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{
    "id": 493847,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/493847/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Shimbwa",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1345,
        "legal_name": "Omar Mwinyi Shimbwa",
        "slug": "omar-mwinyi-shimbwa"
    },
    "content": "Civil Aviation Act provides for the functions of the Authority which include among others, licensing of services, establishment and maintenance of a system for registration and marking of civil aircraft, advise the Government on matters concerning civil aviation, certification of aircraft operators, performing economic oversight of air services, protecting consumer rights, environment and ensuring fair trade practices. You will notice that the KCAA is not performing these duties. It is also sad to note that the regulatory body which is supposed to be over-sighting all air services in the country, including the protection of consumer rights environment and ensuring fair trade practices is not in place. The Competition Act promotes and safeguards competition in the national economy. The Act also protects consumers from unfair and misleading market conduct while establishing the Competition Authority and Competition Tribunal. If you look at the role of the Competition Authority, it is stated as follows, according to their own Act:- “The objects of the Act is to enhance the welfare of the people of Kenya by promoting and protecting effective competition in markets and preventing unfair and misleading market conduct through Kenya in order to increase efficiency in the production, distribution and supply of goods and services, promote innovation, maximize efficient allocation of resources, protect consumers, create an environment conducive for investment both foreign and local---” There are so many others that are captured in Article 3 of the Act. If we also try to look at the functions of the Authority, among others is to promote and enforce compliance with the Act; to receive and investigate complaints from legal or natural persons and consumer bodies; to promote public knowledge, awareness and understanding of the obligations, rights and remedies under the Act and the duties, functions and activities of the Authority. All these are not seen in our case. So, the Competition Authority is not functioning, it has no capacity or perhaps it is just doing this deliberately. I may also want to point out one thing that is very important in our case; this is about the abuse of dominant position. Any conduct which amounts to the abuse of a dominant position in a market in Kenya or a substantial part of Kenya is prohibited. Without prejudice to the generality of subsection 1, abuse of a dominant position includes directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions. Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment of a term not exceeding five years or a fine not exceeding Kshs10 million. This again, is not seen in our scenario. So, the Competition Authority has some discrepancies which need to be looked into to safeguard the interest of the consumers in the Republic of Kenya. I may also want to point out to those few privileged persons who own firearms, that they are supposed to pay a fee of Kshs3,000 or sometimes Kshs2,000 for just carrying a firearm. This is simply because of the monopolistic tendency of the Kenya Airways. If there were many other agencies which are also operating, I am very sure this would have been even free of charge. With those few remarks, I beg to move this Motion and ask hon. Gumbo to second it. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}