CompaniesAct (Cap486)
CompaniesAct (Cap486)
CompaniesAct (Cap486)
486
Companies
LAWS OF KENYA
COMPANIES ACT
CHAPTER 486
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[Rev. 2012] CAP. 486
Companies
CHAPTER 486
COMPANIES ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I – PRELIMINARY
Section
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
3. Register of Companies.
PART II – INCORPORATION OF COMPANIES
AND MATTERS INCIDENTAL THERETO
Memorandum of Association
4. Mode of forming incorporated company.
5. Requirements with respect to memorandum.
6. Signature of memorandum.
7. Restriction on alteration of memorandum.
8. Mode in which and extent to which objects of company may be altered.
Articles of Association
9. Articles prescribing regulations for companies.
10. Regulations required in case of unlimited company or company limited by guarantee.
11. Adoption and application of table A.
12. Printing and signature of articles.
13. Alteration of articles by special resolution.
Form of Memorandum and Articles
14. Statutory forms of memorandum and articles.
Registration
15. Registration of memorandum and articles.
16. Effect of registration.
17. Conclusiveness of certificate of Incorporation.
18. Registration of unlimited company as limited.
Provisions with Respect to Names of Companies
19. Reservation of name and prohibition of undesirable name.
20. Change of name.
21. Power to dispense with “limited” in name of charitable and other companies.
General Provisions with Respect to Memorandum and Articles
22. Effect of memorandum and articles.
23. Provision as to memorandum and articles of companies limited by guarantee.
24. Alteration in memorandum or articles increasing liability to contribute to share capital
not to bind existing members without consent.
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25. Power to alter conditions in memorandum which could have been contained in
articles.
26. Copies of memorandum and articles to be given to members.
27. Issued copies of memorandum to embody alterations.
Membership of Company
28. Definition of member.
29. Membership of holding Company.
Private Companies
30. Meaning of “private Company”.
31. Consequence of default in complying with conditions constituting a company a
private company.
32. Statement in lieu of prospectus to be delivered to registrar by company on ceasing
to be private company.
Reduction of Number of Members below Legal Minimum
33. Members severally liable for debts where business carried on with fewer than seven,
or in case of private company, two members.
Contracts, Etc.
34. Form of contracts.
35. Bills of exchange and promissory notes.
36. Execution of deeds abroad.
37. Power for company to have official seal for use abroad.
38. Authentication of documents.
PART III – SHARE CAPITAL AND DEBENTURES
Prospectus
39. Dating of prospectus.
40. Matters to be stated and reports to be set out in prospectus.
41. Provisions of section 40 not to limit any other liability.
42. Expert’s consent to issue of prospectus containing statement by him.
43. Registration of prospectus.
44. Restriction on alteration of terms mentioned in prospectus or statement in lieu of
prospectus.
45. Civil liability for mis-statements in prospectus.
46. Criminal liability for mis-statements in prospectus.
47. Document containing offer of shares or debentures for sale to be deemed
prospectus.
48. Interpretation of provisions relating to prospectuses.
Allotment
49. Prohibition of allotment unless minimum subscription received.
50. Prohibition of allotment in certain cases unless statement in lieu of prospectus
delivered to registrar.
51. Effect of irregular allotment.
52. Applications for, and allotment of, shares and debentures.
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53. Allotment of shares and debentures to be dealt in on stock exchange.
54. Return as to allotments.
Commissions and Discounts, Etc.
55. Power to pay certain commissions, and prohibition of payment of all other
commissions, discounts, etc.
56. Prohibition of provision of financial assistance by company for purchase of or
subscription for its own, or its holding company’s shares.
Construction of References to Offering Shares or Debentures to the Public
57. Construction of references to offering shares or debentures to the public.
Issue of Shares at Premium and Discount and Redeemable Preference Shares
58. Application of premiums received on issue of shares.
59. Power to issue shares at a discount.
60. Power to issue redeemable preference shares.
Miscellaneous Provisions as to Share Capital
61. Power of company to arrange for different amounts being paid on shares.
62. Reserve liability of limited company.
63. Power of company limited by shares to alter its share capital.
64. Notice to registrar of consolidation of share capital, conversion of shares into stock,
etc.
65. Notice of increase of share capital.
66. Power of unlimited company to provide for reserve share capital on re-registration.
67. Power of company to pay interest out of capital to certain cases.
Reduction of Share Capital
68. Special resolution for reduction of share capital.
69. Application to court for confirming order, objections by creditors, and settlement of
list of objecting creditors.
70. Order confirming reduction and powers of court on making such order.
71. Registration of order and minute of reduction.
72. Liability of members in respect of reduced shares.
73. Penalty for concealing name of creditor, etc.
Variation of Shareholders’ Rights
74. Rights of holders of special classes of shares.
Transfer of Shares and Debentures, Evidence of Title, Etc.
75. Nature of shares.
76. Numbering of shares.
76A. Deleted.
77. Transfer not to be registered except on production of instrument of transfer.
78. Transfer by personal representative.
79. Registration of transfer at request of transferor.
80. Notice of refusal to register transfer.
81. Certification of transfer.
82. Duties of company with respect to issue of certificates.
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83. Certificate to be evidence of title.
84. Evidence of grant of probate.
85. Issue and effect of share warrants to bearer.
86. Penalty for personation of shareholder.
87. Offence in connection with share warrants.
Special Provisions as to Debentures
88. Provision as to registers of debenture holders.
89. Rights of debenture holders and shareholders to inspect register of debenture
holders and to have copies of trust deed.
90. Liability of trustees for debenture holders.
91. Perpetual debentures.
92. Power to reissue redeemed debentures in certain cases.
93. Saving, in case of reissued debentures, of rights of certain mortgagees.
94. Specific performance of contracts to subscribe for debentures.
95. Payment of certain debts out of assets subject to floating charge in priority to claims
under the charge.
PART IV – REGISTRATION OF CHARGES
Registration of Charges with Registrar
96. Registration of charges.
97. Duty of company to register charges created by company.
98. Duty of company to register charges existing on property acquired.
99. Certificate of registration of charge.
100. Endorsement of certificate registration on debentures.
101. Registration of satisfaction and release of property from charge.
102. Extension of time to register charges.
103. Registration of enforcement of security.
Provisions as to Company’s Register of Charges
and as to Copies of Instruments Creating Charges
104. Copies of instruments creating charges to be kept by company.
105. Company’s register of charges.
106. Right to inspect copies of instrument, creating charge, and company’s register of
charges.
PART V – MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Registered Office and Name
107. Registered office of company.
108. Notification of situation of registered office and of change therein.
109. Publication of name by company and form of seal.
Statement of Amount of Paid-up Capital
110. Statement of amount of capital subscribed and amount paid up.
Restrictions on Commencement of Business
111. Restrictions on Commencement of Business.
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Register of Members
Section
112. Register of members.
113. Index of members.
114. Provisions as to entries in register in relation to share warrants.
115. Inspection of register and index.
116. Consequences of failure to comply with requirements as register owing to agent’s
default.
117. Power to close register.
118. Power of court to rectify register.
119. Trusts not to be entered on register.
120. Register to be evidence.
Branch Register
121. Power for company to keep branch register.
122. Regulations as to branch register.
123. Stamp duty in case of transfer of shares registered in branch registers.
124. Provisions as to branch registers of Commonwealth companies kept in Kenya.
Annual Return
125. Annual return to be made by company having a share capital.
126. Annual return to be made by company not having a share capital.
127. Time for completion of annual return.
128. Documents to be annexed to annual return.
129. Certificates to be sent by private company with annual return.
Meetings and Proceedings
130. Statutory meeting and statutory report.
131. Annual general meeting.
132. Convening of extraordinary general meeting on requisition.
133. Length of notice for calling meetings.
134. General provisions as to meetings and votes.
135. Power of court to order meeting.
136. Proxies.
137. Rights to demand a poll.
138. Voting on a poll.
139. Representation of corporations at meetings of companies and of creditors.
140. Circulation of members’ resolutions, etc.
141. Special resolutions.
142. Resolutions requiring special notice.
143. Registration and copies of certain resolutions and agreements.
144. Resolutions passed at adjourned meetings.
145. Minutes of proceedings of meetings of company and of directors.
146. Inspection of minute books.
Accounts and Audits
147. Keeping of books of account.
148. Profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet.
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149. General provisions as to contents and form of accounts.
150. Obligation to lay group accounts before holding company.
151. Form of group accounts.
152. Contents of group accounts.
153. Financial year of holding company and subsidiary.
154. Meaning of “holding company” and “subsidiary”.
155. Signing of balance sheet.
156. Accounts and auditors’ report to be annexed to balance sheet.
157. Directors’ report to be attached to balance sheet.
158. Right to receive copies of balance sheets and auditors’ report.
159. Appointment and remuneration of auditors.
160. Provisions as to resolutions relating to appointment and removal of auditors.
161. Disqualifications for appointment as auditor.
162. Auditors’ report and right of access to books and to attend and be heard at general
meetings.
163. Construction of references to documents annexed to accounts.
Investigation by the Registrar
164. Investigation by registrar.
Inspection
165. Investigation of company’s affairs on application of members.
166. Investigation of company’s affairs in other cases.
167. Power of inspectors to carry investigation into affairs of related companies.
168. Production of documents, and evidence, on investigation.
169. Inspector’s report.
170. Proceedings on inspector’s reports.
171. Expenses of investigation of company’s affairs.
172. Inspector’s report to be evidence.
173. Appointment and powers of inspectors to investigate ownership of company.
174. Power to require information as to persons interested in shares or debentures.
175. Power to impose restrictions on shares or debentures
176. Saving for advocates and bankers.
Directors and Other Officers
177. Number of directors.
178. Secretary.
178A. Qualifications of a secretary to a company.
179. Prohibition of certain persons being sole director or secretary.
180. Avoidance of acts done by person in dual capacity as director and secretary.
181. Validity of acts of directors.
182. Restrictions on appointment or advertisement of director.
183. Share qualifications of directors.
184. Appointment of directors to be voted on individually.
185. Removal of directors.
186. Minimum age for appointment of directors; and retirement of directors over age limit.
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187. Duty of directors to disclose age to company.
188. Provisions as to undischarged bankrupts acting as directors.
189. Power to restrain fraudulent persons from managing companies.
190. Prohibition of tax-free payments to directors.
191. Prohibition of loans to directors.
192. Approval of company requisite for payment by it to director for loss of office, etc.
193. Approval of company requisite for any payment, in connection with transfer of its
property to director for loss of office, etc.
194. Duty of director to disclose payment for loss of office, etc. made in connection with
transfer of shares in company.
195. Provisions supplementary to sections 192, 193 and 194.
196. Register of directors’ shareholdings, etc.
197. Particulars in accounts of directors’ salaries, pensions, etc.
198. Particulars in accounts of loans to officers, etc.
199. General duty to make disclosure for purposes of sections 196, 197 and 198.
200. Disclosure by directors of interests in contracts.
201. Register of directors and secretaries.
202. Particulars with respect to directors in trade catalogues, circulars, etc.
203. Limited company may have directors with unlimited liability.
204. Special resolution of limited company making liability of directors unlimited.
205. Provisions as to assignment of office by directors.
Avoidance of Provisions in Articles or Contracts Relieving Officers from Liability
206. Provisions as to liability of officers and auditors.
Arrangements and Reconstructions
207. Power to compromise with creditors and members.
208. Information as to compromises with creditors and members.
209. Provisions for facilitating reconstruction and amalgamation of companies.
210. Power to acquire shares of shareholders dissenting from scheme or contract
approved by majority.
Minorities
211. Alternative remedy to winding up in cases of oppression.
PART VI – WINDING UP
(i) Preliminary
Modes of Winding Up
212. Modes of winding up.
Contributories
213. Liability as contributories of present and past members.
214. Definition of contributory.
215. Nature of liability of contributory.
216. Contributories in case of death of member.
217. Contributories in case of bankruptcy of member.
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Committees of Inspection
Section
248. Meetings of creditors and contributories to determine whether committee of
inspection shall be appointed.
249. Constitution and proceedings of committee of inspection.
250. Powers of court where no committee of inspection.
General Powers of Court in Case of Winding Up by Court
251. Power to stay winding up.
252. Settlement of list of contributories and application of assets.
253. Delivery of property to liquidator.
254. Payment of debts due by contributory to company and extent to which set-off allowed.
255. Power of court to make calls.
256. Payment into bank of moneys due to company.
257. Order on contributory conclusive evidence.
258. Appointment of special manager.
259. Power to exclude creditors not proving in time.
260. Adjustment of rights of contributories.
261. Inspection of books by creditors and contributories.
262. Power to order costs of winding up to be paid out of assets.
263. Power to summon persons suspected of having property of company, etc.
264. Attendance of officers of company at meetings of creditors, etc.
265. Power to order public examination of promoters and officers.
266. Power to arrest absconding promoters, officers and contributories.
267. Powers of court cumulative.
268. Delegation to liquidator of certain powers of court.
269. Dissolution of company.
Appeals
270. Appeals.
(iii) Voluntary Winding Up
Resolutions for, and Commencement of, Voluntary Winding Up
271. Circumstances in which company may be wound up voluntarily.
272. Notice of resolution to wind up voluntarily.
273. Commencement of voluntary winding up.
Consequences of Voluntary Winding Up
274. Effect of voluntary winding up on business and status of company.
275. Avoidance of transfers, etc., After commencement of voluntary winding up.
Declaration of Solvency
276. Statutory declaration of solvency in case of proposal to wind up voluntarily.
Provisions Applicable to a Members’ Voluntary Winding Up
277. Provisions applicable to a members’ winding up.
278. Power of company to appoint and fix remuneration of liquidators.
279. Power to fill vacancy in office of liquidator.
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280. Power of liquidator to accept shares, etc., as consideration for sale of property of
company.
