K’njaro residents to hold demo over defective scales.

Residents  in four villages, in Moshi District, Kilimanjaro Region have warned that they would take to the regional commissioner’s office and implore him to withdraw licences from butchers who use unbalanced weighing scales, if the Weights and Measures Agency (WMA) doesn’t take stern action against the businesses.

The villages are Singaboro, Kirima, Kibosho Central and Umbwe respectively.

They issued the warning yesterday when the village
rs met with the director of finance and administration Chadema, Anthony Komu who was wooing them to join his party.

Villagers in Singaboro voiced their complaints to Komu and his fellow dignitaries over cheating tendencies by butchery operators which they said are common with unfaithful businesspersons.

“You are a politician therefore you can publicly condemn these malpractices. We are tired of being exploited. Let this be clear that we will see the Regional Commissioner himself on this matter if the WMA has failed to tackle this problem,” said Deusdedit Mroso, a resident of Kikomo village.

Augustao Munisi, from Umbwe village said in an attempt to obtain excess money from the customers, butcher owners tamper with the scales alone instead of the stones that are used to measure the meat accurately, thus denying customers’ their fair share of the meat.

“The cheating schemes put us in a position whereby we may end up punishing our children when they bring home half the required meat we sent for, yet it is the greedy businesspersons who trick our children into accepting less than what they pay for,” said Mariana Mboya.

Recently, WMA’s deputy public relations manager warning users of fake weights to halt the practice said the act undermines the households’ economy and that of the country in general.

Responding to the grievances, Komu called upon the government to take severe actions against the culprits.

He said when a businessman is caught for the first time he is fined 10,000/- or serves 3 years in jail and for the second time, he is charged 20,000/- or serves 7 years in jail or even both punishments.