A leaked report has shown that three out of every five cement products samples collected by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS) in a market monitoring exercise failed the standard test.
The report indicates that only 38.1 percent of the cement tested in February 2022 met the required standards, including the ability to withstand minimal pressure without collapsing.
Subsequent tests by Kips showed that the quality of the cement had improved, with the compressive strength meeting 63.4% in December, which the standards body attributed to “successful monitoring, corrective actions and enhanced quality control by manufacturers.”
But the revelation of substandard cement in the market lifts the lid on a disaster that lies ahead amid the aggressive push for universal home ownership by President William Ruto’s administration.
Poor building standards are a reality in Kenya, with previous surveys indicating that a large proportion of buildings in the capital, Nairobi, are uninhabitable.
High demand for housing in Nairobi has led some property developers to bypass building regulations to cut costs and increase profits.
In a presentation to the Kenya Manufacturers Association’s cement sub-sector, KEPS managing director Esther Ngari blamed “shortcuts by manufacturers” and “counterfeiting” for the proliferation of low-quality cement in the market.
In February 2022, 21 samples from eight undisclosed brands indicated that 38.1 percent were compliant.
Another market monitoring study that included a broader sample of 41 brands showed a 63.4 percent improvement in compliance.
Kips tests cement based on a variety of criteria, including strength, ingredients, markings, and reactions to air and chemicals such as lime in what is technically known as pozzolanic.
Ms. Ngari listed four possible causes of poor quality cement, one of which is “the use of poor quality raw materials” such as clinker.
Clinker, the main raw material used in cement manufacturing, is one of the most expensive inputs, which explains why some unscrupulous players use less of it, resulting in substandard cement.
Insufficient process controls, characterised by “shortcuts by manufacturers (profit-driven motives and cost-cutting measures)” were also responsible for the poor quality of cement, Ms. Ngari said in the presentation dated July 19, 2024.
Ms. Ngari also pointed to “illegal cement activity” including “adulteration or counterfeiting” as other reasons for the poor quality of cement.
She also noted gaps in supply chain transparency and control of packaging materials.
There is no cause for concern, Kipps said in an email response to the test results.
“The 38.1% figure does not mean that 62% of all cement products on the market are non-compliant,” Kipps said in an emailed response. “It reflects a percentage of samples.”
“It is important to note that compliance with critical criteria such as strength, hardening times and chemical composition was 90 percent. Failures in non-critical criteria do not require immediate product recall, but rather immediate corrective action.”
However, the KIPS report highlights the increasing incidence of building collapses resulting in loss of life. Several reports from stakeholders have blamed the collapses on poor workmanship and the use of substandard materials.
Between 2009 and 2019, a total of 86 buildings valued at over Sh2.4 billion collapsed, according to a 2019 report by the National Building Authority (NCA).
The report attributed the collapse to substandard building materials – particularly cement and steel – and poor workmanship.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission report stated that “most of the non-compliance issues in the sector include the use of unsuitable building materials, poor workmanship attributed to inadequate skills, and unprofessional and unethical behaviour of contractors.”
The National Anti-Corruption Commission report showed that poor workmanship contributed to the highest percentage of collapsed buildings at 35 percent, while unprofessional and unethical behavior of contractors amounted to 34 percent.
The use of substandard building materials contributed to the collapse of 28 percent of the buildings.
Other Kebs exams are scheduled for June 2022, January 2023 and December 2023.
Compliance was at 75 percent in June 2022, improving further to 94.8 percent in January last year before falling to 63.4 percent in December last year.
Cement is the basic material for building homes, offices, department stores, bridges, railways and ports.
With President Ruto’s plan to build at least 200,000 affordable housing units annually over the next five years, cement consumption, which fell last year, is expected to rise.
The government estimates that an additional 1.4 million tons of cement are needed, putting pressure on companies to increase their production capacity.
KIPS says it has certified 14 companies under its standardization mark schemes (although industry players dispute that number), which means their products must meet certain standards, including composition, specifications and conformity.
A total of 73 products have been certified under the Standardization Mark System and the Diamond Mark System.
KIPS tests cement products on chemical composition, which defines acceptable ranges for the key chemical compounds in the clinker to ensure that the final cement product is strong and durable, and on physical properties, which define requirements for properties such as fineness, durability and particle size.
KEPS says it conducts tests at various stages of cement to ensure compliance and quality, starting from the beginning of the certification process, where samples are tested against relevant standards.
There are also scheduled monitoring tests, conducted at least once a year to monitor ongoing compliance of certified products, according to Kips. Targeted monitoring tests focus on specific products or issues identified through market intelligence or consumer feedback.
“As part of our market monitoring activities, Kebs conducts scheduled and random inspections. Samples are collected from various retail outlets, construction sites and manufacturing facilities to ensure a representative sample of the market,” Ngari said in response to our inquiries.
Cement strength testing – technically known as compressive strength – is carried out in tightly controlled physical laboratories where temperatures are maintained at 20 degrees.
The cement is first weighed before being mixed with deionized water and special standard sand. This mixture is then placed in a mortar mixer and stirred to form a paste which is poured into concrete saws.
These uniform posts are finally tested for compressive strength as per the requirements of the cement standard.
Some concrete posts collapsed even before compression, meaning their strength was very low, said a cement industry expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
The source added that the matches are played on ordinary grade cement (labeled 32.5R), which indicates its high strength in the early days when it does not meet the limit. Ordinary grade cement is mostly used to build houses and apartments, exposing families to higher risks.
Huge projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) or the Nairobi Expressway are built using high grade cement grades, such as 42.5N, which can withstand high stresses and loads.
“They cannot play matches at higher levels, because these levels have to be tested,” the source added.
As part of corrective measures to protect consumers, Kips said that continuous monitoring is being carried out at the factory level and in the market to ensure compliance with standards, with the standards body implementing product recall procedures.
“Products that failed to meet the standards were withdrawn and recalled, and manufacturers were notified to remove non-compliant batches from the market,” Kipps said.
Kips pointed out that the compliance rate does not directly reflect on the entire market, but rather on the samples tested during this exercise.
“The market is dynamic, and subsequent testing, as evidenced by improved compliance rates in subsequent periods, suggests that corrective actions and ongoing monitoring have been effective,” she added.