281. Duty of liquidator to call creditors’ meeting in case of insolvency.
282. Duty of liquidator to call general meeting at end of each year.
283. Final meeting and dissolution.
284. Alternative provisions as to annual and final meetings in case of insolvency.
Provisions Applicable to a Creditors’ Voluntary Winding Up
285. Provisions applicable to a creditors’ winding up.
286. Meeting of creditors.
287. Appointment of liquidator.
288. Appointment of committee of inspection.
289. Fixing of liquidators’ remuneration.
290. Cesser of directors’ powers on appointment of liquidator.
291. Power to fill vacancy in office of liquidator.
292. Application of section 280 to a creditors’ voluntary winding up.
293. Duty of liquidator to call meetings of company and of creditor at end of each year.
294. Final meeting and dissolution.
Provisions Applicable to Every Voluntary Winding Up
295. Provisions applicable to every voluntary winding up.
296. Distribution of property of company.
297. Powers and duties of liquidator in voluntary winding up.
298. Power of court to appoint and remove liquidator in voluntary winding up.
299. Notice by liquidator of his appointment.
300. Arrangement when binding on creditors.
301. Power to apply to court to have questions determined or powers exercised.
302. Costs of voluntary winding up.
303. Saving for rights of creditors and contributories.
(iv) Winding Up Subject to Supevision of Court
304. Power to order winding up subject to supervision.
305. Effect of petition for winding up subject to supervision.
306. Application of sections 224 and 225 to winding up subject to supervision.
307. Power of court to appoint or remove liquidators.
308. Effect of supervision order.
(v) Provisions Applicable to Every Mode of
Winding Up Proof and Ranking of Claims
309. Debts of all descriptions may be proved.
310. Application of bankruptcy rules in winding up of companies.
311. Preferential payments.
Effect of Winding Up on Antecedent and Other Transactions
312. Fraudulent preference.
313. Liabilities and rights of certain fraudulently preferred persons.
314. Effect of floating charge.
315. Disclaimer of onerous property in case of company wound up.
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316. Restriction of rights of creditor as to execution or attachment in case of company
being wound up.
317. Duties of court as to goods taken in execution.
Offences Antecedent to or in Course of Winding up
318. Offences by officers of companies in liquidation.
319. Penalty for falsification of books.
320. Fraud by officers of companies which have gone into liquidation.
321. Officers of company failing to account for loss of part of company’s property.
322. Liability where proper accounts not kept.
323. Responsibility for fraudulent trading of persons concerned.
324. Power of court to assess damages against delinquent directors, etc.
325. Prosecution of delinquent officers and members of company.
Supplementary Provisions as to Winding Up
326. Disqualification for appointment as liquidator.
327. Corrupt inducement affecting appointment as liquidator.
328. Enforcement of duty of liquidator to make returns, etc.
329. Notification that a company is in liquidation.
330. Exemption of certain documents from stamp duty on winding up of companies.
331. Books of company to be evidence.
332. Disposal of books and papers of company.
333. Information as to pending liquidations.
334. Unclaimed assets to be paid to Companies Liquidation Account.
335. Resolutions passed at adjourned meetings of creditors and contributories.
Supplementary Powers of Court
336. Meetings to ascertain wishes of creditors or contributories.
337. Swearing of affidavits and declarations.
Provisions as to Dissolution
338. Power of court to declare dissolution of company void.
339. Registrar may strike defunct company off register.
340. Property of dissolved company to be bona vacantia.
341. Power of Government to disclaim title to property vesting under section 340.
Companies Liquidation Account
342. Companies Liquidation Account.
343. Investment of surplus funds; Companies Contingency Fund.
Rules and Fees
344. Rules and fees for winding up.
PART VII – RECEIVERS AND MANAGERS
345. Disqualification of body corporate for appointment as receiver.
346. Disqualification of undischarged bankrupt from acting as receiver or manager.
347. Power to appoint official receiver as receiver for debenture holders or creditors.
348. Receivers and managers appointed out of court.
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349. Notification that receiver or manager appointed.
350. Power of court to fix remuneration on application of liquidator.
351. Provisions as to information where receiver or manager appointed.
352. Special provisions as to statement submitted to receiver.
353. Delivery to registrar of accounts of receivers and managers.
354. Enforcement of duty of receivers and managers to make returns, etc.
355. Construction of references to receivers and managers.
PART VIII – APPLICATION OF ACT TO COMPANIES
FORMED OR REGISTERED UNDER THE REPEALED ACTS
356. Application of Act to companies formed and registered under the repealed Acts.
PART IX – WINDING UP OF UNREGISTERED COMPANIES
357. Meaning of unregistered company.
358. Winding up of unregistered companies.
359. Foreign companies may be wound up although dissolved.
360. Contributories in winding up of unregistered company.
361. Power of court to stay or restrain proceedings.
362. Actions stayed on winding-up order.
363. Provisions of Part IX cumulative.
364. Saving for winding up under the repealed Acts.
PART X – COMPANIES INCORPORATED OUTSIDE KENYA
Provisions as to Establishment of Place of Business in Kenya
365. Application of sections 366 to 375.
366. Documents, etc., to be delivered to registrar by foreign companies carrying on
business in Kenya.
367. Certificate of registration and power to hold land.
368. Returns to be delivered to registrar by foreign company.
369. Registration of charges created by foreign companies.
370. Accounts of foreign company.
371. Obligation to state name of foreign company, whether limited and country where
incorporated.
372. Service on foreign company.
373. Cessation of business by foreign company and striking off register.
374. Penalties.
375. Interpretation of sections 366 to 374.
Prospectuses
376. Dating of prospectus and particulars to be contained therein.
377. Provisions as to expert’s consent and allotment.
378. Registration of prospectus.
379. Penalty for contravention of sections 376 to 378.
380. Civil liability for mis-statements in prospectus.
381. Interpretation of provisions as to prospectus.
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FOURTH SCHEDULE –
FORM OF STATEMENT IN LIEU OF PROSPECTUS TO BE DELIVERED
TO REGISTRAR BY A COMPANY WHICH DOES NOT ISSUE A
PROSPECTUS OR WHICH DOES NOT GO TO ALLOTMENT ON A
PROSPECTUS ISSUED, AND REPORTS TO BE SET OUT THEREIN
FIFTH SCHEDULE –
CONTENTS AND FORM OF ANNUAL RETURN OF A COMPANY HAVING
A SHARE CAPITAL
SIXTH SCHEDULE –
ACCOUNTS
SEVENTH SCHEDULE –
MATTERS TO BE EXPRESSLY STATED IN AUDITORS’ REPORT
EIGHTH SCHEDULE –
PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT WHICH DO NOT APPLY IN THE CASE OF A
WINDING UP SUBJECT TO SUPERVISION OF THE COURT
NINTH SCHEDULE –
FORM OF STATEMENT TO BE PUBLISHED BY DEPOSIT, PROVIDENT
OR BENEFIT SOCIETIES
TENTH SCHEDULE –
PROVISIONS REFERRED TO IN SECTION 393
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CHAPTER 486
COMPANIES ACT
[Date of commencement: 1st January, 1962.]
An Act of Parliament to amend and consolidate the law relating to
the incorporation, regulation and winding up of companies and other
associations, and to make provision for other matters relating thereto and
connected therewith
[Act No. 50 of 1959, Act No. 46 of 1960, Act No. 28 of 1961, Act No. 25 of 1963, L.N. 649/1963,
L.N. 2/1964, Act No. 28 of 1965, Act No. 9 of 1967, Act No. 38 of 1968, Act No. 4 of 1974,
L.N. 14/1983, Act No. 1 of 1985, Act No. 19 of 1985, L.N. 247/1988, Act No. 12 of 1988, Act No. 9
of 1989, Act No. 11 of 1992, Act No. 6 of 1994, Act No. 8 of
2003, Act No. 15 of 2003, Act No. 8 of 2008, Act No. 15 of 2008.]
PART I – PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Companies Act.
2. Interpretation
(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—
“accounts” includes a company’s group accounts, whether prepared in the
form of accounts or not;
“annual return” means the return required to be made, in the case of
a company having a share capital, under section 125, and in the case of a
company not having a share capital, under section 126;
“appointed day” means the commencement of this Act;
“articles” means the articles of association of a company, as originally
framed or as altered by special resolution, including, so far as they apply to the
company, the regulations contained in Table A in the First Schedule to any of
the repealed Acts or in Table A in the First Schedule;
“book and paper” and “book or paper” include accounts, deeds, writings
and documents;
“certified” means certified in the prescribed manner to be a true copy or to
be a correct translation into the English language;
“company” means a company formed and registered under this Act or an
existing company;
“company limited by guarantee” and “company limited by shares” have
the meanings assigned to them respectively by subsection (2) of section 4;
“contributory” has the meaning assigned to it by section 214;
“the court” means the High Court;
“creditors’ voluntary winding up” has the meaning assigned to it by
subsection (4) of section 276;
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3. Register of Companies
There shall be kept by the registrar a record called “the Register of Companies”
wherein shall be entered all the matters prescribed by this Act.
PART II – INCORPORATION OF COMPANIES
AND MATTERS INCIDENTAL THERETO
Memorandum of association
4. Mode of forming incorporated company
(1) Any seven or more persons, or, where the company to be formed will be
a private company, any two or more persons, associated for any lawful purpose
may, by subscribing their names to a memorandum of association and otherwise
complying with the requirements of this Act in respect of registration, form an
incorporated company, with or without limited liability.
(2) Such a company may be either—
(a) a company having the liability of its members limited by the
memorandum to the amount, if any, unpaid on the shares respectively
held by them (in this Act termed a company limited by shares); or
(b) a company having the liability of its members limited by the
memorandum to such amount as the members may respectively
thereby undertake to contribute to the assets of the company in the
event of its being wound up (in this Act termed a company limited by
guarantee); or
(c) a company not having any limit on the liability of its members (in this
Act termed an unlimited company).
5. Requirements with respect to memorandum
(1) The memorandum of every company shall be in the English language, shall
be printed and shall state—
(a) the name of the company, with “limited” as the last word of the name
in the case of a company limited by shares or by guarantee; and
(b) that the registered office of the company is to be situate in Kenya; and
(c) the objects of the company.
(2) The memorandum of a company limited by shares or by guarantee shall
also state that the liability of its members is limited.
(3) The memorandum of a company limited by guarantee shall also state that
each member undertakes to contribute to the assets of the company in the event of
its being wound up while he is a member, or within one year after he ceases to be a
member, for payment of the debts and liabilities of the company contracted before
he ceases to be a member, and of the costs, charges and expenses of winding
up, and for adjustment of the rights of the contributories among themselves, such
amount as may be required, not exceeding a specified amount.
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(b) by the holders of not less than fifteen per cent of the company’s
debentures entitling the holders to object to alterations of its objects:
Provided that an application shall not be made by any person who has
consented to or voted in favour of the alteration.
(3) An application under this section shall be made within thirty days after the
date on which the resolution altering the company’s objects was passed and may
be made on behalf of the persons entitled to make the application by such one or
more of their number as they may appoint in writing for the purpose.
(4) On an application under this section the court may make an order cancelling
the alteration or confirming the alteration either wholly or in part and on such terms
and conditions as it thinks fit, and may, if it thinks fit, adjourn the proceedings in
order that an arrangement may be made to the satisfaction of the court for the
purchase of the interests of dissentient members, and may give such directions
and make such orders as it may think expedient for facilitating or carrying into effect
any such arrangement:
Provided that no part of the capital of the company shall be expended in any
such purchase.
(5) (a) The debentures entitling the holders to object to alterations of a
company’s objects shall be any debentures secured by a floating charge which
were issued or first issued before the appointed day, or form part of the same series
as any debentures so issued, and a special resolution altering a company’s objects
shall require the same notice to the holders of any such debentures as to members
of the company.
(b) In default of any provisions regulating the giving of notice to any such
debenture holders, the provisions of the company’s articles regulating the giving
of notice to members shall apply.
(6) In the case of a company which is, by virtue of a licence from the Minister,
exempt from the obligation to use the word “limited” as part of its name, a resolution
altering the company’s objects shall also require the same notice to the Minister
as to members of the company.
(7) Where a company passes a resolution altering its objects—
(a) if no application is made with respect thereto under this section, it shall
within fourteen days from the end of the period for making such an
application deliver to the registrar a printed copy of its memorandum
as altered; and
(b) if such an application is made it shall—
(i) forthwith give notice of that fact to the registrar; and
(ii) within fourteen days from the date of any order cancelling or
confirming the alteration wholly or in part, deliver to the registrar
a certified copy of the order and, in the case of an order
confirming the alteration wholly or in part, a printed copy of the
memorandum as altered,
but the court may by order at any time extend the time for the delivery of documents
to the registrar under paragraph (b) for such period as the court may think proper.
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(2) In the case of a company limited by shares and registered after the
commencement of this Act, if articles are not registered, or, if articles are registered,
in so far as the articles do not exclude or modify the regulations contained in Table
A, those regulations shall, so far as applicable, be the regulations of the company
in the same manner and to the same extent as if they were contained in duly
registered articles.
12. Printing and signature of articles
Articles shall be—
(a) in the English language; and
(b) printed; and
(c) divided into paragraphs numbered consecutively; and
(d) dated; and
(e) signed by each subscriber to the memorandum of association in the
presence of at least one witness, who shall attest the signature and
add his occupation and postal address.
13. Alteration of articles by special resolution
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and to the conditions contained in its
memorandum, a company may by special resolution alter or add to its articles.
(2) Any alteration or addition so made in the articles shall, subject to the
provisions of this Act, be as valid as if originally contained therein, and be subject
in like manner to alteration by special resolution.
Form of Memorandum and Articles
14. Statutory forms of memorandum and articles
The form of—
(a) the memorandum of association of a company limited by shares;
(b) the memorandum and articles of association of a company limited by
guarantee and not having a share capital;
(c) the memorandum and articles of association of a company limited by
guarantee and having a share capital;
(d) the memorandum and articles of association of an unlimited company
having a share capital,
shall be respectively in accordance with the forms set out in Tables B, C, D and E
in the First Schedule, or as near thereto as circumstances admit.
Registration
15. Registration of memorandum and articles
The memorandum and the articles, if any, shall be delivered to the registrar for
registration.
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(b) that by its constitution the company is required to apply its profits, if
any, or other income in promoting its objects and is prohibited from
paying any dividend to its members,
the Minister may by licence authorize the company to make by special resolution
a change in its name including or consisting of the omission of the word “limited”,
and subsections (3) and (4) of section 20 shall apply to a change of name under
this subsection as they apply to a change of name under that section.
