Attorney General Githu Muigai asks lobbies to boost consumer protection

By Maureen Abwao

Nairobi, Kenya: Attorney General Githu Muigai has asked lobby groups to step up vigilance to ensure consumer protection laws are complied with.

Prof Muigai noted that the Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) was at a unique position to address consumer protection issues.

“Maturity of the civil society has reached a point of going beyond lamentation. We need to identify what we should be doing,” said the AG.

Muigai was addresing the Consumers Dialogue Forum yesterday at the Panafric Hotel in Nairobi.

Further, Muigai advocated for dialogue between the government, consumer protection bodies, business and the media.

 “Dialogue should be based on facts, truth and scientific process as it would be a great injustice to allow critical government issues to be debated on the basis of gossip, rumours and innuendo,” said Muigai.

The AG said the public had a responsibility to put public institutions on check.  “A responsible government must be held accountable by the media, civil society and an informed citizenry.”  With cases of corruption on the increase, Cofek asked the government to step up efforts to protect consumers.

Cofek Secretary General Stephen Mutoro noted that the rights of consumers have largely been ignored.

“Given that cases of corruption are on the increase, it is not business as usual as there are a lot of high-level corruption cases reported in the country of late,’’ said Mutoro.

Big cartels

On consumer rights, Mutoro said  most consumers were not aware of their rights. “It is high time that the citizens are made aware of their rights as consumers so as not to be exploited by the big cartels in business. That is why  the federation has sought consultation from the Attorney General’s office to offer legal advice on the matter,” he said.

He also put the Jubilee government to task, saying that since it came to power, there has been a slowdown in investigative journalism, which offers a great avenue  to report on public corruption and unscrupulous business activities that exploit the consumer.