Category: Legal Updates

Business Laws Amendment Act 2024

Background The Business Laws Amendment Bill 2024 became law in Kenya on 27 December 2024, after having been signed into law (assented) by the President of Kenya on 11 December 2024. The Act can be accessed here TheBusinessLaws_Amendment_Act_No.20of2024.pdf In our assessment, the Act’s primary focus is to introduce the regulation of all previously unregulated financiers…
Kenya’s Newly Introduced Electronic Travel Authorization For Foreign Nationals

During Kenya’s 2023 ‘Jamhuri Day’ celebrations, held annually on 12 December marking the country’s attainment of independence from Britain and becoming a republic, the President HE William Ruto announced that Kenya was going to be a visa-free country for ALL foreigners from 1st January 2024. Following this pronouncement, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National…
Capital Gains Tax in Kenya: What it is charged on, How it is calculated and Who pays it

Introduction Capital Gains Tax (CGT) was introduced in Kenya in 1975 but was later suspended in June 1985. The tax was subsequently reintroduced by the Finance Act of 2014 which amended the Eight Schedule of the Income Tax Act cap 470 Laws of Kenya (Income Tax Act), with effect from 1st January 2015 at the…
Taxation of ESOPs in Kenya: Changes introduced by the Finance Act 2022

Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOPs), also often referred to as employee share schemes, are a type of equity compensation granted by companies to their employees giving employees a right to purchase the company’s shares at a specified price for a specified period. ESOPs are becoming a more common form of remuneration, particularly for start-up companies…
Revisiting the test for Industrial Design Infringement in Kenya: The Judgment of the Industrial Property Tribunal in Kenrub Limited Versus Metro-Polykenya Limited

Kenya offers statutory protection of intellectual property rights primarily under two laws: the Industrial Property Act (“IPA”), the Copyright Act and the Trade Marks Act. In respect of industrial designs (“IDs”), the IPA sets out the criteria for registration and consequent protection as follows at section 84(1)the IPA: “an industrial design means any composition of…
Customs Watch: New Mandatory Recordation of Imports into Kenya with Anti Counterfeit Authority

The Anti Counterfeit Authority (ACA) has been working to operationalise section 34B of the Anti Counterfeit Act 2008 (the Act) and the more recent implementation framework introduced by the Anti Counterfeit Recordation Regulations 2021 (Recordation Regulations). By newspaper notice on 26th April 2022, the ACA has set the deadline for compliance with the Act and…
Kenya Data Protection: New mandatory registration for businesses

The publication in the Kenya Gazette of the Data Protection (Registration of Data Controllers and Data Processors) Regulations 2021 (via Legal Notice no. 265) implemented section 18 of the Data Protection Act 2019 which provides for mandatory registration of data controllers and processors by the Data Protection Commissioner, DPC. Mandatory registration will now commence on…
Anti- Counterfeit Regulations of July 2021

The Anti-Counterfeit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (“the 2021 Amendment Regulations”) were gazetted on 23rd July 2021. The 2021 Amendment Regulations substantially contain what was in the Draft regulations of 2020, which had been the subject of several discussions and public participation fora. Perhaps most notably, the 2021 Amendment Regulations introduce provisions that open the doors for…
Introduction of Customs Recordation for Imports in Kenya

The Anti-Counterfeit (Recordation) Regulations 2021 (“2021 Recordation Regulations”) have introduced a customs ‘recordation’ and a ‘customs watch’ regime of intellectual property rights in Kenya, targeted at more effective anti-counterfeit and anti-illicit trade measures at Kenya’s porous borders. Customs recordation or recordal is a process whereby owners of intellectual property rights, most commonly trade marks (brands)…