1. Editorial Comments
Since the adoption of market-oriented economic policies in Zambia, violation of basic consumer rights has emerged as a serious problem, which needs to be addressed. It is evident that libelisation has attracted a large number of private sector entities and investors in Zambia. This has also rippled down to the consumers providing them with a wide range of choices.

It is, however, an issue of concern that the opening up of the market and the large number of investors has resulted into the influx of counterfeit goods in the market. Hence, the number of consumer abuses has increased. The providers of various goods and services have violated consumer rights by taking advantage of the loopholes in the consumer protection laws and institutions. It is surprising to note that consumer abuses have continued to flourish in spite of the existing law, i.e., Section 12 of the Competition and Fair Trading Act, Cap 417 of 1994, which aims to provide both consumers and sellers a fair deal.

Though the consumers have the above-mentioned legal framework to depend on, yet they are expected to take certain precautions while purchasing goods and services. Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS), and Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) have been advocating for the strengthening of consumer protection laws in the country on the lines of the United Nations Guidelines of Consumer Protection (UNGCP), and also incorporating the best practices of other countries. Strengthening of consumer protection also means better regulatory framework for consumer utilities and improving the standards for the delivery of goods and services.

2. Loopholes in Consumer Protection Laws
Consumers have, on a number of occasions, been victims of buying sub-standard products, as had been the case with Dennis Ndhlovu, who bought a Video Cassette Disk (VCD) player from one shop at the Lusaka town centre. Despite having thoroughly checked whether the recorder was properly functioning during the purchase, he ended up discovering that the device malfunctioned upon reaching home.

It turned out that the VCD recorder was malfunctioning though appearing faultless when it was being tried at the shop. Upon returning the purchased item to the seller for either a replacement or refund, he was astonished and disappointed that the shop owner told him that the only thing they could do for him under the circumstances was to have the fault checked and repaired at their workshop.

The argument was based on conditions on the receipt which stated ‘no return’ and ‘no refund’. As mentioned earlier, this incident is not a rare predicament at the hands of the traders, but consumers face numerous such nasty experiences.

Given this kind of a scenario, one can only conclude that there are loopholes in the current laws pertaining to consumer protection. Unscrupulous traders have been taking advantage of the consumers due to the weakness prevailing in consumer protection legislation.

On the other hand, it may be unfair to entirely heap the blame of the perceived inadequacies on the law. The consumer is partly to be blamed for this situation. The consumer currently faces a lot of exploitation and abuses through unfair trading practices (UTPs), and yet it is very rare to hear of traders being sued by the consumers for any breach of contract or for damages.

One of the very few cases that made headlines in Zambia was the Michael Sata versus Zambia Bottlers in 1998. The case is a very good precedent for the consumer, especially as it involved a well-known politician. Sata sued Zambia bottling company for compensation, damages and any remedies deemed appropriate by the high courts, following his discovery of a cockroach in a soft drink – fanta bottle, which he purchased from one of outlets in Lusaka. According to the claim made before the Lusaka High Court, Sata alleged that he had fallen sick after partially consuming the cockroach contaminated soft drink. He was subsequently awarded the damages.

Could it be that at the moment a large number of Zambian consumers are still ignorant of consumer protection laws, or that perhaps they are not confident about their effectiveness?

Besides the weakness in the law, there is a lot of work that requires to be done in the area of consumer rights, education and awareness. The apparent reluctance by the consumers to seek legal redress on issues of consumer rights’ violation can be attributed to the lack of sufficient information.

And coming to the issue of consumer protection laws, the existing legal framework needs to be consolidated. This, however, does not mean that the laws are not sufficient but the problem is that these laws are scattered under various statutes. What the country needs is a comprehensive and consolidated legislative framework for consumer protection.

The situation has of late been made worse by the lack of strong government position on matters to do with consumer protection. Many a times, there have been calls from some concerned stakeholders and interested groups to revisit the current consumer laws. Some of these laws, such as the, ‘Sale of Goods Act’, are a carry over from the British colonial rule and were part of the British common Law. In the UK, this law has since been amended almost over four times.

Changes in policies have been adopted in recent years. Liberalisation and privatisation have attracted some investors to the country. Suddenly, there has been an increase in the number of traders, all under the guise of investors. It is from these investors that we need to be protected.