(3) A licence by the Minister under this section may be granted on such
conditions and subject to such regulations as the Minister thinks fit, and those
conditions and regulations shall be binding on the body to which the licence is
granted, and (where the grant is under subsection (1)) shall, if the Minister so
directs, be inserted in the memorandum and articles, or in one of those documents.
(4) An association or company to which a licence is granted under this section
shall be excepted from the provisions of this Act relating to the use of the word
“limited” as any part of its name, the publishing of its name and the sending of lists
of members to the registrar.
(5) The Minister may upon the recommendation of the registrar revoke a licence
under this section and upon revocation the registrar shall enter in the register the
word “limited” at the end of the name of the association or company to which it was
granted, and the association or company shall cease to enjoy the exemptions and
privileges or, as the case may be, the exemptions granted by this section:
Provided that, before recommendation is made to the Minister, the registrar shall
give to the association or company notice in writing of his intention, and shall afford
it an opportunity of being heard in opposition to the revocation.
(6) Where an association or company in respect of which a licence under
this section is in force alters the provisions of its memorandum with respect to
its objects, the registrar may (unless he sees fit to recommend the revocation of
the licence) recommend to the Minister the variation of the licence by making it
subject to such conditions and regulations as the Minister may think fit, in lieu of
or in addition to the conditions and regulations, if any, to which the licence was
formerly subject.
(7) Where a licence granted under this section to an association or company
the name of which contains the words “Chamber of Commerce” is revoked, the
association or company shall, within a period of six weeks from the date of
revocation or such longer period as the registrar may think fit to allow, change its
name to a name which does not contain those words, and—
(a) the notice to be given under the proviso to subsection (5) to that
association or company shall include a statement of the effect of the
foregoing provisions of this subsection; and
(b) subsections (3) and (4) of section 20 shall apply to a change of name
under this subsection as they apply to a change of name under that
section.
(8) If any association or company makes default in complying with the
requirements of subsection (7), the association or company and every officer of
the association or company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding
one thousand shillings for every day during which the default continues.
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(2) This section shall not apply where the memorandum itself provides for or
prohibits the alteration of all or any of the said conditions, and shall not authorize
any variation or abrogation of the special rights of any class of members.
(3) Subsections (2), (3), (4), (7) and (8) of section 8 (except paragraph (b) of the
said subsection (2)) shall apply in relation to any alteration and to any application
made under this section as they apply in relation to alterations and to applications
made under that section.
(4) This section shall apply to a company’s memorandum whether registered
before or after the commencement of this Act.
26. Copies of memorandum and articles to be given to members
(1) A company shall, on being so required by any member, send to him a
copy of the memorandum and of the articles, if any, and a copy of any written
law which alters the memorandum, subject to payment, in the case of a copy of
the memorandum and of the articles, of twenty shillings or such less sum as the
company may prescribe, and, in the case of a copy of a written law, of such sum
not exceeding the published price thereof as the company may require.
(2) If a company makes default in complying with this section, the company
and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable for each offence
to a fine not exceeding two hundred shillings.
27. Issued copies of memorandum to embody alterations
(1) Where an alteration is made in the memorandum of a company, every copy
of the memorandum issued after the date of the alteration shall be in accordance
with the alteration.
(2) If, where any such alteration has been made, the company at any time after
the date of the alteration issues any copies of the memorandum which are not in
accordance with the alteration, it shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty shillings
for each copy so issued, and every officer of the company who is in default shall
be liable to the like penalty.
Membership of Company
28. Definition of member
(1) The subscribers to the memorandum of a company shall be deemed to
have agreed to become members of the company, and on its registration shall be
entered as members in its register of members.
(2) Every other person who agrees to become a member of a company, and
whose name is entered in its register of members, shall be a member of the
company.
29. Membership of holding company
(1) Except in the cases hereafter in this section mentioned, a body corporate
cannot be a member of a company which is its holding company, and any allotment
or transfer of shares in a company to its subsidiary shall be void.
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(2) Nothing in this section shall apply where the subsidiary is concerned as
personal representative, or where it is concerned as trustee, unless the holding
company or a subsidiary thereof is beneficially interested under the trust and is not
so interested only by way of security for the purposes of a transaction entered into
by it in the ordinary course of business which includes the lending of money.
(3) This section shall not prevent a subsidiary which is, at the commencement
of this Act, a member of its holding company, from continuing to be a member but,
subject to subsection (2), the subsidiary shall have no right to vote at meetings of
the holding company or any class of members thereof.
(4) Subject to subsection (2), subsections (1) and (3) shall apply in relation to
a nominee for a body corporate which is a subsidiary, as if references in the said
subsections (1) and (3) to such a body corporate included references to a nominee
for it.
(5) In relation to a company limited by guarantee or unlimited which is a holding
company, the reference in this section to shares, whether or not the company has
a share capital, shall be construed as including a reference to the interest of its
members as such, whatever the form of that interest.
Private Companies
30. Meaning of “private company”
(1) For the purposes of this Act, “private company” means a company which
by its articles—
(a) restricts the right to transfer its shares; and
(b) limits the number of its members to fifty, not including persons who
are in the employment of the company and persons who, having
been formerly in the employment of the company, were while in
that employment, and have continued after the determination of that
employment to be, members of the company; and
(c) prohibits any invitation to the public to subscribe for any shares or
debentures of the company.
(2) Where two or more persons hold one or more shares in a company jointly,
they shall, for the purposes of this section, be treated as a single member.
31. Consequences of default in complying with conditions constituting a
company a private company
Where the articles of a company include the provisions which, under section
30, are required to be included in the articles of a company in order to constitute it
a private company but default is made in complying with any of those provisions,
the company shall cease to be entitled to any privilege or exemption conferred
on private companies under any of the provisions of this Act, and thereupon the
provisions of this Act shall apply to the company as if it were not a private company:
Provided that the court, on being satisfied that the failure to comply with the
conditions was accidental or due to inadvertence or to some other sufficient cause,
or that on other grounds it is just and equitable to grant relief, may, on the application
of the company or any other person interested and on such terms and conditions
as seem to the court just and expedient, order that the company be relieved from
such consequences as aforesaid.
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seven, and it carries on business for more than six months while the number is
so reduced, every person who is a member of the company during the time that
it so carries on business after those six months and is cognizant of the fact that it
is carrying on business with fewer than two members, or seven members, as the
case may be, shall be severally liable for the payment of the whole debts of the
company contracted during that time, and may be severally sued therefor.
Contracts, Etc.
34. Form of contracts
(1) Contracts on behalf of a company may be made as follows—
(a) a contract which if made between private persons would be by law
required to be in writing, signed by the parties to be charged therewith,
may be made on behalf of the company in writing signed by any
person acting under its authority, express or implied;
(b) a contract which if made between private persons would by law be
valid although made by parol only, and not reduced into writing, may
be made by parol on behalf of the company by any person acting
under its authority, express or implied.
(2) A contract made according to this section shall be effectual in law, and shall
bind the company and its successors and all other parties thereto.
(3) A contract made according to this section may be varied or discharged in
the same manner in which it is authorized by this section to be made.
35. Bills of exchange and promissory notes
A bill of exchange or promissory note shall be deemed to have been made,
accepted or endorsed on behalf of a company if made, accepted or endorsed in
the name of, or by or on behalf of, or on account of, the company by any person
acting under its authority, express or implied.
36. Execution of deeds abroad
(1) A company may, by writing under its common seal, empower any person,
either generally or in respect of any specified matters, as its attorney, to execute
deeds on its behalf in any place not situate in Kenya.
(2) A deed signed by such an attorney on behalf of the company and under
his seal shall bind the company and have the same effect as if it were under its
common seal.
37. Power for company to have official seal for use abroad
(1) A company whose objects require or comprise the transaction of business
outside Kenya may, if authorized by its articles, have for use in any place outside
Kenya, an official seal which shall take the form of an embossed metal die, which
shall be a facsimile of the common seal of the company, with the addition on its
face of the name of the place where it is to be used.
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(2) A deed or other document to which an official seal is duly affixed shall bind
the company as if it had been sealed with the common seal of the company.
(3) A company having an official seal for use in any place outside Kenya may,
by writing under its common seal, authorize any person appointed for the purpose
in that place to affix the official seal to any deed or other document to which the
company is party in that place.
(4) The authority of any such agent shall, as between the company and any
person dealing with the agent, continue during the period, if any, mentioned in the
instrument conferring the authority, or, if no period is there mentioned, then until
notice of the revocation or determination of the agent’s authority has been given
to the person dealing with him.
(5) The person affixing any such official seal shall, by writing under his hand,
certify on the deed or other instrument to which the seal is affixed the date on which
and the place at which it is affixed.
38. Authentication of documents
A document or proceeding requiring authentication by a company may be
signed by a director, secretary or other authorized officer of the company, and need
not be under its common seal.
PART III – SHARE CAPITAL AND DEBENTURES
Prospectus
39. Dating of prospectus
A prospectus issued by or on behalf of a company or in relation to an intended
company shall be dated, and that date shall, unless the contrary is proved, be taken
as the date of publication of the prospectus.
40. Matters to be stated and reports to be set out in prospectus
(1) Every prospectus issued by or on behalf of a company, or by or on behalf
of any person who is or has been engaged or interested in the formation of the
company, shall state the matters specified in Part I of the Third Schedule and set
out the reports specified in Part II of that Schedule and the said Parts I and II shall
have effect subject to the provisions contained in Part III of that Schedule.
(2) A condition requiring or binding an applicant for shares in or debentures of a
company to waive compliance with any requirement of this section, or purporting to
affect him with notice of any contract, document or matter not specifically referred
to in the prospectus, shall be void.
(3) It shall not be lawful to issue any form of application for shares in or
debentures of a company unless the form is issued with a prospectus which
complies with the requirements of this section:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply if it is shown that the form of
application was issued either—
(i) in connection with a bona fide invitation to a person to enter into an
underwriting agreement with respect to the shares or debentures; or
(ii) in relation to shares or debentures which were not offered to the
public.
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(2) If any prospectus is issued in contravention of this section the company and
every person who is knowingly a party to the issue thereof shall be liable to a fine
not exceeding ten thousand shillings.
(3) In this section, “expert” includes engineer, valuer, accountant and any other
person whose profession gives authority to a statement made by him.
43. Registration of prospectus
(1) No prospectus shall be issued by or on behalf of a company or in relation to
an intended company unless, on or before the date of its publication, there has been
delivered to the registrar for registration a copy thereof signed by every person who
is named therein as a director or proposed director of the company, or by his agent
authorized in writing, and having endorsed thereon or attached thereto—
(a) any consent to the issue of the prospectus required by section 42 from
any person as an expert; and
(b) in the case of a prospectus issued generally, also—
(i) a copy of any contract required by paragraph 14 of the Third
Schedule to be stated in the prospectus, or, in the case of a
contract not reduced into writing, a memorandum giving full
particulars thereof; and
(ii) where the persons making any report required by Part II of
that Schedule have made therein, or have, without giving
the reasons, indicated therein, any such adjustments as
are mentioned in paragraph 29 of that Schedule, a written
statement signed by those persons setting out the adjustments
and giving the reasons therefor.
(2) The references in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) to the
copy of a contract required thereby to be endorsed on or attached to a copy of the
prospectus shall, in the case of a contract wholly or partly in a language other than
English, be taken as references to a copy of a translation of the contract in English,
or a copy embodying a translation in English, of the parts in a language other than
English, as the case may be, being a translation certified in the prescribed manner
to be a correct translation.
(3) Every prospectus shall, on the face of it—
(a) state that a copy has been delivered for registration as required by
this section; and
(b) specify, or refer to statements included in the prospectus which
specify, any documents required by this section to be endorsed on or
attached to the copy so delivered.
(4) The registrar shall not register a prospectus unless it is dated and the
copy thereof signed in manner required by this section and unless it has endorsed
thereon or attached thereto the documents (if any) specified as aforesaid.
(5) If a prospectus is issued without a copy thereof being delivered under this
section to the registrar or without the copy so delivered having endorsed thereon
or attached thereto the required documents, the company, and every person who
is knowingly a party to the issue of the prospectus, shall be liable to a fine not
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exceeding one hundred shillings for every day from the date of the issue of
the prospectus until a copy thereof is so delivered with the required documents
endorsed thereon or attached thereto.
44. Restriction on alteration of terms mentioned in prospectus or statement
in lieu of prospectus
(1) A company limited by shares or a company limited by guarantee and having
a share capital shall not previously to the statutory meeting vary the terms of a
contract referred to in the prospectus, or statement in lieu of prospectus, except
subject to the approval of the statutory meeting.
(2) This section shall not apply to a private company.
45. Civil liability for mis-statements in prospectus
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, where a prospectus invites persons
to subscribe for shares in or debentures of a company, the following persons shall
be liable to pay compensation to all persons who subscribe for any shares or
debentures on the faith of the prospectus for the loss or damage they may have
sustained by reason of any untrue statement included therein, that is to say—
(a) every person who is a director of the company at the time of the issue
of the prospectus;
(b) every person who has authorized himself to be named and is named in
the prospectus as a director or as having agreed to become a director
either immediately or after an interval of time;
(c) every person being a promoter of the company; and
(d) every person who has authorized the issue of the prospectus:
Provided that, where under section 42 the consent of a person is required to
the issue of a prospectus and he has given that consent, he shall not by reason of
his having given it be liable under this subsection as a person who has authorized
the issue of the prospectus except in respect of an untrue statement purporting to
be made by him as an expert.
(2) No person shall be liable under subsection (1) if he proves—
(a) that, having consented to become a director of the company, he
withdrew his consent before the issue of the prospectus, and that it
was issued without his authority or consent; or
(b) that the prospectus was issued without his knowledge or consent,
and that on becoming aware of its issue he forthwith gave reasonable
public notice that it was issued without his knowledge or consent; or
(c) that, after the issue of the prospectus and before allotment
thereunder, he, on becoming aware of any untrue statement therein,
withdrew his consent thereto and gave reasonable public notice of the
withdrawal and of the reason therefor; or
(d) that—
(i) as regards every untrue statement not purporting to be made
on the authority of an expert or of a public official document or
statement, he had reasonable ground to believe, and did up to
the time of the allotment of the shares or debentures, as the
case may be, believe, that the statement was true; and
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(2) For the purposes of this Act, it shall, unless the contrary is proved, be
evidence that an allotment of, or an agreement to allot, shares or debentures was
made with a view to the shares or debentures being offered for sale to the public
if it is shown—
(a) that an offer of the shares or debentures or of any of them for sale
to the public was made within six months after the allotment or
agreement to allot; or
(b) that at the date when the offer was made the whole consideration to
be received by the company in respect of the shares or debentures
had not been so received.
