Prior to the promulgation of the Constitution in the year 2010, there was no specific law dealing with consumer protection in Kenya. However, some aspects of consumer protection were covered in various pieces of legislation including the Trade Descriptions Act, Standards Act, Weights and Measures Act, Restrictive Trade Practices, Monopolies and Price Control Act (now known as the Competition Act), the Foods, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act, the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, the Public Health Act, the Fertilizers and Animal Foodstuffs Act, as well as private law measures in the law of contract and the law of tort.
These and other statutes touching on consumers are criminally oriented as they seek to ban one malpractice or the other and to prosecute offenders for breach of their provisions, but do not empower a consumer to sue the offender to get redress, including compensation, where the said breach affects him or her adversely. Herein lay the major set-back in protection of consumers under these statutes.
It is in this regard that the Article 46 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and its enabling statute, the Consumer Protection Act, 2010 are lauded as landmark achievements in the area of consumer protection. These new laws spell out consumers’ rights and obligations vis-a-vis product and service liability; they make provisions for the promotion and enforcement of consumer rights as well as empower consumers to seek redress for infringement of their rights as consumers; and also provide for compensation.
Part II of the Act gives consumers a wide range of rights including the right to commence legal action on behalf of a class of persons in relation to any contract for the supply of goods or services to the consumer. This right cannot be ousted by any agreement between the parties. Other consumer rights provided for in the Act include the right to full pre-contractual information for the consumer to make an informed choice, the right to complain with regard to quality, delays in provision of rectification, quantity and price of such goods or services as are offered, the right to a reasonable notification of termination of service – particularly in relation to the provision of basic telecommunications services and/or internet access, among other rights.
The Act prohibits ‘unfair practices’ and proceeds to provide for radical sanctions against a supplier who engages in ‘unfair practices’. Such practices include representing that goods or services have a sponsorship, approval, performance or characteristics that they do not have; or representing that goods or services are of a particular standard, quality, grade, style or model, if they are not, and so on.
Therefore where a consumer enters into an agreement, whether oral or written, after or while a person has engaged in an unfair practice, the Act provides that the consumer has the right to terminate the agreement and seek any remedy available to them in law, including a suit for damages.
Undoubtedly, the Consumer Protection Act is a far-reaching piece of legislation that will affect different sectors of our economy including real estate, e-commerce, manufacturing, agriculture, banking and finance, aviation, among many others. In this connection, the Act establishes the Kenya Consumers Protection Advisory (CPA) Committee that shall aid in the formulation of policy related to consumer protection, accredit consumer organisations, advise consumers on their rights and responsibilities, investigate complaints and establish conflict resolution mechanisms amongst other duties. A breach of any regulation made by the CPA, will make a person liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both such fine and imprisonment.
In conclusion, although consumer protection law within Kenya is very much in its infancy, there have been several significant developments in this area over the last three years, namely the promulgation of the new Constitution in 2010 and the subsequent enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, which came into effect in 2013 as well as enactment of the Competition Act, 2010. The Competition Act protects consumers from unfair and misleading market conduct.
Indeed the increased consumer protection has seen the formation of the Consumer Federation of Kenya (COFEK) which was registered on 26th March, 2010 and whose mandate is:
“to defend, promote, develop and pursue consumer rights as guided by Article 46 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the Consumer Protection Act, 2012 and the Competition Act, Cap 504 and make it possible for the consumers to get value for money.”
COFEK has been at the forefront in acting as a watchdog in various consumer protection matters with the most recent being the institution of a suit against a leading retail supermarket for the alleged overcharging of items on its shopping tills brought about by the shelf and till price discrepancies at its outlets.
