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{
    "id": 699206,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/699206/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 139,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Katoo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 199,
        "legal_name": "Judah Katoo Ole-Metito",
        "slug": "judah-ole-metito"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Speaker, these amendments further quantify the maximum penalty that an undertaking can be required to pay following an investigation by the Authority up to 10 per cent of the immediately preceding year’s gross annual turnover of the undertaking in question in Kenya. Previously, this penalty was not quantified and had been left to the courts’ discretion. The amendment on Clause 8 is consequential. It is related to the amendment on Clauses 6 and 7, which seeks to amend Section 37 of the Act to align it with Sections 34 and 36 of the Act. It includes abuse of the dominant position and buyer power as one of the instances where it can obtain interim relief in case it needs to act as a matter of urgency. This widens the powers of the Authority in case of an infringement under the Act. Clause 9 of the Bill seeks to enhance the definition of a person who controls an undertaking. Previously, a person was seen to control an undertaking if they owned more than half of the issued share capital of the undertaking. The amendment seeks to include a person who owns more than half of the business or assets of the undertaking too. This is in line with the reality on the ground as such person may own less than half of the share capital, but still controls an undertaking. Clause 10 of the Bill enables the Authority to set a threshold for any proposed merger to be excluded from Section 4 of the Act, which deals with the merger. This is a deviation from the previous position where the Authority would unilaterally declare that a proposed merger was excluded from the provision of this Act without determining the threshold. It is thus desirable as it gives the Authority a say in determination of mergers. Clause 10 of the Bill further allows the Authority to impose a financial penalty in an amount not exceeding 10 per cent of the preceding year’s gross annual turnover of the undertaking in Kenya in case of contravention of the provisions of Section 42 of the Act as opposed to the previous position whereby this penalty was to be in addition to the penalties prescribed under Sub-Section 5 of an imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine not exceeding Kshs10 million. This gives the Authority the discretion to decide which penalty to impose, depending on the circumstances. 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."
}