Simon Ng’ona, Consumer Activist

Not a day passes when one does not come across news of defective and substandard products/injury and other consumer related violations which hinge on the welfare of consumers. One then gets a sense of déjà vu, because you have already read it before on several occasions. And if you are a right thinking person, you wonder why these things happen again and again. There are laws in place and regulations, but action to prevent such undesirable happenings seems scarce in most sectors- whilst in others, progress is being made.

Since the early 90s, when Zambia has experienced fundamental changes in its trade and economic policy in the spheres of economic activity. The drastic changes which has had a deep implication for the country’s industry, investment and trade policies, necessitated the development of a competition law to ensure a healthy and fair competitive environment evolves to stimulate enhanced private sectorgrowth and also protected the interest of consumers.

Competition and Fair Trading Act of Zambia was enacted in 1994. However, despite this Act coming into force, it did not live up to its expectation owing to its structure and limited provisions to comprehend with the new dynamic changes in the competition front. The Act was also weak on consumer protection as it had only one section to deal with consumer protection issues. This is unlike in other countries where consumer protection is given much prominence and to some extent enacted as a separate law. However the idea to bring both competition and consumer protection in once law was essential , taking into consideration resources challenges for an country like Zambia as having two separate laws might entail having to separate institutions to manage to manage them.

Attempts at addressing these deficiencies saw the enactment of a new law, the Competition andConsumer Protection Act, 2010. The new law aims, among other things, reinforcing the objectives of the previous Act and addressing some of the deficiencies of the previous Law.

 However, for it to be effectively enforced there is need for all key stakeholders in competition enforcement to also effectively playing their part. This seems to have been largely wanting in the process of enforcement of the earlier legislation. Knowledge about the role which these players can play in Zambia seems not to have been disseminated as it should have been. The judiciary, legal fraternity,trade unions, media and parliamentarians are among the stakeholders who need to play a key role in ensuring that a healthy competitive culture prevails and consumers significantly benefit from the process. Sector regulators and Civil Society also play an important role in ensuring effective enforcement of the competition and consumer protection law.

On the other hand, consumers are also ignorant of their rights; hence being subjected to continuous abuse. This knowledge gap has cultured a situation where a number of violations go unnoticed and unearthed. This to a greater extent has made the regulatory process difficult. It is therefore quite apparent that there is a risk that the objectives of the new law might not yield the intended results owing to this non-inclusive approach, a fate suffered by the previous Act. Therefore  ladies and gentlemen, let’s take an in interest  in our respective capacity to ensure that this law is effective vis a vis ensure that our welfare as consumers is protected.