High Court Quashes KSh62.7 Million Fine on Tononoka Rolling Mills

The Nairobi High Court on October 22, 2026 set aside a KSh62.7 million penalty imposed by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) on steel manufacturer Tononoka Rolling Mills Ltd for alleged price fixing.

The judge ruled that CAK had relied on electronic records that lacked the mandatory certificate of electronic evidence required under the Evidence Act, and therefore could not be admitted as proof of liability.

In its judgment the court rejected CAK’s argument that the certification requirement applied only to material obtained from third parties, stating, "In the present case, I am unable to accept the Respondent's submission... that section 33(1) of the Act is confined to material received from third parties and does not extend to material obtained directly by the Respondent through search and seizure."

The decision also overturned the Competition Tribunal’s earlier ruling of July 9, 2025, which had upheld the fine originally levied on August 17, 2023, when CAK fined Tononoka Rolling Mills KSh62.72 million and eight other steel manufacturers for alleged collusion in construction-material prices.

Tononoka Rolling Mills had argued that CAK failed to demonstrate any agreement, concerted practice or decision under Section 21 of the Competition Act, and complained that the watchdog denied it a fair hearing by not allowing cross-examination of the Market Intelligence Report authors and by involving officials who participated in the investigation on the adjudicative panel.

The judge further observed that the severity of sanctions required evidence that could withstand judicial scrutiny, noting, "Such consequences are visited upon an undertaking only on the strength of evidence that would withstand scrutiny in a court of law, irrespective of who gathered it."

The court also rejected CAK’s attempt to attribute liability to Tononoka Rolling Mills for conduct of the separate entity Tononoka Steels Limited, finding the two companies legally distinct with independent commercial operations.