(3) Section 40, as applied by this section, shall have effect as if it required a
prospectus to state in addition to the matters required by that section to be stated
in a prospectus—
(a) the net amount of the consideration received or to be received by the
company in respect of the shares or debentures to which the offer
relates; and
(b) the place and time at which the contract under which the said shares
or debentures have been or are to be allotted may be inspected,
and section 43, as applied by this section, shall have effect as though the persons
making the offer were persons named in a prospectus as directors of a company.
(4) Where a person making an offer to which this section relates is a company
or a firm, it shall be sufficient if the document aforesaid is signed on behalf of
the company or firm by two directors of the company or not less than half of the
partners, as the case may be, and any such director or partner may sign by his
agent authorized in writing.
48. Interpretation of provisions relating to prospectuses
For the purpose of the foregoing provisions of this Part—
(a) a statement included in a prospectus shall be deemed to be untrue if
it is misleading in the form and context in which it is included; and
(b) a statement shall be deemed to be included in a prospectus if it is
contained therein or in any report or memorandum appearing on the
face thereof or by reference incorporated therein or issued therewith.
Allotment
49. Prohibition of allotment unless minimum subscription received
(1) (a) No allotment shall be made of any share capital of a company offered
to the public for subscription unless the amount stated in the prospectus as the
minimum amount which, in the opinion of the directors, must be raised by the issue
of share capital in order to provide for the matters specified in paragraph 4 of the
Third Schedule has been subscribed, and the sum payable on application for the
amount so stated has been paid to and received by the company.
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(b) For the purposes of this subsection, a sum shall be deemed to have been
paid to and received by the company if a cheque for that sum has been received
in good faith by the company and the directors of the company have no reason for
suspecting that the cheque will not be paid.
(2) The amount so stated in the prospectus shall be reckoned exclusively of
any amount payable otherwise than in cash and is in this Act referred to as the
minimum subscription.
(3) The amount payable on application on each share shall not be less than
five per cent of the nominal amount of the share.
(4) If the conditions aforesaid have not been complied with on the expiration of
sixty days after the first issue of the prospectus, all money received from applicants
for shares shall be forthwith repaid to them without interest, and, if any such money
is not so repaid within seventy-five days after the issue of the prospectus, the
directors of the company shall be jointly and severally liable to repay that money
with interest at the rate of five per cent per annum from the expiration of the seventy-
fifth day:
Provided that a director shall not be liable if he proves that the default in the
repayment of the money was not due to any misconduct or negligence on his part.
(5) Any condition requiring or binding any applicant for shares to waive
compliance with any requirement of this section shall be void.
(6) This section, except subsection (3), shall not apply to any allotment
of shares subsequent to the first allotment of shares offered to the public for
subscription.
50. Prohibition of allotment in certain cases unless statement in lieu of
prospectus delivered to registrar
(1) A company having a share capital which does not issue a prospectus on
or with reference to its formation, or which has issued such a prospectus but has
not proceeded to allot any of the shares offered to the public for subscription, shall
not allot any of its shares or debentures unless at least three days before the first
allotment of either shares or debentures there has been delivered to the registrar
for registration a statement in lieu of prospectus signed by every person who is
named therein as a director or a proposed director of the company or by his agent
authorized in writing, in the form and containing the particulars set out in Part I of
the Fourth Schedule and, in the cases mentioned in Part II of that Schedule, setting
out the reports specified therein, and the said Parts I and II shall have effect subject
to the provisions contained in Part III of that Schedule.
(2) Every statement in lieu of prospectus delivered under subsection (1) shall,
where the persons making any such report as aforesaid have made therein or
have, without giving the reasons, indicated therein any such adjustments as are
mentioned in paragraph 5 of the Fourth Schedule, have endorsed thereon or
attached thereto a written statement signed by those persons setting out the
adjustments and giving the reasons therefor.
(3) This section shall not apply to a private company.
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(b) The beginning of the said third day or such later time as aforesaid is hereafter
in this Act referred to as the time of the opening of the subscription lists.
(2) In subsection (1), the reference to the day on which the prospectus is first
issued generally shall be construed as referring to the day on which it is first so
issued as a newspaper advertisement:
Provided that, if it is not so issued as a newspaper advertisement before the third
day after that on which it is first so issued in any other manner, the said reference
shall be construed as referring to the day on which it is first so issued in any manner.
(3) The validity of an allotment shall not be affected by any contravention of the
foregoing provisions of this section but, in the event of any such contravention, the
company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine
not exceeding ten thousand shillings.
(4) In the application of this section to a prospectus offering shares or
debentures for sale, subsections (1), (2) and (3) shall have effect with the
substitution of references to sale for references to allotment, and with the
substitution for the reference to the company and every officer of the company who
is in default of a reference to any person by or through whom the offer is made and
who knowingly and willfully authorizes or permits the contravention.
(5) An application for shares in or debentures of a company which is made in
pursuance of a prospectus issued generally shall not be revocable until after the
expiration of the third day after the time of the opening of the subscription lists, or
the giving before the expiration of the said third day, by some person responsible
under section 45 for the prospectus, of a public notice having the effect under that
section of excluding or limiting the responsibility of the person giving it.
(6) In reckoning, for the purposes of this section and of section 53, the third day
after another day, any intervening day which is a Saturday or Sunday or which is
a public holiday shall be disregarded, and if the third day (as so reckoned) is itself
a Saturday or Sunday or such a public holiday there shall for the said purposes be
substituted the first day thereafter which is none of them.
53. Allotment of shares and debentures to be dealt in on stock exchange
(1) Where a prospectus, whether issued generally or not, states that application
has been or will be made for permission for the shares or debentures offered
thereby to be dealt in on any stock exchange, any allotment made on an application
in pursuance of the prospectus shall, whenever made, be void if the permission has
not been applied for before the third day after the first issue of the prospectus or if
the permission has been refused before the expiration of three weeks from the date
of the closing of the subscription lists or such longer period not exceeding six weeks
as may within the said three weeks, be notified to the applicant for permission by
or on behalf of the stock exchange.
(2) Where the permission has not been applied for as aforesaid, or has been
refused as aforesaid, the company shall forthwith repay without interest all money
received from applicants in pursuance of the prospectus, and, if any such money
is not repaid within eight days after the company becomes liable to repay
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it, the directors of the company shall be jointly and severally liable to repay that
money with interest at the rate of five percent per annum from the expiration of
the eighth day:
Provided that a director shall not be liable if he proves that the default in the
repayment of the money was not due to any misconduct or negligence on his part.
(3) All money received as aforesaid shall be kept in a separate bank account
so long as the company may become liable to repay it under subsection (2); and, if
default is made in complying with this subsection, the company and every officer of
the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand
shillings.
(4) Any condition requiring or binding any applicant for shares or debentures
to waive compliance with any requirement of this section shall be void.
(5) For the purposes of this section, permission shall not be deemed to be
refused if it is intimated that the application for it, though not at present granted,
will be given further consideration.
(6) This section shall have effect—
(a) in relation to any shares or debentures agreed to be taken by a person
underwriting an offer thereof by a prospectus as if he had applied
therefor in pursuance of the prospectus; and
(b) in relation to a prospectus offering shares for sale with the following
modifications, that is to say—
(i) references to sale shall be substituted for references to
allotment;
(ii) the persons by whom the offer is made, and not the company,
shall be liable under subsection (2) to repay money received
from applicants, and references to the company’s liability under
that subsection shall be construed accordingly; and
(iii) for the reference in subsection (3) to the company and
every officer of the company who is in default there shall be
substituted a reference to any person by or through whom the
offer is made and who knowingly and wilfully authorizes or
permits the default.
54. Return as to allotments
(1) Whenever a company limited by shares or a company limited by guarantee
and having a share capital makes any allotment of its shares, the company shall
within sixty days thereafter deliver to the registrar for registration—
(a) a return of the allotments, stating the number and nominal amount
of the shares comprised in the allotment, the names, addresses and
descriptions of the allottees, and the amount, if any, paid or due and
payable on each share; and
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(b) in the case of shares allotted as fully or partly paid up otherwise than
in cash, a contract in writing constituting the title of the allottee to
the allotment together with any contract of sale, or for services or
other consideration in respect of which that allotment was made, such
contracts being duly stamped, and a return stating the number and
nominal amount of shares so allotted, the extent to which they are
to be treated as paid up, and the consideration for which they have
been allotted.
(2) Where such a contract as above-mentioned is not reduced to writing,
the company shall within sixty days after the allotment deliver to the registrar for
registration the prescribed particulars of the contract stamped with the same stamp
duty as would have been payable if the contract had been reduced to writing,
and those particulars shall be deemed to be an instrument within the meaning of
the Stamp Duty Act (Cap. 480), and the registrar may as a condition of filing the
particulars, require that the duty payable thereon be adjudicated under section 17
of that Act.
(3) If default is made in complying with this section, every officer of the company
who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred shillings for
every day during which the default continues.
Commissions and Discounts, Etc.
55. Power to pay certain commissions, and prohibition of payment of all
other commissions, discounts, etc.
(1) It shall be lawful for a company to pay a commission to any person in
consideration of his subscribing or agreeing to subscribe, whether absolutely or
conditionally, for any shares in the company, or procuring or agreeing to procure
subscriptions, whether absolute or conditional, for any shares in the company if—
(a) the payment of the commission is authorized by the articles; and
(b) the commission paid or agreed to be paid does not exceed ten per
cent of the price at which the shares are issued or the amount or rate
authorized by the articles, whichever is the less; and
(c) the amount or rate per cent of the commission paid or agreed to be
paid is—
(i) in the case of shares offered to the public for subscription,
disclosed in the prospectus; or
(ii) in the case of shares not offered to the public for subscription
disclosed in the statement in lieu of prospectus, or in a
statement in the prescribed form signed in like manner as
a statement in lieu of prospectus and delivered before the
payment of the commission to the registrar for registration,
and, where a circular or notice, not being a prospectus, inviting
subscription for the shares is issued, also disclosed in that
circular or notice; and
(d) the number of shares which persons have agreed for a commission
to subscribe absolutely is disclosed in manner aforesaid.
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(2) Save as aforesaid, no company shall apply any of its shares or capital
money either directly or indirectly in payment of any commission, discount or
allowance, to any person in consideration of his subscribing or agreeing to
subscribe, whether absolutely or conditionally, for any shares of the company, or
procuring or agreeing to procure subscriptions, whether absolute or conditional, for
any shares in the company, whether the shares or money be so applied by being
added to the purchase money of any property acquired by the company or to the
contract price of any work to be executed for the company, or the money be paid
out of the nominal purchase money or contract price, or otherwise.
(3) Nothing in this section shall affect the power of any company to pay such
brokerage as it has heretofore been lawful for a company to pay.
(4) A vendor to, or promoter of, or other person who receives payment in money
or shares from, a company shall have and shall be deemed always to have had
power to apply any part of the money or shares so received in payment of any
commission, the payment of which, if made directly by the company, would have
been legal under this section.
(5) If default is made in complying with the provisions of this section relating to
the delivery to the registrar of the statement in the prescribed form, the company
and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not
exceeding five hundred shillings.
56. Prohibition of provision of financial assistance by company for purchase
of or subscription for its own, or its holding company’s shares
(1) Subject as provided in this section, it shall not be lawful for a company to
give, whether directly or indirectly, and whether by means of a loan, guarantee, the
provision of security or otherwise, any financial assistance for the purpose of or in
connection with a purchase or subscription made or to be made by any person of
or for any shares in the company, or, where the company is a subsidiary company,
in its holding company:
Provided that nothing in this section shall be taken to prohibit—
(i) where the lending of money is part of the ordinary business of a
company, the lending of money by the company in the ordinary course
of its business;
(ii) the provision by a company, in accordance with any scheme for the
time being in force, of money for the purchase of, or subscription
for, fully-paid shares in the company or its holding company, being a
purchase or subscription by trustees of or for shares to be held by or
for the benefit of employees of the company, including any director
holding a salaried employment or office in the company;
(iii) the making by a company of loans to persons, other than directors,
bona fide in the employment of the company with a view to enabling
those persons to purchase or subscribe for fully-paid shares in the
company or its holding company to be held by themselves by way of
beneficial ownership.
(2) If a company acts in contravention of this section, the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty
thousand shillings.
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(3) Where a company has before the commencement of this Act issued any
shares at a premium, this section shall apply as if the shares had been issued after
the commencement of this Act:
Provided that any part of the premiums which has been so applied that
it does not at the commencement of this Act from an identifiable part of the
company’s reserves within the meaning of the Sixth Schedule shall be disregarded
in determining the sum to be included in the share premium account.
59. Power to issue shares at a discount
(1) Subject as provided in this section, it shall be lawful for a company to issue
at a discount shares in the company of a class already issued:
Provided that—
(i) the issue of the shares at a discount shall be authorized by resolution
passed in general meeting of the company, and shall be sanctioned
by the court; and
(ii) the resolution shall specify the maximum rate of discount at which the
shares are to be issued; and
(iii) not less than one year shall, at the date of the issue, have elapsed
since the date on which the company was entitled to commence
business; and
(iv) the shares to be issued at a discount shall be issued within one month
after the date on which the issue is sanctioned by the court or within
such extended time as the court may allow.
(2) Where a company has passed a resolution authorizing the issue of shares
at a discount, it may apply to the court for an order sanctioning the issue, and on
any such application the court, if, having regard to all the circumstances of the
case, it thinks proper so to do, may make an order sanctioning the issue on such
terms and conditions as it thinks fit.
(3) (a) Every prospectus relating to the issue of the shares must contain
particulars of the discount allowed on the issue of the shares or of so much of that
discount as has not been written off at the date of the issue of the prospectus.
