https:\/\/macleki.org\/stories\/jua-kali-in-kisumu\/<\/a><\/p>\n(…)<\/p>\n
Like government officials, scholars began referring to \u201cjua kali\u201d using positive terms such as the \u201cself-employed entrepreneurs,\u201d \u201cthe jua kali industry,\u201d \u201cthe informal business sector,\u201d and the like. The self-employed \u201cjua kali\u201d entrepreneurs were now seen as hard-working men and women engaged in meaningful occupations, selling either a specific product or a specific skill in exchange for money in order to survive in a very tough economic environment. In a book titled Jua Kali Kenya, Kenneth King examines the evolution of the jua kali informal sector and observes how, \u201ctraditionally it had either been neglected or even actively harassed by the national government or the municipal authorities\u201d (King, xiii). King then looks at meetings and conferences on the \u201cjua kali\u201d sector organized by the Kenyan government and how those meetings and conferences gradually led to the governmental acceptance of the \u201cjua kali\u201d sector (King, 11). In 1971, for example, a meeting organized by \u201cThe Comprehensive Employment Strategy Mission\u201d in Kenya helped to dramatize the concept and nature of the informal sector\u201d (King, 6). After that meeting, people began to push for the recognition of the jua kali sector recognized and that its struggles should be taken seriously by the government.<\/p>\n
While not everybody recognized the jua kali industry as part of the formal sector, nearly all understood that it was an outlet for those wishing to make money while \u201cdoing something they love.\u201d The acceptance and recognition of the \u201cjua kali\u201d sector by the government was important in its evolution because, according to King, it enabled the jua kali sector get support and financial aid from the government that could help boost business. By the 1990s, the jua kali sector had become fully embraced by many people in the society. The jua kali workers were described as fearless, valiant, proud, and skillful. Activists and scholars carefully identified and chronicled the workers\u2019 experiences: the traders and hawkers; the mechanics, spare-parts dealers, metal-beaters, craftsmen, service-repairmen, and artists. Each one was said to have a \u201cdifferent set of skills\u201d and \u201ceach was trying to make a living doing something [he\/she] enjoyed.\u201d Sociologist Margaretta Swigert-Gacheru views \u201cjua kali ingenuity as the way artists, living on a shoestring, use their imagination to create works of art that display their originality, adaptability, resourcefulness and improvisational style of \u2018makeshift creativity\u2019\u201d (Swigert-Gacheru, 129).<\/p>\n
Many residents of Kisumu engage in or know someone engaged in the jua kali business. Through jua kali, these people earn a living, pay for basic needs, make ends meet, take their children to school, and even thrive. There are personal stories of men and women in the jua kali sector in Kisumu who have educated their children to college level and their children have gone on to be successful in life as a result.<\/p>\n
The Kisumu County government has begun emphasizing on the importance of the jua kali sector to the Kisumu economy. Recently, as reported in Kisumu News, Rose Nyamungu, the \u201cKisumu Women\u2019s Representative to the Kisumu County Assembly began a series of consultative meetings with stakeholders \u201con the Economic Development projects\u201d that were aimed at empowering the Kisumu County residents economically\u201d (Kisumu News, October 13, 2015).<\/p>\n
What makes these meetings so significant is that Rose Nyamungu even sought out and met with \u201cleaders from the informal sector \u2026 and \u2026 jua kali leaders to iron out the issue of how these sectors could be improved through capitalization.\u201d In other words, the Kisumu County government, in general, and Rose Nyamungu, in particular, are demonstrating how important the jua kali informal sector is by including it in the discussions of economic development of Kisumu. This is not just a demonstration of the recognition of the jua kali business, but also a deliberate attempt by the Kisumu County government to include the jua kali sector in its economic plans.<\/p>\n
Yet, in spite of this recognition, the jua kali sector continues to face challenges. One of the major issues facing the jua kali workers is the high tax imposed by the government. Jua kali workers are required to pay taxes whether or not they make money from their work. Along with paying high taxes, jua kali workers suffer poor working conditions. Their work is usually done in poorly built iron-and-wood workshops. In fact, most jua kali workers do not even have workshops to begin with\u2014as mentioned earlier, the term \u201cjua kali\u201d refers to those working exposed to the elements. Without proper working conditions, jua kali businesses are usually prone to damage from fire and floods.<\/p>\n
