a tripartite report - Unctad

188 VOLUNTARY PEER REVIEW OF CLP: A TRIPARTITE REPORT ON THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA – ZAMBIA – ZIMBABWE
independency is silently withdrawn by Section 18
that the Minister may give the Commission such
general directions relating to the policy the Commission
is to observe in the exercise of its functions
as the Minister considers being necessary in the
national interest.
and in the general context within which they are
mentioned, they pose a huge potential for interferences
with the independency provided for
in Section 5(3) notwithstanding the caveats prescribed
in Section 18 (2) especially considering
the manner the Commission is supposed to act
to such policy directions as provided in Section 18
(3) that the Commission shall take all necessary
steps to comply with any direction given to it by
the Minister.
With regard to validity of decisions and acts of
Commission and committees as provided under
Section 19 that “No decision or act of the Commission
or a committee and no act that is authorized
by the Commission or a committee shall be invalid
solely because there was a vacancy in the membership
of the Commission or the committee or
a member of the Commission or the committee,
as the case may be, at the time the decision was
taken or the act was done or authorized.
This provision can be construed to defeat the purpose
of appointment of members as provided under
Section 6 and validity of meetings where decisions
are made (regarding quorum) as provided
under Section 13 (6) thus being contrary to principles
of good regulation that ensures due process
in delivery of competition justice.
3.1.2 The Directorate of the CTC
The organigram of the CTC as supported by the
ZCA provides for the Board of Commissioners as
the oversight Board which works supervises the
Secretariat/Directorate which is led by a director
as appointed under Section 17 (1) and Assistant
Directors under Section 17 (6).
The internal structure of the directorate is deemed
to be ideal given the prevailing conditions that
CTC also deal with Tariff as another core mandate,
thus having a division of its own. The structure ca-
be subdivided into narrow thematic areas such as
mergers and cartels as the law develops overtime.
Staff recruitment has also been done to complement
the dichotomy of law and economics ideal
for a competition authority.
Problems lie with the relative inexperience of most
staff and the lack of specialized training on competition
as shall be discussed later in the subsequent
subtopics.
3.2 Sources of Competition Cases
Statutorily, CTC’s major sources of competition
cases are (i) complaints from the business community
and the general public (ii) concerns learnt
toral
studies (iv) ministerial instructions from the
government (v) referrals from sector regulators.
These are conventional ways for which competition
authorities globally employ in identifying issues
to be dealt with by competition law. Handling
of the complaints is as provided hereunder.
3.2.1 Handling of Competition
Complaints at CTC
CTC’s directorate undertakes preliminary investigation
into the allegation in order to identify and
assess the nature of competition issue so as to
establish a prima facie case for a full-scale investigation
under Section 28 of the ZCA. The investigations
undertaken involve information gathering
and interviews with major stakeholders (competitors,
customers, suppliers, policymakers, etc.) and
analysis of the information gathered. Draft reports
(with appropriate recommendations) on the preliminary
investigations undertaken are thoroughly
considered and debated by the Directorate’s Operations
Committee before they are submitted to
the relevant Committee of the Commission 188 and
ultimately to the full Commission for determination.
According to CTC reports, there are four committees
formed, Audit & Administration Committee,
Mergers & Restrictive Practices Committee, Tariffs
Committee and the Legal & Enforcement Committee.
The committees would basically sit to deliberate
and sharpen recommendations emanating
from Directorate’s Operations Committee in
the spirit of bettering the exercise of CTC’s function
as provided under Section 14 (1).