Operators of the Namunkekeera-Kapeeka Industrial Business Park based local ceramics manufacturing company; Good Will, have called upon the Police authorities to expeditiously investigate and bring to book the elements that have resorted to a smear campaign against the company’s business interests.
This follows claims by some social media users, labelling the company’s locally manufactured products including the Tiles as fake to the extent that they were suspended by the government standard’s body; Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and Ministry of Healthy (MOH), from the market.
Good Will Ceramic’s administrative manager David Mawejje dismissed the claims as false and malicious intended to damaging the company’s products and reputation, which cannot go un punished.
He was addressing journalists on Thursday 24th September from Namunkekeera- Kapeeka while flanked by the company’s public relations manager Fan Jun Jun.
“Our compliance stands firm and can withstand any official inspection and market verification. Claims alleging “problems with UNBS certification” are entirely fabricated and malicious. They also constitute an affront to the professionalism and authority of UNBS”, Mawejje told journalists.
Mawejje blamed the noticeable anti-company social media banter to their competitors whom he accused of turning to a slander campaign after failing to fairly out compete them in terms of quality, pricing and services, although he did not disclose them.
“Such conduct not only defames Goodwill, but also seriously undermines the regulatory authority of UNBS and the Ministry of Health, abuses government credibility and disrupts market order”. He stated.
The Good Will administrative manager confirmed that the matter has ever since been formally reported to the Police authorities, calling for apprehension of the perpetrators.
“We demand a thorough probe to identify the masterminds behind the disinformation”, He emphasized.
Mawejje also presaged the company’s determination of pursuing a full legal liability to deflate what he called illegal acts that underme the development of local ceramics manufacturing sector.
“For anyone who fabricates or disseminates false statements attributed to UNBS and the Ministry of Health, who seeks to create chaos and disrupt market order by falsely invoking government authorities: we will not tolerate this, and will pursue accountability to the fullest extent of the law”.
Call for the Tightened Misinformation Rules.
Good Will company’s public relations manager Fan Jun Jun decried the threat of misinformation, saying it was seriously affecting the business growth, before he could call upon the government to deploy stringent regulation against it to safeguard local business interests.
“About the Tik Tok, I just want to use an example, in China, everyone if you’re using social media, you have to use your real national ID to register your account, that’s why no one can post fake news under their social media. If you did it, the Police comes for you”, Jun Jun revealed.
They further raised a concern of an imposed exercise duty on Uganda’s ceramics, saying it was heavily impacting the country’s export revenue in the East Africa’s market, unlike Kenya where the sector is highly favored by the tax regime.
Over 90% of the company’s raw materials are sourced locally within Uganda, strongly supporting the growth of the domestic industrial chain with local market share of our 70%.
The company’s products now cover the entire domestic market and are exported in bulk to the neighbouring countries including South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, rendering it one of the most influential home-grown ceramic industry leaders in East Africa.
