The Uganda Nationa Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has been allowing substandard solar batteries worth millions of shillings into the Ugandan market, The Observer has learned.
A whistleblower, who prefers to remain anonymous, notified the police under file number KMP GEF 148/2016 after realizing that the substandard solar batteries were flooding the market.
“Inside the solar batteries are glasses instead of lead linings,” the whistleblower said. “They discharge (power) very quickly because glass doesn’t store electrons.”
According to the whistleblower, the batteries were let into the country without going through Pre-Export Verification of Conformity to Standards (PVoC).
PVoC is supposed to assess and issue a certificate of conformity to demonstrate the compliance of products to international approved standards.
The growth and adoption of renewable energies in the country has created a new market for solar products as more Ugandans embrace them. Imported solar products into the country are exempted from certain taxes.
Solar panels store their energy in batteries, which are later used for lighting and phone-charging purposes, among others.
The solar batteries claimed not to meet standards include: a 12v9AH, a product of Portalac Pxl 12090 Company Limited, Air- Star solar battery of 6-GMF-7 12v7AH from Yueqing Electrical Equipment Co. Ltd, ADH 12v7AH from ADH Electrical Co. Ltd.
GENESIS
The whistleblower is a trader in solar accessories, who buys the products from agents of Chinese companies and resells them. However, things got to a head when complaints from customers regarding the standards of the batteries became overwhelming.
“I am selling solar panels and these batteries. When I changed brands to ADH batteries and Boyang, my customers started complaining that power on these batteries is drained faster,” the whistleblower revealed.
With many complaints, the whistleblower contacted a metal caster. They resolved to cut open the batteries and found out that the batteries had glass instead of lead lining that, they said, cannot store electrons.
The whistleblower reported the case to police and later to the resident state attorney at Buganda road court. The state attorney advised the CID commander to write to UNBS to issue a report on the solar batteries.
On May 30, 2016, the police wrote to UNBS to clarify and confirm on the claims fronted by the whistleblower.
“The purpose of this letter is to request you to examine and verify if the following exhibits are genuine or counterfeit and also establish if the said batteries are legally-imported and [their] country of origin,” the police wrote to Ben Mayindo, the executive director at UNBS.
The whistleblower says that conducting a quality assurance research is for purposes of ensuring that the public enjoys good quality solar products that are worth the money. Each of the batteries cost between Shs 25,000 to Shs 35,000.
On June 30, 2016, an enforcement team from UNBS swung into action to crack down on the different shops suspected of selling the solar batteries. Several batteries were impounded for laboratory analysis, according to UNBS.
NO CAPACITY
Due to challenges related with the level of capacity at UNBS, the standards body submitted the exhibits to the Centre for Research in Energy and Conservation (CREEC) at Makerere University to examine the batteries.
In a September 2016 letter, in response to the police’s inquiry, Mayindo said as investigations were ongoing, all shops dealing in the products had been sealed off and products confiscated.
“The shops of ADH Group Uganda Ltd and KB Electronics who are the importers and suppliers of the said batteries were sealed off to compel owners to provide import clearance,”
Mayindo told police in a letter. When The Observer contacted UNBS to clarify on the matter, Mayindo referred this writer to Barbra Kamusiime, the public relations officer at UNBS.
In response to police inquiries, UNBS indicated that the report on the examination of the batteries was not conclusive with certainty as to whether they met the set standards or not. However, in a November, 14, 2016 letter from UNBS, authored by the deputy executive director, technical services, Patricia Ejalu directed that the batteries be released back to the importers for sale to the public.
“The results from the analysis were not conclusive for UNBS to determine with certainty the quality of your batteries,” Ejalu wrote to ADH Group Uganda Ltd. The executive director was copied in the letter.
“The purpose of this letter is for you to come and pick your batteries from our offices at Standards house, Bweyogerere.”
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