(b) If default is made in complying with this subsection, the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
60. Power to issue redeemable preference shares
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a company limited by shares may,
if so authorized by its articles, issue preference shares which are, or at the option
of the company are to be liable, to be redeemed:
Provided that—
(i) no such shares shall be redeemed except out of profits of the
company which would otherwise be available for dividend or out of
the proceeds of a fresh issue of shares made for the purposes of the
redemption;
(ii) no such shares shall be redeemed unless they are fully paid;
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(iii) the premium, if any, payable on redemption, must have been provided
for out of the profits of the company or out of the company’s share
premium account before the shares are redeemed;
(iv) where any such shares are redeemed otherwise than out of the
proceeds of a fresh issue, there shall out of profits which would
otherwise have been available for dividend be transferred to a reserve
fund, to be called the capital redemption reserve fund, a sum equal to
the nominal amount of the shares redeemed, and the provisions of this
Act relating to the reduction of the share capital of a company shall,
except as provided in this section, apply as if the capital redemption
reserve fund were paid-up share capital of the company.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, the redemption of preference shares
thereunder may be effected on such terms and in such manner as may be provided
by the articles of the company.
(3) The redemption of preference shares under this section by a company shall
not be taken as reducing the amount of the company’s authorized share capital.
(4) Where in pursuance of this section a company has redeemed or is about
to redeem any preference shares, it shall have power to issue shares up to the
nominal amount of the shares redeemed or to be redeemed as if those shares had
never been issued, and accordingly the share capital of the company shall not for
the purpose of any enactments relating to stamp duty be deemed to be increased
by the issue of shares in pursuance of this subsection:
Provided that, where new shares are issued before the redemption of the old
shares, the new shares shall not, so far as relates to stamp duty, be deemed to have
been issued in pursuance of this subsection unless the old shares are redeemed
within one month after the issue of the new shares.
(5) The capital redemption reserve fund may, notwithstanding anything in this
section, be applied by the company in paying up unissued shares of the company
to be issued to members of the company as fully paid bonus shares.
Miscellaneous Provisions as to Share Capital
61. Power of company to arrange for different amounts being paid on shares
A company, if so authorized by its articles, may do any one or more of the
following things—
(a) make arrangements on the issue of shares for a difference between
the shareholders in the amounts and times of payment of calls on their
shares;
(b) accept from any member the whole or a part of the amount remaining
unpaid on any shares held by him, although no part of that amount
has been called up;
(c) pay dividend in proportion to the amount paid up on each share where
a larger amount is paid up on some shares than on others.
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section mentioned, and may charge the sum so paid by way of interest to capital,
as part of the cost of construction of the work or building, or the provision of plant:
Provided that—
(i) no such payment shall be made unless it is authorized by the articles
or by special resolution;
(ii) no such payment, whether authorized by the articles or by special
resolution, shall be made without the previous sanction of the
registrar;
(iii) before sanctioning any such payment the registrar may, at the
expense of the company, appoint a person to inquire and report to
him as to the circumstances of the case, and may, before making the
appointment, require the company to give security for the payment of
the costs of the inquiry;
(iv) the payment shall be made only for such period as may be determined
by the registrar, and that period shall in no case extend beyond the
close of the half-year next after the half-year during which the works
or buildings have been actually completed or the plant provided;
(v) the rate of interest shall in no case exceed five per cent per annum
or such other rate as the Minister may for the time being by notice in
the Gazette prescribe;
(vi) the payment of the interest shall not operate as a reduction of the
amount paid up on the shares in respect of which it is paid.
Reduction of Share Capital
68. Special resolution for reduction of share capital
(1) Subject to confirmation by the court, a company limited by shares or a
company limited by guarantee and having a share capital may, if so authorized
by its articles, by special resolution reduce its share capital in any way, and in
particular, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, may—
(a) extinguish or reduce the liability on any of its shares in respect of share
capital not paid up; or
(b) either with or without extinguishing or reducing liability on any
of its shares, cancel any paid-up share capital which is lost or
unrepresented by available assets; or
(c) either with or without extinguishing or reducing liability on any of its
shares, pay off any paid-up share capital which is in excess of the
wants of the company,
and may, if and so far as is necessary, alter its memorandum by reducing the
amount of its share capital and of its shares accordingly.
(2) A special resolution under this section is in this Act referred to as a resolution
for reducing share capital.
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proceedings for reduction, or of their nature and effect with respect to his claim,
not entered on the list of creditors, and, after the reduction, the company is unable,
within the meaning of the provisions of this Act with respect to winding up by the
court, to pay the amount of his debt or claim, then—
(i) every person who was a member of the company at the dale of
the registration of the order for reduction and minute, shall be liable
to contribute for the payment of that debt or claim an amount not
exceeding the amount which he would have been liable to contribute
if the company had commenced to be wound up on the day before
the said date; and
(ii) if the company is wound up, the court, on the application of any such
creditor and proof of his ignorance as aforesaid, may, if it thinks fit,
settle accordingly a list of persons so liable to contribute, and make
and enforce calls and orders on the contributories settled on the list,
as if they were ordinary contributories in a winding up.
(2) Nothing in this section shall affect the rights of the contributories among
themselves.
73. Penalty for concealing name of creditor, etc.
If any officer of the company—
(a) wilfully conceals the name of any creditor entitled to object to the
reduction; or
(b) wilfully misrepresents the nature or amount of the debt or claim of any
creditor; or
(c) aids, abets or is privy to any such concealment or misrepresentation
as aforesaid,
he shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to a fine
not exceeding two thousand shillings, or to both such imprisonment and such fine.
Variation of Shareholders’ Rights
74. Rights of holders of special classes of shares
(1) If in the case of a company, the share capital of which is divided into different
classes of shares, provision is made by the memorandum or articles for authorizing
the variation of the rights attached to any class of shares in the company, subject to
the consent of any specified proportion of the holders of the issued shares of that
class or the sanction of a resolution passed at a separate meeting of the holders
of those shares, and in pursuance of the said provision the rights attached to any
such class of shares are at any time varied, the holders of not less in the aggregate
than fifteen per cent of the issued shares of that class, being persons who did not
consent to or vote in favour of the resolution for the variation, may apply to the
court to have the variation cancelled, and, where any such application is made, the
variation shall not have effect unless and until it is confirmed by the court.
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(2) An application under this section shall be made by petition within thirty days
after the date on which the consent was given or the resolution was passed, as
the case may be, and may be made on behalf of the shareholders entitled to make
the application by such one or more of their number as they may appoint in writing
for the purpose.
(3) On any such application, the court, after hearing the applicant and any other
persons who apply to the court to be heard and appear to the court to be interested
in the application, may, if it is satisfied, having regard to all the circumstances of
the case, that the variation would unfairly prejudice the shareholders of the class
represented by the applicant, disallow the variation, and shall, if not so satisfied,
confirm the variation.
(4) The decision of the court on any such application shall be final.
(5) The company shall within thirty days after the making of an order by the
court on any such application forward a certified copy of the order to the registrar,
and, if default is made in complying with this provision, the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
(6) In this section, “variation” includes abrogation, and “varied” shall be
construed accordingly.
Transfer of Shares and Debentures, Evidence of Title, Etc.
75. Nature of shares
The shares or other interest of any member in a company shall be movable
property transferable in manner provided by the articles of the company.
76. Numbering of shares
Each share in a company having a share capital shall be distinguished by its
appropriate number:
Provided that, if at any time all the issued shares in a company, or all the issued
shares therein of a particular class, are fully paid up and rank pari passu for all
purposes, none of those shares need thereafter have a distinguishing number so
long as it remains fully paid up and ranks pari passu for all purposes with all shares
of the same class for the time being issued and fully paid up.
76A. Deleted by Act No. 6 of 1994, s. 75.
77. Transfer not to be registered except on production of instrument of
transfer
Notwithstanding anything in the articles of a company, it shall not be lawful for
the company to register a transfer of shares in or debentures of the company unless
a proper instrument of transfer has been delivered to the company:
Provided that nothing in this section shall prejudice any power of the company
to register as shareholder or debenture holder any person to whom the right to any
shares in or debentures of the company has been transmitted by operation of law.
[Act No. 4 of 1974, Sch., Act No. 6 of 1994, s. 75(b).]
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have the effect of exempting a trustee thereof from or indemnifying him against
liability for breach of trust where he fails to show the degree of care and diligence
required of him as trustee, having regard to the provisions of the trust deed
conferring on him any powers, authorities or discretions.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not invalidate—
(a) any release otherwise validly given in respect of anything done or
omitted to be done by a trustee before the giving of the release; or
(b) any provision enabling such a release to be given—
(i) on the agreement thereto of a majority of not less than three-
fourths in value of the debenture holders present and voting in
person or, where proxies are permitted, by proxy at a meeting
summoned for the purpose; and
(ii) either with respect to specific acts or omissions or on the trustee
dying or ceasing to act.
(3) Subsection (1) shall not operate—
(a) to invalidate any provision in force at the commencement of this Act
so long as any person then entitled to the benefit of that provision or
afterwards given the benefit thereof under subsection (4) remains a
trustee of the deed in question; or
(b) to deprive any person of any exemption or right to be indemnified in
respect of anything done or omitted to be done by him while any such
provision was in force.
(4) While any trustee of a trust deed remains entitled to the benefit of a provision
saved by subsection (3), the benefit of that provision may be given either—
(a) to all trustees of the deed, present and future; or
(b) to any named trustees or proposed trustees thereof,
by a resolution passed by a majority of not less than three-fourths in value of the
debenture holders present in person or, where proxies are permitted, by proxy at a
meeting summoned for the purpose in accordance with the provisions of the deed
or, if the deed makes no provision for summoning meetings, a meeting summoned
for the purpose in any manner approved by the court.
91. Perpetual debentures
A condition contained in any debentures or in any deed for securing any
debentures, whether issued or executed before or after the commencement of
this Act, shall not be invalid by reason only that the debentures are thereby made
irredeemable or redeemable only on the happening of a contingency, however
remote, or on the expiration of a period, however long, any rule of equity to the
contrary notwithstanding.
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(8) Where any commission, allowance or discount has been paid or made either
directly or indirectly by a company to any person in consideration of his subscribing
or agreeing to subscribe, whether absolutely or conditionally, for any debentures of
the company, or procuring or agreeing to procure subscriptions, whether absolute
or conditional, for any such debentures, the particulars required to be sent for
registration under this section shall include particulars as to the amount or rate per
cent of the commission, discount or allowance so paid or made, but omission to do
this shall not affect the validity of the debentures issued:
Provided that the deposit of any debentures as security for any debt of the
company shall not for the purposes of this subsection be treated as the issue of
the debentures at a discount.
(9) In this Part—
(a) “charge” includes mortgage;
(b) “the fixed date” means, in relation to the charges specified in
paragraphs (a) to (f), both inclusive, of subsection (2), the 1st April,
1922, and in relation to the charges specified in paragraphs (g) to (i),
both inclusive, of that subsection, 1st January, 1934;
(c) a charge shall be deemed to be created in the case of an instrument
creating a charge on the date of the execution thereof by or on behalf
of the company, and in the case of a charge created by deposit of title
deeds on the date of the deposit thereof.
[Act No. 25 of 1963, Sch., Act No. 19 of 1985, Sch.]
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to be a correct copy) of the instrument, if any, by which the charge was created
or evidenced, to be delivered to the registrar for registration within forty-two days
after the date on which the acquisition is completed:
Provided that, if the property is situate and the charge was created outside
Kenya, forty-two days after the date on which the copy of the instrument could in
due course of post, and if despatched with due diligence, have been received in
Kenya shall be substituted for forty-two days after the completion of the acquisition
as the time within which the particulars and the copy of the instrument are to be
delivered to the registrar.
(2) If default is made in complying with this section the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine of one
thousand shillings.
99. Certificate of registration of charge
The registrar shall give a certificate under his hand of the registration of
any charge registered in pursuance of and within any period allowed under this
Part, stating the amount thereby secured, and the certificate shall be conclusive
evidence that the requirements of this Part as to registration have been complied
with.
100. Endorsement of certificate of registration on debentures
(1) The company shall cause a copy of every certificate of registration given
under section 99 to be endorsed on every debenture or certificate of debenture
stock which is issued by the company, and the payment of which is secured by the
charge so registered:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring a
company to cause a certificate of registration of any charge so given to be endorsed
on any debenture or certificate of debenture stock issued by the company before
the charge was created.
(2) If any person knowingly and wilfully authorizes or permits the delivery of
any debenture or certificate of debenture stock which under the provisions of this
section is required to have endorsed on it a copy of a certificate of registration
without the copy being so endorsed upon it, he shall, without prejudice to any other
liability, be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand shillings.
101. Registration of satisfaction and release of property from charge
The registrar on evidence being given to his satisfaction with respect to any
registered charge—
(a) that the debt for which the charge was given has been paid or satisfied
in whole or in part; or
(b) that part of the property or undertaking charged has been released
from the charge or has ceased to form part of the company’s property
or undertaking,
may register a memorandum of satisfaction in whole or in part, or of the fact that part
of the property or undertaking has been released from the charge or has ceased
to form part of the company’s property or undertaking, as the case may be, and
where he registers a memorandum of satisfaction in whole he shall, if required,
furnish the company with a copy thereof.
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(b) shall have its name engraven in legible roman letters on its seal which
shall take the form of an embossed metal die; and
(c) shall have its name mentioned in legible roman letters in all business
letters of the company and in all notices and other official publications
of the company, and in all bills of exchange, promissory notes,
endorsements, cheques and orders for money or goods purporting to
be signed by or on behalf of the company, and in all bills of parcels,
invoices, receipts and letters of credit of the company.
(2) If a company does not paint or affix its name in manner directed by this
Act, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable
to a fine not exceeding one hundred shillings and if a company does not keep its
name painted or affixed in manner so directed, the company and every officer of
the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
(3) If a company fails to comply with paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (1), the
company shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand shillings.
(4) If an officer of a company or any person on its behalf—
(a) uses or authorizes the use of any seal purporting to be a seal of the
company whereon its name is not so engraven as aforesaid or which
is not in the form of an embossed metal die; or
(b) issues or authorizes the issue of any business letter of the company
or any notice or other official publication of the company, or signs or
authorizes to be signed on behalf of the company any bill of exchange,
promissory note, endorsement, cheque or order for money or goods
wherein its name is not mentioned in manner aforesaid; or
(c) issues or authorizes the issue of any bill of parcels, invoice, receipt
or letter of credit of the company wherein its name is not mentioned
in manner aforesaid,
he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand shillings, and shall further
be personally liable to the holder of the bill of exchange, promissory note, cheque
or order for money or goods for the amount thereof unless it is duly paid by the
company.