The government still needs to do a lot of work in the area of consumer rights. All the government relevant institutions such as the Zambia Investment Centre (ZIC), Zambia Privatisation Agency (ZPA), and the Zambia Competition Commission (ZCC) should be given teeth to bite. These institutions have a big role to play when it comes to consumer welfare.

It is proposed that that these institutions should be given the mandate of interpreting consumer laws to all those who wish to establish their businesses in this country. Strict requirements should be imposed on them to observe and adhere to the existing consumer protection laws.

The ZIC and the ZCC, for instance, should be scrutinising the business plans of all those who apply to do and establish their businesses in Zambia, to ensure that they have provisions for consumer rights and interests.

(Contributed by Dennis Ndhlovu, Freelance Journalist)

3. Communication Regulator Drafts Consumer Legislation
ZACA receives numerous customer complaints over services from communications services providers. This has prompted the Communications Authority of Zambia (CAZ) to draft a legislation, which aims at protecting consumer interests. CAZ disclosed that the main purpose of the legislation is to ensure that the various communications services providers in the country do not continue to violate and abrogate consumer rights.

Analysis of the consumer complaints reveal that they mainly relate to network coverage such as, poor network, lack of network and poor customer care and services from communications services providers.

Apart from the Communications Act, which establishes the CAZ with the main responsibility of issuing, operating licenses and regulating the operations of the various communications services providers in the country and other consumer protection statutes, there is, at the moment no specific legislation in place to deal with consumer violations in the communications sector. Consumer rights’ violation cases are on the increase but without backing of a written legislation, it is almost impossible to take some of these violators to court. CAZ has a consumer section dealing with complaints of the consumers.

The recent efforts by the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) and the CAZ to form joint consumer watch dogs could be a step in the right direction when it comes to safeguarding consumer interests. Consumers still remain disadvantaged since most of these communications services are big institutions. It is, therefore, appropriate for the Consumer watchdogs to play the role of observers, as well as whistle blowers.

(Contributed by Simon Kamanga)

4. Corporate Social Responsibility in Zambia
The notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasingly gaining ground, and is recognised among the stakeholders in most countries. It is important to note that current trends in the global system, which tend to give greater share and participation of business entities in the economic and social affairs of most countries have significantly reduced the role previously performed by governments.

Therefore, multinationals and other large business entities have emerged and gained control over the factors of production in most countries, making it difficult for the governments to respond to the economic and social needs of citizens.

The prevailing economic conditions have seen the prevalence of extreme poverty, diseases, HIV/AIDS, hunger, famine and disasters in most countries especially the least developed countries (LDCs). The question in this case is that who would be responsible and answerable to some of the social challenges faced by the various communities.

It is worth recognising that businesses are established entirely for the purpose of making profits and not to respond to the social needs of the communities. CSR means different things to different organisations and people. In this regard, although there is considerable common ground between definitions: CSR may be termed as the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.

‘CSR and ‘corporate citizenship’ have all become mainstream terms in sustainable development thinking. Specialist corporate citizenship organisations have blossomed and new management and accounting tools have been developed. It has become appropriate for businesses to move beyond the traditional approach of back door lobbying to cleaner production and responsible entrepreneurship.

In Zambia, private sector has assumed a significant role in the economic affairs of the country. However, most companies are not very keen towards social responsibility. This is felt in various areas, such as, the falling standard in sports, educational, health, and other social services. This is also attributable to the fact that many of the essential services i.e. institutions which were supported by public owned institutions are no longer receiving the same support from the private sector. The private sector has concentrated on making profits without embracing the social responsibility aspect.

Not disputing the fact that some companies have shown efforts to embrace the social responsibility in a limited way, it would be desirable that towards CSR, companies should engage with community development as a business activity, for example, by establishing corporate foundations. Activities are then developed in a systematic way, and companies may begin to take on board principles of sustainable development and seek to secure partnerships with government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other civil society organisations (CSOs). Monitoring and evaluation methodologies may then be integrated into community development programmes, to give long term sustainability of projects and programmes.

Beyond CSR, lies corporate citizenship. The practice of corporate citizenship involves recognition and strategic management of the full range of business functions with social or environmental dimensions. Making these links remains a challenge in many countries – and in many businesses: North and South.

(Contributed by Vladimir Chilinya)

5. Snapshots on Consumer Issues in Zambia