We must wage serious war against sub-standard goods

By Pascal Mwandambo

Kenya: Recently, a distraught woman came to me with two pairs of shoes. The woman, a teacher at a local primary school, had bought the shoes from a reputable company for her two children. Apparently, the shoes had begun to wear out just weeks after she bought them, yet when buying them, she had been assured of their durability.

“I have approached the manager of the company about my predicament, but he has been taking me round in circles without giving me an explanation as to why the shoes wore out this fast, despite my paying Sh2,000 for each pair. I finally decided to take my plight to the Press,” she said.

Actually, the lady’s issue was not something I am unfamiliar with. I have been a victim of substandard goods, shoes from the same company being one of them. I have several pairs of a popular brand from the company but each has a problem. If it’s not the soles falling apart, it’s the leather cracking and peeling off.

In fact the issue of sub-standard goods encompasses virtually all products we use. From clothes to shoes and electronics, our streets are littered with items that appear to have been rejects in their countries of origin.

In the same vein, it would be in order for one to wonder what really poses a threat to our economy: sub-standard goods or second-hand items, popularly known as mitumba, that have received a lot of attention from State agencies?

If one were to choose the lesser of two evils, they would rather go for mitumba that are affordable and in most cases last longer than several good that are bought new. You see, most second-hand clothes are from top brands in countries like the US, UK and France, so you are assured of at least a couple of years of service, and at a reasonable price.

Curiously, most of the sellers of sub-standard goods place a caveat on the receipts that “goods once sold cannot be reaccepted”. One wonders why an honest business entity dealing in goods of reasonable quality should be worried about consumers returning them.

Some time back, the Government sought to increase duty on imported second-hand clothes to save the local textile industry. This is understandable. It has to be borne in mind that companies such as Kisumu Cotton Mills (Kicomi) and Rift Valley Textiles (Rivatex) struggled ostensibly due to the influx of mitumba in the local market.

However, the elephant in the room that we have failed to sufficiently get tough on is sub-standard goods.

Naturally, consumers want value for money. One would expect an item costing so much to retain its integrity for a certain time under normal circumstances. For instance, a pair of shoes that retail at Sh4,000, assuming they are not worn on a daily basis, should at least last a year.

But if the shoes begin to wear out after a month, clearly the consumer has not gotten value for money.

In fact, this has driven most people to purchase second-hand items, which is something mitumba traders have realised — partly explaining the increase in the prices of these shoes and clothes.

Items that come into the country new must not be of questionable quality. It behooves the Government to protect consumers against sub-standard goods in line with the Bill of Rights.

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