By Martha Nakimuli

Some Ugandan phone dealers have asked the Uganda Communication Commission to extend the deadline for the  disconnection of counterfeit phones  in Uganda to a later date than the deadline ,July 2013.

They argue that  they should be given more time to clear their stock and recover the money they invested  .Most of the dealers Uganda Picks talked to, accuse the  Uganda National Bureau of Standards which allowed in the low standard phones in the country.

“If  I purchased these phones inside Uganda ,is it my role to detect whether they are fake or not” asked one angry phone dealer in a Kasubi ,a Kampala suburb.

UCC  set January 31, as the deadline for non-operational fake phones.The commission also insist that  all counterfeit mobile phones, including those which have   already been  subscribed to a network, will be disconnected starting July 1, 2013.

Executive Director of  Uganda Communications Commission ,Eng. Godfrey Mutabazi says  an automatic system has been developed  in the country to  detect new counterfeit phones.