Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Margret Mwanakatwe – Commerce, Trade & Industry Minister
Commerce Minister Margret Mwanakatwe has called for stiffer punishment against people making counterfeit products in the country.
Ms. Mwanakatwe tells Q-News that the vice has negatively affected the manufacturing sector.
She says counterfeit products should not be allowed to flood the Zambian market at the expense of genuine products.
A Chinese national was recently fined one thousand and eight hundred kwacha by a Lusaka Magistrate for producing over 47,000 counterfeit BATA shoe products.
Ms. Mwanakatwe feels the punishment handed to the Chinese national was too lenient considering the quantity of the products involved.
She says her ministry will work hand in hand with the ministry of finance to enhance the legal framework to ensure stiffer punishment is meted out on perpetrators of such acts.