Competition Authority of Kenya to tame rogue retailers

Wang’ombe Kariuki (left) and Francis Wangusi of Communications Authority of Kenya PHOTO: STANDARD

The Competition Authority of Kenya wants to rein in supermarkets that abuse their market dominance. The competition watchdog says it is carrying out a study of the retail market   in a bid to establish the competitiveness of the industry, including tactics that dominant players use to lock out the entry of new players.

CAK will also look into tricks used by retailers to get consumers to purchase goods such as displaying lower product prices on the shelf but which turn out to be higher at the till. It will also look into retailers’ continued stocking of defective products that sometimes end up in the customer’s shopping basket but are rarely replaced after complaints.