Statement of Amount of Paid-up Capital
110. Statement of amount of capital subscribed and amount paid up
(1) Where any notice, advertisement or other official publication of a company
contains a statement of the amount of the authorized capital of the company, such
notice, advertisement, or other official publication shall also contain a statement in
an equally prominent position and in equally conspicuous characters of the amount
of the capital which has been subscribed and the amount paid up.
(2) Any company which makes default in complying with the requirements of
this section and every officer who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding
one thousand shillings.
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general meeting may impose, so that not less than two hours in each day be
allowed for inspection) be open to the inspection of any member without charge and
of any other person on payment of two shillings, or such less sum as the company
may prescribe, for each inspection.
(2) (a) Any member or other person may require a copy of the register, or of
any part thereof, on payment of one shilling or such less sum as the company may
prescribe, for every hundred words or fractional part thereof required to be copied.
(b) The company shall cause any copy so required by any person to be sent to
that person within a period of fourteen days commencing on the day next after the
day on which the requirement is received by the company.
(3) If any inspection required under this section is refused or if any copy required
under this section is not sent within the proper period, the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable in respect of each offence to
a fine not exceeding forty shillings and further to a default fine of forty shillings.
(4) In the case of any such refusal or default, the court may by order compel
an immediate inspection of the register and index or direct that the copies required
shall be sent to the person requiring them.
116. Consequences of failure to comply with requirements as to register
owing to agent’s default
Where, by virtue of paragraph (ii) of the proviso to subsection (2) of section
112, the register of members is kept at the office of some person other than the
company, and by reason of any default of his the company fails to comply with
subsection (3) of that section, subsection (3) of section 113, or section 115 or with
any requirements of this Act as to the production of the register, that other person
shall be liable to the same penalties as if he were an officer of the company who
was in default, and the power of the court under subsection (4) of section 115
shall extend to the making of orders against that other person and his officers and
servants.
117. Power to close register
A company may, on giving notice by advertisement in some newspaper
circulating in Kenya or in that area of Kenya in which the registered office of
the company is situate, close the register of members for any time or times not
exceeding in the whole thirty days in each year.
118. Power of court to rectify register
(1) If—
(a) the name of any person is, without sufficient cause, entered in or
omitted from the register of members of a company; or
(b) default is made or unnecessary delay takes place in entering on the
register the fact of any person having ceased to be a member,
the person aggrieved, or any member of the company, or the company, may apply
to the court for the rectification of the register.
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(2) Where an application is made under this section, the court may either
refuse the application or may order rectification of the register and payment by the
company of any damages sustained by any party aggrieved.
(3) On an application under this section the court may decide any question
relating to the title of any person who is a party to the application to have his
name entered in or omitted from the register, whether the question arises between
members or alleged members, or between members or alleged members on the
one hand and the company on the other hand, and generally may decide any
question necessary or expedient to be decided for rectification of the register.
(4) In the case of a company required by this Act to send a list of its members to
the registrar, the court, when making an order for rectification of the register shall
by its order direct notice of the rectification to be given to the registrar.
119. Trusts not to be entered on register
No notice of any trust, expressed, implied or constructive, shall be entered on
the register, or be receivable by the registrar.
120. Register to be evidence
The register of members shall be prima facie evidence of any matters by this
Act directed or authorized to be inserted therein.
Branch Register
121. Power for company to keep branch register
(1) A company having a share capital may, if so authorized by its articles, cause
to be kept in any part of the Commonwealth outside Kenya a branch register of
members resident in that part of the Commonwealth (in this Act called a branch
register).
(2) The company shall give to the registrar notice of the situation of the office
where any branch register is kept, and of any change in its situation, and if it is
discontinued, of its discontinuance, and any such notice shall be given within one
month of the opening of the office or of the change or discontinuance, as the case
may be.
(3) If default is made in complying with subsection (2), the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
122. Regulations as to branch register
(1) A branch register shall be deemed to be part of the company’s register of
members (in this section called the principal register).
(2) A branch register shall be kept in the same manner in which the principal
register is by this Act required to be kept, except that the advertisement required
by section 117 to be given before closing the register shall be inserted in some
newspaper circulating in the area where the branch register is kept.
(3) The company shall—
(a) transmit to its registered office a copy of every entry in its branch
register as soon as may be after the entry is made; and
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(b) cause to be kept at the place where the company’s principal register
is kept a duplicate of its branch register duly entered up from time to
time,
and every such duplicate shall for all the purposes of this Act be deemed to be part
of the principal register.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this section with respect to the duplicate register,
the shares registered in a branch register shall be distinguished from the shares
registered in the principal register, and no transaction with respect to any shares
registered in a branch register shall, during the continuance of that registration, be
registered in any other register.
(5) A company may discontinue to keep a branch register, and thereupon all
entries in that register shall be transferred to the principal register.
(6) Subject to the provisions of this Act, any company may, by its articles, make
such provisions as it may think fit respecting the keeping of branch registers.
(7) If default is made in complying with subsection (3), the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine; and where,
by virtue of paragraph (ii) of the proviso to subsection (2) of section 112, the
principal register is kept at the office of some person other than the company and
by reason of any default of his the company fails to comply with paragraph (b) of
subsection (3) of this section, he shall be liable to the same penalty as if he were
an officer of the company who was in default.
123. Stamp duty in case of transfer of shares registered in branch registers
An instrument of transfer of a share registered in a branch register shall be
deemed to be a transfer of property situate out of Kenya, and, unless executed in
any part of Kenya, shall be exempt from stamp duty chargeable in Kenya.
124. Provisions as to branch registers of Commonwealth companies kept
in Kenya
If by virtue of the law in force in any part of the Commonwealth companies
incorporated under that law have power to keep in Kenya branch registers of their
members resident in Kenya, the Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, direct that
subsection (2) of section 112, except the proviso thereto, and sections 115 and 118,
shall, subject to any modifications and adaptations specified in the notice, apply to
and in relation to any such branch registers kept in Kenya as they apply to and in
relation to the registers of companies within the meaning of this Act.
Annual Return
125. Annual return to be made by company having a share capital
(1) Every company having a share capital shall, once at least in every year,
make a return containing, with respect to the registered office of the company,
registers of members and debenture holders, shares and debentures,
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indebtedness, past and present members and directors and secretary, the matters
specified in Part I of the Fifth Schedule, and the said return shall be in the form and
shall be made up to the date set out in Part II of that Schedule or as near thereto
as circumstances admit:
Provided that—
(i) a company need not make a return under this subsection either in the
year of its incorporation or, if it is not required by section 131 to hold
an annual general meeting during the following year in that year;
(ii) where the company has converted any of its shares into stock the list
referred to in paragraph 5 of Part I of the Fifth Schedule shall state
the amount of stock held by each of the existing members instead of
the amount of shares and the particulars relating to shares required
by that paragraph;
(iii) the return may, in any year, if the return for either of the two
immediately preceding years has given as at the date of that return the
full particulars required by the said paragraph 5, give only such of the
particulars required by that paragraph as relate to persons ceasing
to be or becoming members since the date of the last return and to
shares transferred since that date or to changes as compared with
that date in the amount of stock held by a member.
(2) In the case of a company keeping a branch register—
(a) references in paragraph (iii) of the proviso to subsection (1) to the
particulars required by paragraph 5 of Part I of the Fifth Schedule shall
be taken as not including any such particulars contained in the branch
register, in so far as copies of the entries containing those particulars
are not received at the registered office of the company before the
date when the return in question is made; and
(b) where an annual return is made between the date when any entries
are made in the branch register and the date when copies of those
entries are received at the registered office of the company the
particulars contained in those entries, so far as relevant to an annual
return, shall be included in the next or a subsequent annual return as
may be appropriate having regard to the particulars included in that
return with respect to the company’s register of members.
(3) If a company fails to comply with this section, the company and every officer
of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
(4) For the purposes of this section and of Part I of the Fifth Schedule, “director”
and “officer” include any person in accordance with whose directions or instructions
the directors of the company are accustomed to act.
126. Annual return to be made by company not having a share capital
(1) Every company not having a share capital shall once at least in every
calendar year make a return stating—
(a) the situation of the registered office of the company and the registered
postal address thereof;
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(b) in a case in which the register of members is, under the provisions of
this Act, kept elsewhere than at the registered office, the address of
the place where it is kept;
(c) in a case in which any register of holders of debentures of a company
or part of any such register is, under the provisions of this Act, kept,
in Kenya, elsewhere than at the registered office of the company, the
address of the place where it is kept; and
(d) all such particulars with respect to the persons who at the date of the
return are the directors of the company and any person who at that
date is secretary of the company as are by this Act required to be
contained with respect to directors and the secretary respectively in
the register of directors and secretaries of a company:
Provided that a company need not make a return under this subsection either in
the year of its incorporation or, if it is not required by section 131 to hold an annual
general meeting during the following year, in that year.
(2) There shall be annexed to the return a statement containing particulars of
the total amount of the indebtedness of the company in respect of all mortgages
and charges which are required to be registered with the registrar under this Act,
or which would have been required so to be registered if created after the 1st April,
1922.
(3) If a company fails to comply with this section, the company and every officer
of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
(4) For the purposes of this section, “officer” and “director” include any person
in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the company
are accustomed to act.
127. Time for completion of annual return
(1) The annual return shall be completed within forty-two days after the annual
general meeting for the year, whether or not that meeting is the first or only ordinary
general meeting, or the first or only general meeting, of the company in the year,
and the company shall within such period deliver to the registrar a copy signed
both by a director and by the secretary of the company.
(2) (a) If a company fails to comply with this section, the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
(b) For the purposes of this subsection, “officer” includes any person in
accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the company are
accustomed to act.
128. Documents to be annexed to annual return
(1) There shall be annexed to the annual return—
(a) a copy, certified both by a director and by the secretary of the
company to be a true copy, of every balance sheet laid before the
company in general meeting during the period to which the return
relates (including every document required by law to be annexed to
the balance sheet); and
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(b) a copy, certified as aforesaid, of the report of the auditors on, and of
the report of the directors accompanying, each such balance sheet,
and, where any such balance sheet or document required by law to be annexed
thereto is in a foreign language, there shall be annexed to that balance sheet a
translation in the English language of the balance sheet or document certified in
the prescribed manner to be a correct translation.
(2) If any such balance sheet as aforesaid or document required by law to be
annexed thereto did not comply with the requirements of the law as in force at the
date of the audit with respect to the form of balance sheets or documents aforesaid,
as the case may be, there shall be made such additions to and corrections in the
copy as would have been required to be made in the balance sheet or document
in order to make it comply with the said requirements, and the fact that the copy
has been so amended shall be stated thereon.
(3) (a) If a company fails to comply with this section, the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
(b) For the purposes of this subsection, “officer” includes any person in
accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the company are
accustomed to act.
(4) The provisions of subsection (1) shall not apply to a private company unless
at least one shareholder is a company which is not a private company.
129. Certificates to be sent by private company with annual return
The annual return required by section 125 shall, in the case of a private
company, be endorsed with or accompanied by a certificate signed both by a
director and by the secretary of the company that the company has not, since
the date of the incorporation of the company, issued any invitation to the public to
subscribe for any shares or debentures of the company, and, where the annual
return discloses the fact that the number of members of the company exceeds fifty,
also a certificate so signed that the excess consists wholly of persons who under
paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 30 are not to be included in reckoning
the number of fifty.
Meetings and Proceedings
130. Statutory meeting and statutory report
(1) Every company limited by shares and every company limited by guarantee
and having a share capital shall, within a period of not less than one month nor more
than three months from the date at which the company is entitled to commence
business, hold a general meeting of the members of the company, which shall be
called the statutory meeting.
(2) The directors shall, at least fourteen days before the day on which the
meeting is held, forward a report (in this Act referred to as the statutory report) to
every member of the company:
Provided that if the statutory report is forwarded later than is required by
this subsection, it shall, notwithstanding that fact, be deemed to have been duly
forwarded if it is so agreed by all the members entitled to attend and vote at the
meeting.
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(3) The statutory report shall be certified by not less than two directors of the
company and shall state—
(a) the total number of shares allotted, distinguishing shares allotted as
fully or partly paid up otherwise than in cash, and stating in the case
of shares partly paid up the extent to which they are so paid up, and
in either case the consideration for which they have been allotted;
(b) the total amount of cash received by the company in respect of all the
shares allotted, distinguished as aforesaid;
(c) an abstract of the receipts of the company and of the payments made
thereout, up to a date within seven days of the date of the report,
exhibiting under distinctive headings the receipts of the company
from shares and debentures and other sources, the payments made
thereout, and particulars concerning the balance remaining in hand,
and an account or estimate of the preliminary expenses of the
company;
(d) the names, postal addresses and descriptions of the directors,
auditors, if any, managers, if any, and secretary of the company; and
(e) the particulars of any contract the modification of which is to be
submitted to the meeting for its approval, together with the particulars
of the modification or proposed modification.
(4) The statutory report shall, so far as it relates to shares allotted by the
company, and to the cash received in respect of such shares, and to the receipts
and payments of the company on capital account, be certified as correct by the
auditors, if any, of the company.
(5) The directors shall cause a copy of the statutory report, certified as required
by this section, to be delivered to the registrar for registration forthwith after the
sending thereof to the members of the company.
(6) The directors shall cause a list showing the names and postal addresses of
the members of the company, and the number of shares held by them respectively,
to be produced at the commencement of the meeting and to remain open and
accessible to any member of the company during the continuance of the meeting.
(7) The members of the company present at the meeting shall be at liberty to
discuss any matter relating to the formation of the company, or arising out of the
statutory report, whether previous notice has been given or not, but no resolution
of which notice has not been given in accordance with the articles may be passed.
(8) The meeting may adjourn from time to time, and at any adjourned meeting
any resolution of which notice has been given in accordance with the articles, either
before or subsequently to the former meeting, may be passed, and the adjourned
meeting shall have the same powers as an original meeting.
(9) In the event of any default in complying with the provisions of this section,
every director of the company who is knowingly and wilfully guilty of the default,
or, in the case of default by the company, every officer of the company who is in
default, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand shillings.
(10) This section shall not apply to a private company.
