The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), a statutory body responsible for developing and promoting standards and quality of products and services in Uganda discovered over 6,000 faulty ‘Yaka’ meters on market.
This was revealed in its report released this week. According to the report, UNBS verified 6,500 electricity meters.
However, about 6,000 failed verification “and corrective measures were recommended”.
According to UNBS, if it were not for its intervention, Ugandans would be paying for more electricity than what actually UMEME gives to them.
“Without our intervention, 6,000 electricity meters would have been in the market giving wrong measurements to the detriment of the consumers,” UNBS Executive Director, Dr. Ben Manyindo, said.
The revelation comes at a time when the unit cost of electricity in Uganda is the highest in the region.
A unit of domestic electricity in Uganda costs close to Shs1,000 – a price higher than Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Meanwhile, according to the report, (UNBS) stopped 16 million substandard products from being imported into the country as a measure to protect the health and safety of consumers.
Between July and December 2017, under the Pre-export verification of conformity (PVoC), UNBS inspected 4.6 billion products of which 16 million products failed.
In addition, UNBS seized about 232 metric tonnes of substandard goods worth Shs1.7 billion from the local market.
The goods seized included steel bars, iron sheets, assorted food stuffs, energy savers, extension cables, cosmetics, agro-inputs, sweets, cooking oil, second hand tyres, beers, paint, and maize flour, among others.
Speaking at a press conference to announce the Bureau’s half year performance, Manyindo said the seized goods would have otherwise been detrimental to the health and safety of consumers.
