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{
    "id": 45796,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/45796/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 223,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Wako",
    "speaker_title": "The Attorney-General",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 208,
        "legal_name": "Sylvester Wakoli Bifwoli",
        "slug": "wakoli-bifwoli"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the reason why the Attorney-General then, who is the one now speaking, set up that task force composed of such personalities is because these were the people who were involved in matters related to company law on a day to day basis. They had complained. The major complaint of the stakeholders was that the company law, the insolvency law, the law relating to investments, the law relating to partnerships, was completely out of date with the modern needs of the Kenyan society. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the company law that we have today, Cap.486 of the laws of Kenya came into force in 1948, well before Independence and immediately after the Second World War. For students of history of the law, if they go to the library here, and check out the details of the company law which was in force in the United Kingdom in 1948 and compare it with the company law which is now our law today, they will find that it is the same, word for word, except that instead of the words “Her Majesty of the United Kingdom and Ireland”, they will find “the colony of Kenya” or now “the Republic of Kenya.” That is all. Whereas in the United Kingdom that law of 1948 has undergone numerous changes to take into account the developments in the economic, social and commerce areas, our law has become stagnant. Therefore, it is no wonder that the stakeholders were pleading that the company law and all laws related to commerce should be reformed and amended. It is also no wonder that those who are interested in investments in this country, institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF were also of the view that a review of our commerce laws, including the company law, was long overdue. So, that task force was set up and it worked very professionally. I can confirm that they compared the best practices; first of all, our neighbouring countries like Uganda and Tanzania who had also a similar law, but were ahead of us in reforming the laws. We looked at what they have come up with. We also looked at the laws in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and other countries to see what the best practices are, as far as the company law is concerned. This Bill which I am now asking this august Assembly to approve and to pass has taken into consideration the current trends on globalization and regional integration with particular reference to the East African Community. It reflects the present day circumstances of carrying on businesses, including modern patterns of regulations and partnership. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill has also taken into account the need to simplify registration processes by reducing the administrative burdens on the Government Departments that administer these laws to ensure that business entities are managed by their officers in an efficient and transparent manner and to provide the legal regime for the informal or Jua Kali sector in Kenya. That is why I will be explaining later that whereas under the company law the company is registered--- Here we now have different types of companies; a small company or a big company that can be registered under different criteria and processes. On the issue of the registration processes, simplifying them and so on, I am glad to say that this is in tandem with what my office has done under the Rapid Results Initiative (RRI). We were the first department in the entire Government to undertake such."
}