Africa-Press – Uganda. Officials from the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), in coordination with Kyetume Police Station, have recovered 260 underweight bags of Simba Cement from a residence in Lubugumu Village, Nakisunga Sub-county, Mukono District.
The seized bags, all labeled as 50 kilograms, were found to weigh between 30 and 45 kilograms each. The cement was discovered at the home of Mr. Kasiano Okumu, who is now in custody as investigations continue.
According to UNBS surveillance officer Emmanuel Muyimbwa, Okumu allegedly bought cement in bulk and removed 10 to 15 kilograms from each bag before reselling them to unsuspecting customers.
“We had received several complaints from the public about underweight cement being sold in the area,” Muyimbwa said.
“One individual lodged a formal complaint after suspecting that the bags he purchased from Okumu’s store were unusually light.”
UNBS then deployed an undercover agent who posed as a customer and confirmed the malpractice. This led to the suspect’s arrest and the confiscation of the substandard cement, now being held at Kyetume Police Station.
Muyimbwa urged consumers to only buy cement from authorized dealers to ensure product authenticity and traceability in the event of any issues. He also encouraged buyers to verify bag weights at the point of sale to confirm they meet the required 50-kilogram standard.
Julius Male, chairperson of Bukasa Village in Nakisunga, condemned the scheme, describing it as “broad-daylight theft” that robbed people of their hard-earned money and jeopardized construction safety.
“This isn’t just fraud—it puts lives at risk. Substandard cement compromises the integrity of buildings and can lead to dangerous collapses,” Male warned.
Residents welcomed the UNBS crackdown and called on the standards body to extend similar operations to agro-veterinary shops, where concerns over counterfeit seeds, fertilizers, and farm inputs have persisted for years.
Mr. Okumu is currently detained at the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in Kireka as investigations proceed.
UNBS says further enforcement efforts will be sustained in Mukono and other high-risk districts to curb the sale of substandard construction materials.
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