Ugandan police seize fake cement shipment

A man has been arrested in Uganda in connection with the seizure of more four tonnes of counterfeit cement bearing the labels and digital tax stamps of local producers Tororo, Simba and Hima.

A local government spokesman for Tororo told the Monitor news service that an inspection revealed that the bags were labelled with falsified digital stamps – introduced by Uganda on a range of products including cement in 2021 – and contained limestone, sand and clay. The fakes were seized at Akapa trading centre near Tororo town in the eastern region of the country.

The report claims that construction site managers conspire with criminal networks to adulterate cement with low-cost fillers, selling the surplus on. There is a link between substandard materials and building collapses, according to the spokesman.