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(3) If the directors do not within twenty-one days from the date of the deposit
of the requisition proceed duly to convene a meeting, the requisitionists, or any of
them representing more than one-half of the total voting rights of all of them, may
themselves convene a meeting, but any meeting so convened shall not be held
after the expiration of three months from the said date.
(4) A meeting convened under this section by the requisitionists shall be
convened in the same manner, as nearly as possible, as that in which meetings
are to be convened by directors.
(5) Any reasonable expenses incurred by the requisitionists by reason of
the failure of the directors duly to convene a meeting shall be repaid to the
requisitionists by the company, and any sum so repaid shall be retained by the
company out of any sums due or to become due from the company by way of fees
or other remuneration in respect of their services to such of the directors as were
in default.
(6) For the purposes of this section the directors shall, in the case of a meeting
at which a resolution is to be proposed as a special resolution, be deemed not
to have duly convened the meeting if they do not give such notice thereof as is
required by section 141.
133. Length of notice for calling meetings
(1) (a) Any Provision of a company’s articles shall be void in so far as it provides
for the calling of a meeting of the company (other than an adjourned meeting) by
a shorter notice than twenty-one days.
(b) Every such notice shall be in writing.
(2) Save in so far as the articles of a company make other provision in that
behalf (not being a provision avoided by subsection (1)) a meeting of the company
(other than an adjourned meeting) may be called by twenty-one days notice in
writing.
(3) A meeting of a company shall, notwithstanding that it is called by shorter
notice than that specified in subsection (2) or in the company’s articles, as the case
may be, be deemed to have been duly called if it is so agreed—
(a) in the case of a meeting called as the annual general meeting, by all
the members entitled to attend and vote thereat; and
(b) in the case of any other meeting, by a majority in number of the
members having a right to attend and vote at the meeting, being a
majority together holding not less than ninety-five per cent in nominal
value of the shares giving a right to attend and vote at the meeting,
or, in the case of a company not having a share capital, together
representing not less than ninety-five per cent of the total voting rights
at that meeting of all the members.
134. General provisions as to meetings and votes
The following provisions shall have effect in so far as the articles of the company
do not make other provision in that behalf—
(a) notice of the meeting of a company shall be served on every member
of the company in the manner in which notices are required to be
served by Table A, and, for the purpose of this paragraph, “Table A”
means that Table as for the time being in force;
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(b) two or more members holding not less than one-tenth of the issued
share capital or, if the company has not a share capital, not less than
five per cent in number of the members of the company may call a
meeting;
(c) in the case of a private company two members, and in the case of any
other company three members, personally present shall be a quorum;
(d) any member elected by the members present at a meeting may be
chairman thereof;
(e) in the case of a company originally having a share capital, every
member shall have one vote in respect of each share or each two
hundred shillings of stock held by him, and in any other case every
member shall have one vote.
135. Power of court to order meeting
(1) If for any reason it is impracticable to call a meeting of a company in
any manner in which meetings of that company may be called, or to conduct the
meeting of the company in manner prescribed by the articles or this Act, the court
may, either of its own motion or on the application of any director of the company
or of any member of the company who would be entitled to vote at the meeting,
order a meeting of the company to be called, held and conducted in such manner
as the court thinks fit, and where any such order is made may give such ancillary
or consequential directions as it thinks expedient; and it is hereby declared that
the directions that may be given under this subsection include a direction that
one member of the company present in person or by proxy shall be deemed to
constitute a meeting.
(2) Any meeting called, held and conducted in accordance with an order under
subsection (1) shall for all purposes be deemed to be a meeting of the company
duly called, held and conducted.
136. Proxies
(1) Any member of a company entitled to attend and vote at a meeting of the
company shall be entitled to appoint another person (whether a member or not) as
his proxy to attend and vote instead of him, and a proxy appointed to attend and
vote instead of a member of a private company shall also have the same right as
the member to speak at the meeting:
Provided that, unless the articles otherwise provide—
(i) this subsection shall not apply in the case of a company not having
a share capital; and
(ii) a member of a private company shall not be entitled to appoint more
than one proxy to attend on the same occasion; and
(iii) a proxy shall not be entitled to vote except on a poll.
(2) In every notice calling a meeting of a company having a share capital there
shall appear with reasonable prominence a statement that a member entitled to
attend and vote is entitled to appoint a proxy or, where that is allowed,
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one or more proxies to attend and vote instead of him, and that a proxy need not
also be a member; and if default is made in complying with this subsection as
respects any meeting, every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable
to a fine not exceeding one thousand shillings.
(3) Any provision contained in a company’s articles shall be void in so far as it
would have the effect of requiring the instrument appointing a proxy, or any other
document necessary to show the validity of or otherwise relating to the appointment
of a proxy, to be received by the company or any other person more than forty-
eight hours before a meeting or adjourned meeting in order that the appointment
may be effective thereat.
(4) If for the purpose of any meeting of a company invitations to appoint as proxy
a person or one of a number of persons specified in the invitations are issued at the
company’s expense to some only of the members entitled to be sent a notice of the
meeting and to vote thereat by proxy, every officer of the company who knowingly
and willfully authorizes or permits their issue as aforesaid shall be liable to a fine
not exceeding two thousand shillings:
Provided that an officer shall not be liable under this subsection by reason only
of the issue to a member at his request in writing of a form of appointment naming
the proxy or of a list of persons willing to act as proxy if the form or list is available
on request in writing to every member entitled to vote at the meeting by proxy.
(5) This section shall apply to meetings of any class of members of a company
as it applies to general meetings of the company.
137. Rights to demand a poll
(1) Any provision contained in a company’s articles shall be void in so far as
it would have the effect either—
(a) of excluding the right to demand a poll at a general meeting on any
question other than the election of the chairman of the meeting or the
adjournment of the meeting; or
(b) of making ineffective a demand for a poll on any such question which
is made either—
(i) by not less than five members having the right to vote at the
meeting; or
(ii) by a member or members representing not less than one-tenth
of the total voting rights of all the members having the right to
vote at the meeting; or
(iii) by a member or members holding shares in the company
conferring a right to vote at the meeting, being shares on which
an aggregate sum has been paid up equal to not less than one-
tenth of the total sum paid up on all shares conferring that right.
(2) The instrument appointing a proxy to vote at a meeting of a company shall
be deemed also to confer authority to demand or join in demanding a poll, and for
the purposes of subsection (1) a demand by a person as proxy for a member shall
be the same as a demand by the member.
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(3) Notice of any such resolution shall be given, and any such statement shall
be circulated, to members of the company entitled to have notice of the meeting
sent to them by serving a copy of the resolution or statement on each such member
in any manner permitted for service of notice of the meeting, and notice of any such
resolution shall be given to any other member of the company by giving notice of
the general effect of the resolution in any manner permitted for giving him notice
of meetings of the company:
Provided that the copy shall be served, or notice of the effect of the resolution
shall be given, as the case may be, in the same manner and, so far as practicable,
at the same time as notice of the meeting and, where it is not practicable for it to
be served or given at that time, it shall be served or given as soon as practicable
thereafter.
(4) A company shall not be bound under this section to give notice of any
resolution or to circulate any statement unless—
(a) a copy of the requisition signed by the requisitionists (or two or
more copies which between them contain the signatures of all the
requisitionists) is deposited at the registered office of the company—
(i) in the case of a requisition requiring notice of a resolution, not
less than six weeks before the meeting; and
(ii) in the case of any other requisition, not less than one week
before the meeting; and
(b) there is deposited or tendered with the requisition a sum reasonably
sufficient to meet the company’s expenses in giving effect thereto:
Provided that if, after a copy of a requisition requiring notice of a resolution has
been deposited at the registered office of the company, an annual general meeting
is called for a date six weeks or less after the copy has been deposited, the copy
though not deposited within the time required by this subsection shall be deemed
to have been properly deposited for the purposes thereof.
(5) The company shall also not be bound under this section to circulate any
statement if, on the application either of the company or of any other person who
claims to be aggrieved, the court is satisfied that the rights conferred by this section
are being abused to secure needless publicity for defamatory matter; and the court
may order the company’s costs on an application under this section to be paid in
whole or in part by the requistionists, notwithstanding that they are not parties to
the application.
(6) Notwithstanding anything in the company’s articles, the business which
may be dealt with at an annual general meeting shall include any resolution of
which notice is given in accordance with this section, and for the purposes of this
subsection notice shall be deemed to have been so given notwithstanding the
accidental omission, in giving it, of one or more members.
(7) In the event of any default in complying with the provisions of this section,
every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding
ten thousand shillings.
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(2) Where articles have been registered, a printed copy of every such resolution
or agreement for the time being in force shall be embodied in or annexed to every
copy of the articles issued after the passing of the resolution or the making of the
agreement.
(3) Where articles have not been registered, a printed copy of every such
resolution or agreement shall be forwarded to any member at his request on
payment of one shilling or such less sum as the company may direct.
(4) This section shall apply to—
(a) special resolutions;
(b) resolutions which have been agreed to by all the members of a
company, but which, if not so agreed to, would not have been effective
for their purpose unless they had been passed as special resolutions;
(c) resolutions or agreements which have been agreed to by all the
members of some class of shareholders but which, if not so agreed to,
would not have been effective for their purpose unless they had been
passed by some particular majority or otherwise in some particular
manner, and all resolutions or agreements which effectively bind all
the members of any class of shareholders though not agreed to by
all those members;
(d) resolutions requiring a company to be wound up voluntarily, passed
under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 276.
(5) If a company fails to comply with subsection (1), the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine of forty
shillings.
(6) If a company fails to comply with subsection (2) or subsection (3), the
company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine
not exceeding twenty shillings for each copy in respect of which default is made.
(7) For the purposes of subsections (5) and (6), a liquidator of the company
shall be deemed to be an officer of the company.
144. Resolutions passed at adjourned meetings
Where a resolution is passed at an adjourned meeting of—
(a) a company;
(b) the holders of any class of shares in a company;
(c) the directors of a company,
the resolution shall for all purposes be treated as having been passed on the date
on which it was in fact passed, and shall not be deemed to have been passed on
any earlier date.
145. Minutes of proceedings of meetings of company and of directors
(1) Every company shall cause minutes of all proceedings of general meetings,
and of all proceedings at meetings of its directors, to be entered in books kept for
that purpose.
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(2) Any such minute if purporting to be signed by the chairman of the meeting
at which the proceedings were had, or by the chairman of the next succeeding
general meeting or meeting of directors as the case may be shall be evidence of
the proceedings.
(3) Where, in accordance with the provisions of this section, minutes have
been made of the proceedings at any general meeting of the company or meeting
of directors then, until the contrary is proved, the meeting shall be deemed to
have been duly held and convened, and all proceedings thereat to have been
duly transacted, and all appointments of directors, managers or liquidators shall
be deemed to be valid.
(4) If a company fails to comply with subsection (1), the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
146. Inspection of minute books
(1) The books containing the minutes of proceedings of any general meeting of
a company shall be kept at the registered office of the company, and shall during
business hours (subject to such reasonable restrictions as the company may by its
articles or in general meeting impose, so that not less than two hours in each day
be allowed for inspection) be open to the inspection of any member without charge.
(2) Any member shall be entitled to be furnished within fourteen days after he
has made a request in that behalf to the company with a copy of any such minutes
as aforesaid at a charge not exceeding one shilling for every hundred words.
(3) If any inspection required under this section is refused or if any copy required
under this section is not sent within the proper time, the company and every officer
of the company who is in default shall be liable in respect of each offence to a fine
not exceeding forty shillings and further to a default fine of forty shillings.
(4) In the case of any such refusal or default, the court may by order compel an
immediate inspection of the books in respect of all proceedings of general meetings
or direct that the copies required shall be sent to the persons requiring them.
Accounts and Audit
147. Keeping of books of account
(1) Every company shall cause to be kept in the English language proper books
of account with respect to—
(a) all sums of money received and expended by the company and the
matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place;
(b) all sales and purchases of goods by the company;
(c) the assets and liabilities of the company:
Provided that in respect of an existing company the requirement that such books
of account shall be kept in the English language shall not have effect until after the
expiration of a period of two years from the date of the commencement of this Act.
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(2) For the purposes of this section, proper books of account shall be deemed
not to have been kept with respect to the matters aforesaid if there are not kept such
books as are necessary to give a true and fair view of the state of the company’s
affairs and to explain its transactions.
(3) (a) The books of account shall be kept at the registered office of the company
or, subject to the provisions of paragraph (b), at such other place as the directors
think fit, and shall at all times be open to inspection by the directors.
(b) The books of account shall only be kept at a place outside Kenya with the
consent of the registrar and subject to such conditions as he may impose; and if
the books of account are kept at a place outside Kenya there shall be sent to, and
kept at a place in, Kenya, and be at all times open to inspection by the directors,
such accounts and returns with respect to the business dealt with in the books of
account so kept as will disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of
that business at intervals not exceeding six months.
(4) If any person being a director of a company fails to take all reasonable steps
to secure compliance by the company with the requirements of this section, or has
by his own wilful act been the cause of any default by the company thereunder, he
shall, in respect of each offence, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
twelve months or to a fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings or to both:
Provided that—
(i) in any proceedings against a person in respect of an offence under
this section consisting of a failure to take reasonable steps to secure
compliance by the company with the requirements of this section, it
shall be a defence to prove that he had reasonable ground to believe
and did believe that a competent and reliable person was charged
with the duty of seeing that those requirements were complied with
and was in a position to discharge that duty; and
(ii) a person shall not be sentenced to imprisonment for such an offence
unless, in the opinion of the court, the offence was committed wilfully.
148. Profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet
(1) The directors of every company shall, at some date not later than eighteen
months after the incorporation of the company and subsequently once at least
in every calendar year, lay before the company in general meeting a profit and
loss account or, in the case of a company not trading for profit, an income and
expenditure account for the period, in the case of the first account, since the
incorporation of the company, and, in any other case, since the preceding account,
made up to a date not earlier than the date of the meeting by more than nine months
or, in the case of a company carrying on business or having interests abroad, by
more than twelve months:
Provided that, if the registrar for any special reason thinks fit to do so, he may—
(i) in the case of any company, extend the period of eighteen months
aforesaid, and in the case of any company and with respect to any
year, extend the periods of nine and twelve months aforesaid; and
(ii) in the case of any company, permit the account to be laid before the
company after the end of the calendar year.
