End curse of Dar's Machinga complex

By Editor

Editorial Cartoon

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)…a mouthful indeed, in Kenya they call them, Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) another tongue twister.

MSEs are Kenya’s informal sector dubbed Jua Kali (Scorching Sun) and as the name suggests, they work in the mercy of the elements, be it tropical rains or the equatorial sun. This group weathers the storm every day and the storm comes in both the form of natural phenomena as well as manmade national initiatives.


If it is not the rain drenching them, it is the sun burning them or the wind threatening (and more times than not, succeeding) to blow away their merchandise and make-shift shacks, just as they were before the Jua Kali patrons collected them and used them to build the stalls they make and sell their products in.

Jua Kali was originally specific for a small blacksmithing sector that no one dared consider for ‘big’ names such as ’manufacturing’ and ‘producing’
They were even denied the very description of their work, recycling – they collect used metal to produce various consumer products like, cooking stoves and pans, light fixtures, home decorations etc.

Nonetheless, creative and innovative were equally kept distant from the group.
That was the 90’s, now, a decade later, in Kenya they are ‘The Micro and Small Enterprises sector (Jua Kali)’ recognised as ‘a key driver to the achievement of Kenya’s long term development.’

Kenya’s: ‘Vision 2030 has incorporated in its development policy the structuring and institutionalisation of the MSEs (Jua Kali) into the fabric of mainstream economic development.’

Further: ‘This endorsement of the MSE’s sector by Kenya’s development blue print will not only propel the Jua Kali sector to a highly industrialised but also act as a hub of innovation and manufacturing in the entire region.’

So, the previously unregulated, unmonitored and considered with spite and scorn, as dirty and unruly is now seen as a critical player in Kenya’s economic development.

A terrible, dark past that is unfortunately no different from our country’s own Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMEs) history.

Here, the long phrase is cut down to one word, Machinga and like their Kenyan counterparts are also left to the mercy of the elements and like pests and parasites, when their numbers increased they are gassed, beaten and sent away.

Thankfully, in the last decade and much thanks to South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, Tanzania, like Kenya, has come to accept this sector as an important player in national development.

However, what is the reality on the ground? Do the Machingas feel the acceptance? Is there any real sense of recognition? Were they involved in the formulation of laws that now govern them?

For example, in Dar es Salaam, Machingas (generally street hawkers) have stayed away from the 31bn/- Machinga complex built for them.

Why? Simple, they are mobile retailers whose business entails delivery of products to the client not vice versa. Forcing them into a stationary complex is akin to taking away mobile phones for landlines.

Without an inclusive approach, the nation is doomed to suffer the curse of the Machinga complex, rejected by its very own. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN