Residents Call for UNBS Audit of Pork Weighing Scales

[Da Dona]

Residents of Mbale City have called on the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) to conduct an audit of weighing scales used at local pork joints, following concerns that some traders are manipulating the equipment to short-change customers.

The residents raised the concerns during an engagement with UNBS officials at Mbale Resort Hotel, where they alleged that some pork dealers use tampered or uncertified weighing scales to give customers less meat than they pay for.

Ronnie Weswa, a resident of Busamaga in Mbale’s Northern City Division, claimed that some pork vendors keep a second set of uncalibrated weights under the counter, which they allegedly use to manipulate transactions.

He further alleged that some traders place magnets underneath weighing scales or use coins to interfere with internal mechanisms, resulting in customers receiving less pork than the quantity they have paid for.
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“Vendors also use basic household uncalibrated scales that are not legally certified for commercial trade,” Weswa said.​

In response, UNBS spokesperson Sylvia Kirabo said the bureau is implementing countrywide compliance measures targeting traders who use non-compliant or tampered measuring equipment.

Kirabo said UNBS conducts regular market inspections, confiscates tampered weighing equipment and issues valid UNBS Verification Stickers to compliant scales.

She explained that the bureau has introduced an electronic verification system that automatically calculates certification fees, a measure intended to reduce opportunities for manipulation during the certification process.

Kirabo added that UNBS field teams are working with Local Council I leaders, market leaders and regional business associations to identify and remove non-compliant measuring equipment at the source.

She said the operationalisation of the UNBS regional laboratory in Mbale City has also strengthened the bureau’s ability to test and verify measuring equipment within the region.

Kirabo urged consumers to check for a valid UNBS Verification Sticker before purchasing products sold by weight and to ensure that the weighing equipment being used is properly verified.

She also called on members of the public who suspect fraud to document the location of the business and report the matter to the police or directly to the UNBS Consumer Protection Department.

Kirabo warned that traders who cheat members of the public using uncalibrated or tampered weighing scales risk prosecution in courts of law.

Newvision​