The Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Francis Mwebesa, has inaugurated the 10th National Standards Council (NSC), the top most governing body (Board of Directors) of Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS).
The new members of the National Standards Council include Eng. James Kalibala as the chairperson, Dr. John Patrick Kabayo as vice chairperson, Maj. Dr. Atwoki John Mathais Rusoke Tagasgwire and Denis Ainebyona as ex-officials, and Hawa Nsubuga Lule, Prof. Mnason Tweheyo, and Stella Nyapendi Chombo as members. Eng. James Kasigwa, the executive director of UNBS, has been appointed as the Secretary to the Council.
During the inauguration ceremony, at the Kampala Serena Hotel, Minister Mwebesa urged the new board to prioritise improving quality of locally manufactured goods to protect the public and environment against dangerous substandard products.
“Help the businesses to comply with standards, through capacity building programs. Conduct regular factory checks where goods are made to ensure that they comply with the relevant standards before they are placed on the market and sensitize the public about the benefits of consuming UNBS certified products,” said Mwebesa.
Mwebesa also urged the new board to ensure that UNBS supports value addition in line with the Government of Uganda Programs of Parish Development Model (PDM) program and the National Development Plan IV.
The State Minister of Trade, Gen. Wilson Mbasu Mbadi called upon the New National Standards Council members to build a very strong quality infrastructure to support trade and government programs in the country.
"UNBS is expected to help Uganda improve its trade through Standardisation to foster export promotion, import substitution and industrialisation," Gen. Mbadi said.
The Chairperson of the 10th National Standards Council, Eng. James Kalibbala, thanked Mwebesa for the appointment, and committed to build on the legacy of the previous boards to foster collaborations and partnerships for the bureau to thrive.
He also pledged to work with all stakeholders to restore UNBS’ positive corporate image and reputation.
The UNBS Executive Director Eng. Kasigwa welcomed the new board members and emphasized the need to propel the new UNBS value proposition of “growing quality MSMEs”.
"In our new proposition, we are going to handhold, train and empower our local enterprises especially the Start-ups, Micro, Small, and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) to comply with standards. This will entail mainstreaming quality assurance, standards awareness, certification, accuracy of measurements and market compliance support across the entire country,” he said.