Fake scales flood north
Jun 27, 2007
FAKE weighing scales have flooded northern Uganda markets, the standards watchdog has warned.
By Chris Ocowun
FAKE weighing scales have flooded northern Uganda markets, the standards watchdog has warned.
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards officials believe unscrupulous traders were taking advantage of the returning internally displaced people who have been living in camps over the two decade civil war.
The watchdog officials are carrying out operations to crackdown on fake scales especially at the butcheries.
Emmanuel Ageta, the regional manager, explained that the Police had cleared them to prosecute butchery owners found with illegal weighing scales in Gulu.
He said in Kitgum and Pader districts, more than 10 traders would be prosecuted for cheating.
“In Pader, we got a woman who was cheated; her 40 kilogrammes of meat was less by about nine kilogrammes,†Ageta lamented.
The officer disclosed that the Weights and Measures Act of 1983 empowered them to prosecute such cases.
Culprits are sentenced to five years imprisonment upon conviction.
“The rate of fake weighting machines is high. Traders are using machines made out of aluminium instead of cast-iron,†Ageta said.
Statistics show that the watchdog has in the past four years destroyed fake goods worth over $300m (about sh483b).
Some of the goods were either rejected or re-exported, Deus Mubangizi, the head of quality assurance said over the weekend.
But he was worried that some of the rejected products could still be on the market.
The products include rice, biscuits, engine oil, generators, electric cables, juices and cosmetics, tooth brushes, batteries, petroleum jelly and skin creams.
Others include shoe polish, body lotions, pens and bulbs.
“We found that cosmetic products contained restricted compounds like mercury and hydroquinone that destroy the skin,†Mubangizi explained.
He said the public must be cautions especially when buying cosmetic products because some contain dangerous mercury that affects skin.
FAKE weighing scales have flooded northern Uganda markets, the standards watchdog has warned.
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards officials believe unscrupulous traders were taking advantage of the returning internally displaced people who have been living in camps over the two decade civil war.
The watchdog officials are carrying out operations to crackdown on fake scales especially at the butcheries.
Emmanuel Ageta, the regional manager, explained that the Police had cleared them to prosecute butchery owners found with illegal weighing scales in Gulu.
He said in Kitgum and Pader districts, more than 10 traders would be prosecuted for cheating.
“In Pader, we got a woman who was cheated; her 40 kilogrammes of meat was less by about nine kilogrammes,†Ageta lamented.
The officer disclosed that the Weights and Measures Act of 1983 empowered them to prosecute such cases.
Culprits are sentenced to five years imprisonment upon conviction.
“The rate of fake weighting machines is high. Traders are using machines made out of aluminium instead of cast-iron,†Ageta said.
Statistics show that the watchdog has in the past four years destroyed fake goods worth over $300m (about sh483b).
Some of the goods were either rejected or re-exported, Deus Mubangizi, the head of quality assurance said over the weekend.
But he was worried that some of the rejected products could still be on the market.
The products include rice, biscuits, engine oil, generators, electric cables, juices and cosmetics, tooth brushes, batteries, petroleum jelly and skin creams.
Others include shoe polish, body lotions, pens and bulbs.
“We found that cosmetic products contained restricted compounds like mercury and hydroquinone that destroy the skin,†Mubangizi explained.
He said the public must be cautions especially when buying cosmetic products because some contain dangerous mercury that affects skin.