The president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, John Magufuli of Tanzania and Paul Kagame of Rwanda have given dealers of second-hand clothes, commonly known as 'mitumba', three years grace period after which they should stop importing used clothes.
The heads of the East African states have blamed 'mitumba' dealers for the collapse of textile industries.
They had planned to ban 'mitumba' this year but when they met, they agreed to postpone the ban to 2018 to give those dealers time to organize themselves.
While it is very true that our textile industries are collapsing because the cheap 'mitumba' clothes have taken over the East African market, three years will not be enough for the dealers to organize themselves.
Besides, many people prefer 'mitumba' clothes because they are very cheap. It will take them more than three years to switch from 'mitumba' to new and very expensive clothes that are locally made.
'Mitumba' also employs thousands of people and it will be a big blow to them.