A shortage of recyclable material is threatening output in Kenya’s car-battery industry. The biggest regional maker of automotive and solar lead-acid batteries, Associated Battery Manufacturers (East Africa) Limited, cautions that ongoing illegal export of spent batteries may compel it to cease manufacturing. According to Group Managing Director Guy Jack, the intake of used batteries, the core input for its plants, has fallen by about half.
Production Halt Looms Over Industry
“If illegal smuggling of scrap batteries is not urgently stopped, the company will be forced to suspend production,” Jack said. He added that curbing the illicit flow would safeguard both direct and indirect employment, domestic manufacturing and tax income. Although the government has prohibited the export of used lead-acid batteries at border crossings, the illegal market continues.
Jack is urging border security forces to intensify monitoring and guarantee that traffickers are brought to justice. His appeal mirrors the discontent expressed by the Scrap Metal Council, whose chair, Francis Mugo, blames weak inter-agency coordination for the problem. Mugo observes an increase in traders working without authorized licences, a punishable breach, and cites instances of scrap metal moving in and out of the country without the required documentation.
Read Also: KRA Redirects Sh5.1 Billion Fuel Tax After Cargo Recall
Smugglers Avoid Prosecution Despite Official Ban
Traders continue to export used lead-acid batteries despite a government prohibition at border points. The Scrap Metal Council reports that dealers are operating without valid licenses, a punishable offense. This lack of documentation allows metal to move in and out of the country without oversight.
A Truck Slips Through the Net
A recent case at the Taveta crossing highlights the weakness in enforcement. A joint operation stopped a lorry, KDR 153P, carrying discarded batteries bound for Tanzania. ABM representative James Wafula explained that the truck had been monitored from Nairobi, where it gathered batteries from multiple yards before proceeding to additional collection points along Mombasa Road.
Kenya Revenue Authority officers later halted the vehicle at Kimana on the Emali–Taveta road. Although it was held at Emali, the lorry was inexplicably let go near 2 a.m. and permitted to enter Tanzania. Wafula remarks that the reasons for this clearance are still unknown. When a monitored truck, identified by several agencies and seized in real time, can still evade the restriction under cover of darkness, the prohibition is effectively symbolic.
