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Mbale residents want audit on weighing scales at pork joints over alleged exploitation
This follows a public outcry over the growing manipulation of weighing scales by pork dealers to cheat unsuspecting buyers.
Mbale residents want audit on weighing scales at pork joints over alleged exploitation
By: Paul Watala, Journalist @New Vision
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Residents of Mbale have appealed to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) to audit weighing scales at local pork joints in the area to protect consumers against exploitation.
This follows a public outcry over the growing manipulation of weighing scales by pork dealers to cheat unsuspecting buyers.
Ronnie Weswa, a resident of Busamaga in Mbale's Northern City Division, said many pork vendors possess a second set of uncalibrated weights under the counter, which they use to cheat unsuspecting customers.
He told the team of UNBS officials at Mbale Resort hotel in Mbale city that traders place hidden magnets underneath the scales or use coins to tighten internal springs, thereby giving customers less pork that what they pay for.
"Vendors also use basic household uncalibrated scales that are not legally certified for commercial trade," Weswa said.
The UNBS spokesperson, Sylvia Kirabo, pledged that the standards body will crack down on the fraudsters.
"UNBS is executing countrywide compliance measures. We conduct regular market sweeps to confiscate tampered-with weighing scales and issue valid UNBS Verification Stickers for accurate ones," she said.
"Vendors also use basic household uncalibrated scales that are not legally certified for commercial trade," Weswa said.
The UNBS spokesperson, Sylvia Kirabo, pledged that the standards body will crack down on the fraudsters.
"UNBS is executing countrywide compliance measures. We conduct regular market sweeps to confiscate tampered-with weighing scales and issue valid UNBS Verification Stickers for accurate ones," she said.
She noted that the bureau uses an electronic verification system and automatically calculates certification fees to eliminate manual manipulation by their field officers.
Kirabo said field teams are working with local council 1 (LC1) heads, market leaders, and regional business groups to weed out non-compliant measuring equipment directly at the source.
"With its regional laboratory operational in Mbale City, UNBS has expanded its quality assurance footprint to test and verify local standards quickly. If you suspect that a pork joint is using a faulty weighing scale, take immediate steps by looking for the verification stamp or sticker and ensure that the mechanical or digital scale features are valid," she said.
Kirabo appealed to the community members to document the business location and lodge a complaint directly with the local police or contact the UNBS Consumer Protection Department.
She warned that individuals engaging in cheating members of the public using uncalibrated weighing scales face prosecution in courts of law.
Kirabo said field teams are working with local council 1 (LC1) heads, market leaders, and regional business groups to weed out non-compliant measuring equipment directly at the source.
"With its regional laboratory operational in Mbale City, UNBS has expanded its quality assurance footprint to test and verify local standards quickly. If you suspect that a pork joint is using a faulty weighing scale, take immediate steps by looking for the verification stamp or sticker and ensure that the mechanical or digital scale features are valid," she said.
Kirabo appealed to the community members to document the business location and lodge a complaint directly with the local police or contact the UNBS Consumer Protection Department.
She warned that individuals engaging in cheating members of the public using uncalibrated weighing scales face prosecution in courts of law.