Duncan Kamande 48 from Ngecha, Kiambu county is not proud of the family house he completed six months ago.
This despite dedicating 45 per cent of his earnings for the past 13 years to home ownership.
“I didn’t invest my blood and sweat in these cracks,” the father of three who is a fruit juice vendor in Nairobi sadly says, pointing at vertical and horizontal openings on the walls and floor of his new three-bedroom house.
“Cement firms must enhance security on their products to protect us from cons who are selling counterfeits. I have engaged the company where I bought mine. We are almost reaching a resolution on compensation. This should not always be the case,’’ Kamande says.
Kamande represents cries of many unsuspecting house owners, institutions and construction companies that have fallen prey to unscrupulous traders selling them adulterated and counterfeit cement in legitimate manufacturers’ packages.
The rot in the country’s cement is so dire that the latest Kenya Bureau of Standards surveillance report dating back to 2022 and released last year shows that three out of five cement samples failed the standards test.
According to the report, only 38.1 per cent of the cement tested in 2022 met the required standards, including the capacity to withstand the slightest pressure without crumbling.
However, subsequent tests found that the quality of cement improved, with 63.4 per cent meeting the compressive strength test in December 2023, which the standards body attributed to “successful surveillance, corrective actions and enhanced quality control by manufacturers.”
Peter Wawire, a seasoned foreman at constructions sites in Nairobi and its environs does not entirely agree with the findings by the standards body.
“The problem is worsening. You will be lucky to buy a genuine product in your nearby hardware or even dealers.”
Although he acknowledges that some brands have heightened security of their products, he prays that those companies increase sensitisation campaigns to help customers differentiate legit from fakes.
He says that the construction firms he works with have on several occasions been forced to incur huge renovation costs lest they lose out on clients, largely due to substandard cement and paint.
He offers few pre and post sale basic tips for identification of quality cement. Wawire advices that buyers must check brand and certification to ensure there is adherence to manufacturing standards.
He adds that cement loses its strength with time, and it is therefore vital to check for the date of manufacture.
“It is best to use cement that has not stayed more than 90 days since the date of manufacture.”
For post sales, he asks buyers to focus on colour, saying that quality cement has a distinctive grey-greenish colour that should be uniform in the entire bag.
He adds that any variation signifies excess lime or excess clay, which must be avoided. He adds that cement has a characteristic odour when it reacts with water, which can vary depending on the ratio of components.
A bag of cement price in Kenya generally ranges from Sh720 – 1,250, which translates to a 15 – 30 per cent increase from the years 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Yet, illicit traders sell the commodity as low as Sh600 per bag.
Counterfeiting and adulteration of cement formed the basis of a meeting between the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA) and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) late last year, during which there was an agreement to form a committee to look into the issue
