The Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE Trust), an agreement which will contribute to creating a well-informed Malawian society in matters of competition and consumer protection regulation.
Under Section 8 of the Competition and Fair Trading Act, CFTC has the responsibility of regulating markets, monitoring, controlling and preventing acts or behaviour which are likely to adversely affect competition and fair trading in Malawi.
On the other hand, NICE Trust is charged with the responsibility of deepening democracy and good governance among Malawians through provision of civic and voter education, community empowerment and mobilisation, knowledge management and networking in Malawi.
The agreement which was signed on Tuesday, 26th January 2021, will guide the two institutions in empowering consumers through advocacy, civic education and law enforcement.
Speaking after signing the agreement, CFTC Executive Director, James Kaphale said that through the agreement they may make available information to business entities and other organisations, which may be key in promoting competition and fair trading in Malawi.
“I should emphasise that this agreement is entered into on the basis of mutual respect, in a spirit of goodwill and does not affect the independence of the two institutions,” said Kaphale.
On his part, NICE Executive Director, Ollen Mwalubunju said the MOU is important because it will enable the two institutions to share knowledge and resources.
“We believe this relationship will enable us to share information to consumers through NICE TRUST resource centres which are spread across the country. This will help us reach out to consumers and ensure that more people are aware of their rights,” said Mwalubunju.
He added that NICE Trust has an ICT monitoring platform which CFTC can utilise by providing indicators and contributing to the maintenance and data collection cost.
Among others, the two institutions agree to cooperate in civic education on competition and consumer protection, community mobilisation and empowerment and monitoring of adherence to the Competition and Fair Competition Act. The CFTC already has MOUs with Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA), Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA), the Reserve Bank of Malawi, National Lotteries Board, and the COMESA Competition Commission, among others.
For more information on this, you may contact Innocent Helema on 0880725075 or email [email protected].