It looks like lovers of second-hand fashion, mostly found in downtown Kampala can breath out! After Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) issuing a directive to ban the importation of second hand clothes yesterday, the body came back shortly after to halt the ban. The ban had been a response to the Coronavirus pandemic, which is being managed on all fronts in this country.
According to a study done by the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) in late February/March, trace amounts of the virus had been detected on the shoes of half of the doctors in Wuhan. This prompted UNBS to come to the difficult decision of banning second hand clothing (and shoe) imports for the time being. This, as you can imagine, did not go well.
Outrage poured in on social media, with focus being on the vendors of these clothes as well as the convenience of their prices. There is also looming threat of being cut off by the USA from the AGOA initiative (which basically allows us to export to the U.S tax free) due to this ban.
I don’t know what halting this ban means for our safety (especially some of us who are cleaning out our closets and planning to restock after “the outside” is open again). Could the next pair of heels I buy lead to a second wave of infection? Can we afford this risk as a country?
A lot of our economy has already been sacrificed for the greater good of our health, can we do so much only to let it all crumble for a smelly pair of 3rd hand Yeezys? And then there’s the issue of sustainability.
Look, one of these days we will have to address the effects of being the “trash dump” for the past season’s. There’s also the issue of fast fashion, a challenge the global fashion industry is grappling with. Shifting the burden to a different country doesn’t mean it’s over.
Our hands seem to be tied at the moment, but still, the second hand clothing problem in Uganda will have to be addressed. Better sooner than later, in my opinion.
satisfashionug@gmail.com
