needless to say, the biggest victims were the small traders as they import most of their goods from China.
“Many of our traders cannot afford to import full containers on their own. That is why we consolidate our goods and put them in one container. When we cried to the government to give us amnesty on various charges that had accrued, the government didn’t listen and we held a demonstration in the city,” says Nyokabi.
Meanwhile, a multi-agency team had been formed to fight counterfeit goods. The Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA) led by the Deputy Head of the Civil Service Wanyama Musiambo was going around con- fi scating and burning goods worth millions of shillings.
The demonstration in August last year caught the government by surprise and a high-level delegation was sent by the President to have a word with the traders led by the Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit, Nzioka Waita.
“He promised that our 670 containers held at the port would be released and the fight on counterfeits conducted with our involvement but we learned later they were empty promises. One container has goods belonging to 40-50 traders and you can imagine the effect of the containers held to the traders. Some have already closed their businesses,” says Nyokabi.
The traders blame the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) on using the fight against counterfeits to eliminate competition.
Njau Kiringa, another trader called on ACA to give clear guidelines on what is counterfeit. “Why are goods carted away from our shops without being tested whether they meet the required standards to prove they are counterfeits? We are being accused of selling fake goods like electric sockets and switches yet the authority has not specified what is fake and what is original in the market?
How do you tell if a Vuvuzela is fake?” asks Kiringa.
