[ti:Uganda's President Aims to Ban Used Clothing from the West]
[al:As It Is]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2023-10-24]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]People, rich and poor, crowd into Owino Market. 
[00:07.15]Owino is a huge open market in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.
[00:15.58]People here are mostly looking for secondhand clothing, clothes that have been worn by someone else.
[00:26.53]The clothes are usually low-cost but still are well made.
[00:33.52]Such clothes usually come from Europeans and Americans who no longer want or need them. 
[00:42.76]Businesses purchase the used clothing, and other businesses export them to sell in Africa.
[00:53.16]The business is valued at millions of dollars.
[00:58.94]Some people say the demand for such clothes demonstrates that Africans believe Western fashion is better than clothes made in Africa.
[01:13.44]In 2017, the U.S. Agency for International Development aimed to find out about the clothes East Africans buy. 
[01:26.66]Its study found that about two-thirds of people in seven East African countries have "purchased at least a portion of their clothes from the secondhand clothing market."
[01:43.70]Although they are popular, secondhand clothes are facing increasing resistance. 
[01:52.62]Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has held power in Uganda since 1986. 
[02:02.47]He declared in August that he was banning imports of used clothing. 
[02:10.16]He said the clothes are "from dead people."
[02:14.72]"When a white person dies, they gather their clothes and send them to Africa," Museveni said.
[02:24.32]Trade officials have not yet enforced the president's declaration, which requires a legal measure, such as an executive order.
[02:37.42]Other African governments are trying to stop used clothing imports, saying the business is like sending waste to Africa and harms local cloth industries.
[02:52.59]The East African Community trade bloc includes Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. 
[03:07.42]It has advised banning imports of secondhand clothing since 2016.
[03:14.86]However, member states have not put bans into effect.
[03:21.57]In Uganda, the president's statement has spread concern among traders. 
[03:30.02]A ban would put them out of business. Traders sell used clothes across the country of 45 million people.
[03:41.86]They do business in large open-air markets, roadside stands and even in stores in malls.
[03:52.14]A group of traders in Kampala, known as KACITA, opposes a ban on secondhand clothing. 
[04:02.72]The group suggests slowly reducing the imports so that local clothing producers can develop the ability to meet demand.
[04:14.31]Some Ugandan clothing makers, like Winfred Arinaitwe, admit that the quality of locally made cloth is often poor. 
[04:26.60]Many people choose to buy used clothing, she said.
[04:32.35]"Because it lasts longer," she said, "it can easily be seen."
[04:39.20]In Owino Market, a ban on used clothes is unbelievable to many. 
[04:47.52]Some say they do not believe the president's threat.
[04:52.86]Abdulrashid Ssuuna's job is to get people in the market to visit his brother's used clothing business. 
[05:02.97]He said a ban would deny him a way to make a living.
[05:09.70]"It's like they want to chase us out of the country," he said of the president's order. 
[05:17.41]He said he cannot afford to sell new clothes.
[05:22.72]The market is competitive, with sellers sitting behind heaps of clothes and shouting words of welcome to possible buyers.
[05:34.90]If he helps his brother sell clothing, "I get something," said Ssuuna, who started this work after dropping out of high school in 2020.
[05:48.81]The market is always full of buyers, but business is unpredictable. 
[05:56.22]Traders must try to imagine what people want before other sellers do.
[06:03.73]Tadeo Walusimbi has been a used clothing trader for six years.
[06:11.96]He said some days are better than others, but he warned a government ban would not be supported.
[06:21.64]It "will not work for me and for so many people," Walusimbi said.
[06:28.51]I'm Gena Bennett.