Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 570467,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/570467/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 147,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. A.B. Duale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": "The process of reforming the Companies Law in Kenya started in 1992 when the then Attorney-General appointed a task force to deal with this matter. That task force presented several reports to all subsequent governments. It encompassed representatives of the private and public sectors as well as the Government in making sure that Kenya gets a Companies Act, and that the Companies Act, Cap. 486 is reviewed. Why did we ask for this review? This was basically to remove all unethical business practices and the use of commercial entities as a vehicle for exploitation by companies. Fraud was very rampant and it made the public, who were unsuspecting lose a lot of money. The activities of land buying companies were a serious issue. There was need, as a country, to reform the Companies Law and make Kenya a country where it is very easy to do business. It was good for our country to have a simplified process of registration of companies. This Bill reduces the administrative burden on the Government. It creates and ensures that business entities are managed by their offices in a very efficient and transparent manner. Finally, this Bill provides a new legal regime for the informal or Jua Kali sector in Kenya. The objective of this Bill is to develop a modern companies law in order to support a very competitive economy in a coherent and very simple form. The reform of this Companies Law, as contained in this Bill, is anchored or thrust on four key objectives. These are: (1) Enhancing shareholder engagement and the long-term investment culture – that the shareholders of any company must be engaged, the long-term investment interest of the business community is enhanced and entrenched and a long-term investment culture is created. (2) To ensure better regulations and “think small fast” approach - that we must have a regulation that can take less effort and is efficient. (3) To make sure that, as a country, in transforming our economy, we make it easier to set up and run a company. (4) This Bill is also anchored on flexibility for the future. This Bill does the following. It seeks to consolidate all laws relating to the incorporation of matters dealing with registration, operation and management of companies and above all, provides a comprehensive code of Companies Law for Kenya. This makes changes to almost every facet of laws in relation to companies. The key provisions of this Bill are: (1) To codify certain existing common law principles. These include the functions and duties of directors. (2) To introduce various provisions for both public and private companies. For the first time, it takes care of those two different entities. (3) This Bill provides a single company law regime. Unlike before where we had very many different laws existing in different statutes and different Acts of Parliament, this Bill creates a single company law regime. (4) It also details how to amend or reinstate all the Companies Acts to various degrees. I do not want to take a lot of time. This Bill is composed of 41 parts including the one that deals with preliminary matters. It has five schedules. I will just highlight what each part of the Bill deals with. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}