The Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) has collectively fined seven companies K51.5 million after finding them engaging in anti-competitive business practices and unfair trading conducts.
In a press statement on Tuesday, the commission said this follows determinations it made at its 76th meeting on September 30 2026 on 64 cases of breaches of competition and fair trading laws.
Tutlas Limited and Kachi Supermarket have been fined K25 million and K12.5 million, respectively, for stocking expired products in their respective shops in Salima and Lilongwe.
CFTC has also fined Jegaf Investments and Horizon Health Malawi Limited K10 million and K2 million, respectively, for engaging in unconscionable conduct.
Joshua during the briefing. | George Lumwira
The other three penalised compan i es are Sanam Supermarket, which has been fined K1 million for stocking expired products, Jahabi Enterprises has been ordered to pay K500 000 for misleading conduct and failure to display prices while Spectrum Supplies has been fined K500 000 for misleading conduct in the Trade of Goods Act.
“The commission took into consideration that the respondent was apologetic and cooperated throughout investigations,” said the commission regarding Sanam Supermarket’s apprent lighter fine compared to similar breaches by Tutla’s Limited and Kachi Supermarket.
The statement further said that CFTC has referred two cases to Anti-Corruption Bureau for investigations into attempted corrupt practices to bribe the commission’s officers during market inspections based on incidents that happened at Tutlas Limited and Kachi Supermarket.
During the sitting, the commission also ordered two companies to refund consumers K1 million.
The commission also authorised two local mergers of Malawi Stock Exchange-listed TNM plc acquisition of Open Connect Limited and Victoria Forex Bureau’s takeover of Libertas General Insurance.
In an interview, CFTC chief executive officer Desmond Kaunda blamed the weak regulation, which does not give the commission mandate to impound the products.
He said: “If we get to Tutlas and we find this whole range of expired products, we are not able to impound the products. We can simply instruct them to remove the products from the shelves and quarantine them somewhere else.
“But then what prevents them from putting the products back on the shelves once we have left? That is a serious gap in the law. We need to be empowered so that they are not given a chance to put the products back on the shelf.”
In a separate interview, Consumers Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito described the situation as unfortunate, saying it points to weaknesses in the regulation.
“What we witness in Malawi cannot happen anywhere. I would not blame the industry so much other than looking at the way we have positioned our institutions and enabling laws for them to operate effectively,” he said.
CFTC earlier lamented that 60 percent of the determinations made under the updated Competition and Fair Trading Act are being challenged in court, a situation experts say calls for greater clarity on the regulation’s practical application.
The new law, which replaced the 1998 legislation, gives the commission stronger powers to penalise violations such as administrative penalties of up to 10 percent of an enterprise’s gross annual turnover for violations.
Apar t f rom imposing stronger penalties, the new Act also strengthens oversight of digital trade and online commerce, while putting more emphasis on consumer protection.
The Act came into effect on July 1 2024, replacing 1998 law.
