Associated Battery.[photo/gstatic.com]
The local car battery manufacturing industry faces imminent collapse due to lack of raw materials as a result of smuggling of lead into Uganda.
Players in the industry are blaming officials from Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Co-operatives of failing to act even as the illegal business continue to thrive across the border.
“The death knell may be ringing for the automotive battery manufacturing sector but the ministry in charge may be asleep at the switch,” said Guy Jack, managing director of Associated Battery Manufacturers (ABM).
He said the ministry has not made any attempt to implement the Scrap Metal Law which was enacted in 2015.
This legislation, he said, was meant to support the retention of the raw material for value addition and provided stringent conditions under which exports of lead would be permitted.
Strangely, he added, three years down the line the law has not been implemented.
“Numerous inquiries about the status of the Scrap Metal Act of 2015 have not been answered by the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade, and Co-operatives,” Jack said in a statement.
“Why would a ministry take three years to implement a law that is critical to safeguarding jobs for Kenyans and growing the manufacturing sector?” he posed.