Ban secondhand handkerchiefs and panties

Last Sunday, as per our home schedule and routine, I was sent to Kisumu's Kibuye open air market to buy indigenous vegetables that I adore.

No sooner had I entered the market than I heard shouts of handkerchiefs for only five shillings.

I thought they were new or factory rejects. On the contrary, they were heaps and heaps of used second hand handkerchiefs.

The mere sight of them took my mind to the winter weather in Europe and how handkerchiefs are used during the harsh weather conditions.

The secondhand handkerchiefs Kenyans buy must have been utilized in those obnoxious conditions if not worse. Otherwise what would be their source?

Flue and running noses make most people to acquire handkerchiefs. Fumigating and washing handkerchiefs and underwear before they are exported cannot kill the viruses and their side effects.

No wonder strange viral and skin diseases are now rampant in Kenya and Africa. During one of Kenya's darkest moments following the assassination of Robert Ouko, former Cabinet Minister Nicholas Biwott said it was a crime to be poor.

I don't know what made him say so at that terrible moment, but I now believe he was right if wretched Kenyans have to buy and use second-hand handkerchiefs in this era.

If every public officer was to do his work as President Uhuru Kenyatta pointed out during the last State House Summit on Governance and Accountability, second-hand handkerchiefs and panties would not be imported into Kenya.

Banning the importation of second-hand socks, panties, handkerchiefs and other shameful and degrading merchandise do not require Cabinet approval and or presidential directives. Please ban their importation and sale immediately.

Respective and concerned public officers should simply issue circulars to those effects as they normally do within their work schedules.