Another major problem facing the jua kali industry, especially business operators at the Kibuye open-air market on the Kisumu-Kakamega highway, are constant fire outbreaks destroying merchandise worth millions of shillings. In an article in the East African Standard newspaper, January 15, 2015, Anne Agwata, Jennipher Igena and Emmanuel Odia assert that fires are not new at Kibuye. The writers of the article observe that \u201cKibuye market has been recording a number of fire incidences (sic) with the most affected parts being the carpentry and the clothes section \u2026 residents attribute this to the congestion of business premises in the market.\u201d According to the writers, a recent inferno at the Kibuye Market \u201cstarted from a hotel kitchen and spread to adjacent shops. Most of the kiosks were wooden while some were made of iron sheets making the first to spread faster.\u201d There is no system in place to stop fire from breaking out, or extinguishing it when it breaks out, yet local authorities never hesitate from collecting taxes from jua kali businesses….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
*From a repressed gray-market toward something like a Maker scene. https:\/\/macleki.org\/stories\/jua-kali-in-kisumu\/ (…) Like government officials, scholars began referring to \u201cjua kali\u201d using positive terms such as the \u201cself-employed entrepreneurs,\u201d \u201cthe jua kali industry,\u201d \u201cthe informal business sector,\u201d and the like. The self-employed \u201cjua kali\u201d entrepreneurs were now seen as hard-working men and women engaged in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"yoast_head":"\n
The "Jua Kali" informal sector | Artmaker Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The "Jua Kali" informal sector | Artmaker Blog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The "Jua Kali" informal sector | Artmaker Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The "Jua Kali" informal sector | Artmaker Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Artmaker Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-29T07:20:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bruce Sterling\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/\",\"name\":\"Artmaker Blog\",\"description\":\"on Toshareproject.it - curated by Bruce Sterling\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/\",\"name\":\"The \\\"Jua Kali\\\" informal sector | Artmaker Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-29T07:20:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-29T07:20:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f20726ed2761431f3e0ff4e096c3085\"},\"description\":\"The \\\"Jua Kali\\\" informal sector | Artmaker Blog\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The “Jua Kali” informal sector\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f20726ed2761431f3e0ff4e096c3085\",\"name\":\"Bruce Sterling\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c390e8ed4db57a34278dcf667f928a643cf769a865c8a8632dcd310412bb9a99?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c390e8ed4db57a34278dcf667f928a643cf769a865c8a8632dcd310412bb9a99?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bruce Sterling\"},\"description\":\"Art director at Share Festival, author and journalist\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/toshareproject.it\/tomorrowart\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/author\/brucesterling\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The \"Jua Kali\" informal sector | Artmaker Blog","description":"The \"Jua Kali\" informal sector | Artmaker Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The \"Jua Kali\" informal sector | Artmaker Blog","og_description":"The \"Jua Kali\" informal sector | Artmaker Blog","og_url":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/","og_site_name":"Artmaker Blog","article_published_time":"2024-12-29T07:20:59+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bruce Sterling","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/","name":"Artmaker Blog","description":"on Toshareproject.it - curated by Bruce Sterling","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/","name":"The \"Jua Kali\" informal sector | Artmaker Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-12-29T07:20:59+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-29T07:20:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f20726ed2761431f3e0ff4e096c3085"},"description":"The \"Jua Kali\" informal sector | Artmaker Blog","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/the-jua-kali-informal-sector\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The “Jua Kali” informal sector"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f20726ed2761431f3e0ff4e096c3085","name":"Bruce Sterling","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c390e8ed4db57a34278dcf667f928a643cf769a865c8a8632dcd310412bb9a99?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c390e8ed4db57a34278dcf667f928a643cf769a865c8a8632dcd310412bb9a99?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bruce Sterling"},"description":"Art director at Share Festival, author and journalist","sameAs":["http:\/\/toshareproject.it\/tomorrowart"],"url":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/author\/brucesterling\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5245"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5246,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5245\/revisions\/5246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}