- The Scheme became effective on January 1, 2021
- Whistleblowers to be rewarded upto Ksh 1 million for concluded cases
Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) says it has operationalised its reward program to increase efficiency and effectiveness in its enforcement work.
The Informant Reward Scheme is part of the authority’s mechanisms to be applied in rewarding persons who provide actionable information to them when conducting investigations.
To start with, informants who provide credible intelligence on unfair trade practices are entitled to up to 1% of the administrative penalty imposed by CAK.
The intelligence given must lead to penalization of involved parties for the informant to qualify for the reward. CAK says that the reward shall not exceed KSh1 million.
“Cartels which harm consumers through impeding choice, innovation and increasing prices, flourish under a veil of secrecy,” said CAK’s Director General Mr. Wang’ombe Kariuki.
“Through this scheme, the authority has the objective of deepening its intelligence gathering capacity with regard to such clandestine operations using informants who are close to the conduct but not party to it,” he added.
“A confidential informant can be an employee who was directed by their superiors to attend a meeting between competing firms where price fixing was discussed, but did not actively participate in the decision making,” CAK said in a statement.
The scope of the programme also extends to misrepresentation and safety of products, abuse of dominance, abuse of buyer power, mergers and acquisitions implemented without approval, and unconscionable conduct.
CAK is a Statutory Agency established by section 7 of the Competition Act No. 12 of 2010.
The Authority is mandated to promote and safeguard competition in the Kenyan economy, control abuse of buyer power, and protect consumers from unfair and misleading market conduct.