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(2) The directors shall cause to be made out in every calendar year, and to
be laid before the company in general meeting, a balance sheet as at the date to
which the profit and loss account or the income and expenditure account, as the
case may be, is made up.
(3) If any person being a director of a company fails to take all reasonable steps
to comply with the provisions of this section, he shall, in respect of each offence,
be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to a fine not
exceeding ten thousand shillings, or to both:
Provided that—
(i) in any proceedings against a person in respect of an offence under
this section, it shall be a defence to prove that he had reasonable
ground to believe and did believe that a competent and reliable person
was charged with the duty of seeing that the provisions of this section
were complied with and was in a position to discharge that duty; and
(ii) a person shall not be sentenced to imprisonment for such an offence
unless, in the opinion of the court, the offence was committed wilfully.
149. General provisions as to contents and form of accounts
(1) Every balance sheet of a company shall give a true and fair view of the
state of affairs of the company as at the end of its financial year, and every profit
and loss account of a company shall give a true and fair view of the profit or loss
of the company for the financial year.
(2) A company’s balance sheet and profit and loss account shall comply with
the requirements of the Sixth Schedule, so far as applicable thereto.
(3) Save as expressly provided in the following provisions of this section
or in Part III of the Sixth Schedule, the requirements of subsection (2) and the
said Schedule shall be without prejudice either to the general requirements of
subsection (1) or to any other requirements of this Act.
(4) The registrar may, on the application or with the consent of a company’s
directors, modify in relation to that company any of the requirements of this Act as
to the matters to be stated in a company’s balance sheet or profit and loss account
(except the requirements of subsection (1)) for the purpose of adapting them to the
circumstances of the company.
(5) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to a company’s profit and loss
account if—
(a) the company has subsidiaries; and
(b) the profit and loss account is framed as a consolidated profit and loss
account dealing with all or any of the company’s subsidiaries as well
as the company and—
(i) complies with the requirements of this Act relating to
consolidated profit and loss accounts; and
(ii) shows how much the consolidated profit or loss for the financial
year is dealt with in the accounts of the company.
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(6) If any person being a director of a company fails to take all reasonable steps
to secure compliance as respects any accounts laid before the company in general
meeting with the provisions of this section and with the other requirements of this
Act as to the matters to be stated in accounts, he shall, in respect of each offence,
be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to a fine not
exceeding ten thousand shillings, or to both:
Provided that—
(i) in any proceedings against a person in respect of an offence under this
section, it shall be a defence to prove that he had reasonable ground
to believe and did believe that a competent and reliable person was
charged with the duty of seeing that the said provisions or the said
other requirements, as the case may be, were complied with and was
in a position to discharge that duty; and
(ii) a person shall not be sentenced to imprisonment for any such offence
unless, in the opinion of the court, the offence was committed wilfully.
(7) For the purposes of this section and the following provisions of this Act,
except where the context otherwise requires—
(a) any reference to a balance sheet or profit and loss account shall
include any notes thereon or document annexed thereto giving
information which is required by this Act and is thereby allowed to be
so given; and
(b) any reference to a profit and loss account shall be taken, in the case
of a company not trading for profit, as referring to its income and
expenditure account, and references to profit or to loss and, if the
company has subsidiaries, references to a consolidated profit and
loss account shall be construed accordingly.
150. Obligation to lay group accounts before holding company
(1) Where at the end of its financial year a company has subsidiaries, accounts
or statements (in this Act referred to as group accounts) dealing as hereinafter
mentioned with the state of affairs and profit or loss of the company and the
subsidiaries shall, subject to subsection (2), be laid before the company in general
meeting when the company’s own balance sheet and profit and loss account are
so laid.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1)—
(a) group accounts shall not be required where the company is at the
end of its financial year the wholly owned subsidiary of another body
corporate incorporated in Kenya; and
(b) group accounts need not deal with a subsidiary of the company if the
company’s directors are of opinion that—
(i) it is impracticable, or would be of no real value to members of
the company, in view of the insignificant amounts involved, or
would involve expense or delay out of proportion to the value
to members of the company; or
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and with other groups of subsidiaries or of separate accounts dealing with each of
the subsidiaries, or of statements expanding the information about the subsidiaries
in the company’s own accounts, or any combination of those forms.
(3) The group accounts may be wholly or partly incorporated in the company’s
own balance sheet and profit and loss account.
152. Contents of group accounts
(1) The group accounts laid before a company shall give a true and fair view
of the state of affairs and profit or loss of the company and the subsidiaries dealt
with thereby as a whole, so far as concerns members of the company.
(2) Where the financial year of a subsidiary does not coincide with that of the
holding company, the group accounts shall, unless the registrar on the application
or with the consent of the holding company’s directors otherwise directs, deal with
the subsidiary’s state of affairs as at the end of its financial year ending with or last
before that of the holding company, and with the subsidiary’s profit or loss for that
financial year.
(3) Without prejudice to subsection (1), the group accounts, if prepared as
consolidated accounts shall comply with the requirements of the Sixth Schedule,
so far as applicable thereto, and if not so prepared shall give the same or equivalent
information:
Provided that the registrar may, on the application or with the consent of a
company’s directors, modify the said requirements in relation to that company for
the purpose of adapting them to the circumstances of the company.
153. Financial year of holding company and subsidiary
(1) A holding company’s directors shall ensure that except where in their opinion
there are good reasons against it, the financial year of each of its subsidiaries shall
coincide with the company’s own financial year.
(2) Where it appears to the registrar desirable for a holding company or a
holding company’s subsidiary to extend its financial year so that the subsidiary’s
financial year may end with that of the holding company, and for that purpose to
postpone the submission of the relevant accounts to a general meeting from one
calendar year to the next, the registrar may on the application or with the consent
of the directors of the company whose financial year is to be extended direct that,
in the case of that company, the submission of accounts to a general meeting, the
holding of an annual general meeting or the making of an annual return shall not
be required in the earlier of the said calendar years.
154. Meaning of “holding company” and “subsidiary”
(1) For the purposes of this Act, a company shall, subject to the provisions of
subsection (3), be deemed to be a subsidiary of another if, but only if—
(a) that other either—
(i) is a member of it and controls the composition of its board of
directors; or
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(ii) holds more than half in nominal value of its equity share capital;
or
(b) the first-mentioned company is a subsidiary of any company which is
that other’s subsidiary.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) the composition of a company’s board
of directors shall be deemed to be controlled by another company if, but only if,
that other company by the exercise of some power exercisable by it without the
consent or concurrence of any other person can appoint or remove the holders of
all or a majority of the directorships; but for the purposes of this provision that other
company shall be deemed to have power to appoint to a directorship with respect
to which any of the following conditions is satisfied, that is to say—
(a) that a person cannot be appointed thereto without the exercise in his
favour by that other company of such a power as aforesaid; or
(b) that a person’s appointment thereto follows necessarily from his
appointment as director of that other company; or
(c) that the directorship is held by that other company itself or by a
subsidiary of it.
(3) In determining whether one company is a subsidiary of another—
(a) any shares held or power exercisable by that other in a fiduciary
capacity shall be treated as not held or exercisable by it;
(b) subject to paragraphs (c) and (d), any shares held or power
exercisable—
(i) by any person as a nominee for that other (except where that
other is concerned only in a fiduciary capacity); or
(ii) by, or by a nominee for, a subsidiary of that other, not being a
subsidiary which is concerned only in a fiduciary capacity,
shall be treated as held or exercisable by that other;
(c) any shares held or power exercisable by any person by virtue of
the provisions of any debentures of the first-mentioned company or
of a trust deed for securing any issue of such debentures shall be
disregarded;
(d) any shares held or power exercisable by, or by a nominee for, that
other or its subsidiary (not being held or exercisable as mentioned in
paragraph (c)) shall be treated as not held or exercisable by that other
if the ordinary business of that other or its subsidiary, as the case may
be, includes the lending of money and the shares are held or power
is exercisable as aforesaid by way of security only for the purposes of
a transaction entered into in the ordinary course of that business.
(4) For the purposes of this Act, a company shall be deemed to be another’s
holding company if, but only if, that other is its subsidiary.
(5) In this section, “company” includes any body corporate, and “equity share
capital” means, in relation to a company, its issued share capital excluding any
part thereof which, neither as respects dividends nor as respects capital, carries
any right to participate beyond a specified amount in a distribution.
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(3) If any person being a director of a company fails to take all reasonable steps
to comply with the Provisions of subsection (1), he shall, in respect of each offence,
be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to a fine not
exceeding ten thousand shillings, or to both:
Provided that—
(i) in any proceedings against a person in respect of an offence under
subsection (1), it shall be a defence to prove that he had reasonable
ground to believe and did believe that a competent and reliable
person was charged with the duty of seeing that the provisions of that
subsection were complied with and was in a position to discharge that
duty; and
(ii) a person shall not be liable to be sentenced to imprisonment for
such an offence unless, in the opinion of the court, the offence was
committed wilfully.
158. Right to receive copies of balance sheets and auditors’ report
(1) A copy of every balance sheet, including every document required by law
to be annexed thereto, which is to be laid before a company in general meeting,
together with a copy of the auditors’ report, shall, not less than twenty-one days
before the date of the meeting, be sent to every member of the company (whether
he is or is not entitled to receive notices of general meetings of the company),
every holder of debentures of the company (whether he is or is not so entitled) and
all persons other than members or holders of debentures of the company, being
persons so entitled:
Provided that—
(i) in the case of a company not having a share capital, this subsection
shall not require the sending of a copy of the documents aforesaid
to a member of the company who is not entitled to receive notices of
general meetings of the company or to a holder of debentures of the
company who is not so entitled;
(ii) this subsection shall not require a copy of those documents to be sent
—
(a) to a member of the company or a holder of debentures of the
company, being in either case a person who is not entitled to receive
notices of general meetings of the company and of whose address
the company is unaware;
(b) to more than one of the joint holders of any shares or debentures none
of whom are entitled to receive such notices; or
(c) in the case of joint holders of any shares or debentures some of whom
are and some of whom are not entitled to receive such notices, to
those who are not so entitled; and
(iii) if the copies of the documents aforesaid are sent less than twenty-
one days before the date of the meeting, they shall, notwithstanding
that fact, be deemed to have been duly sent if it is so agreed by all
the members entitled to attend and vote at the meeting.
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Provided that copies of the representations need not be sent out and the
representations need not be read out at the meeting if, on the application either
of the company or of any other person who claims to be aggrieved, the court
is satisfied that the rights conferred by this section are being abused to secure
needless publicity for defamatory matter; and the court may order the company’s
costs on an application under this section to be paid in whole or in part by the
auditor, notwithstanding that he is not a party to the application.
(4) Subsection (3) shall apply to a resolution to remove the first auditors by
virtue of subsection (5) of section 159 as it applies in relation to a resolution that
a retiring auditor shall not be reappointed.
161. Disqualifications for appointment as auditor
(1) A person or firm shall not be qualified for appointment as auditor of a
company unless he, or in the case of a firm, every partner in the firm is the holder of
a practising certificate issued pursuant to section 21 of the Accountants Act, 2008
(Cap. 531).
(2) (a) None of the following persons shall be qualified for appointment as
auditor of a company—
(i) an officer or servant of the company;
(ii) a person who is a partner of or in the employment of an officer or
servant of the company;
(iii) a body corporate:
Provided that subparagraph (ii) shall not apply in the case of a private company.
(b) References in this subsection to an officer or servant shall be construed as
not including references to an auditor.
(3) A person shall also not be qualified for appointment as auditor of a company
if he is, by virtue of subsection (2), disqualified for appointment as auditor of any
other body corporate which is that company’s subsidiary or holding company or a
subsidiary of that company’s holding company, or would be so disqualified if the
body corporate were a company.
(4) If any person who is not qualified so to act is appointed as auditor of a
company such person and the company and every officer in default shall each be
liable to a fine not exceeding four thousand shillings.
[Act No. 2 of 1977, s. 46, Act No. 15 of 2008, s. 48.]
162. Auditors’ report and right of access to books and to attend and be heard
at general meetings
(1) The auditors shall make a report to the members on the accounts examined
by them, and on every balance sheet, every profit and loss account and all group
accounts laid before the company in general meeting during their tenure of office,
and the report shall contain statements as to the matters mentioned in the Seventh
Schedule.
(2) The auditors’ report shall be read before the company in general meeting
and shall be open to inspection by any member.
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(3) Every auditor of a company shall have a right of access at all times to the
books and accounts and vouchers of the company, and shall be entitled to require
from the officers of the company such information and explanation as he thinks
necessary for the performance of the duties of the auditors.
(4) The auditors of a company shall be entitled to attend any general meeting
of the company and to receive all notices of and other communications relating to
any general meeting which any member of the company is entitled to receive and
to be heard at any general meeting which they attend on any part of the business
of the meeting which concerns them as auditors.
163. Construction of references to documents annexed to accounts
References in this Act to a document annexed or required to be annexed to
a company’s accounts or any of them do not include the directors’ report or the
auditors’ report:
Provided that any information which is required by this Act to be given in
accounts, and is thereby allowed be given in a statement annexed, may be given
in the directors’ report instead of in the accounts and, if any such information is
so given, the report shall be annexed to the accounts and this Act shall apply in
relation thereto accordingly, except that the auditors shall report thereon only so
far as it gives the said information.
Investigation by the Registrar
164. Investigation by registrar
(1) (a) Where the registrar has reasonable cause to believe that the provisions
of this Act are not being complied with, or where, on perusal of any document
which a company is required to submit to him under the provisions of this Act, he
is of opinion that the document does not disclose a full and fair statement of the
matters to which it purports to relate, he may, by a written order, call on the company
concerned to produce all or any of the books of the company or to furnish in writing
such information or explanation as he may specify in his order.
(b) Such books shall be produced and such information or explanation shall be
furnished within such time as may be specified in the order.
(2) On receipt of an order under subsection (1) it shall be the duty of all persons
who are or have been officers of the company to produce such books or to furnish
such information or explanation so far as lies within their power.
(3) If any such person refuses or neglects to produce such books or to furnish
any such information or explanation he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two
hundred shillings in respect of each offence.
(4) If after examination of such books or consideration of such information or
explanation the registrar is of the opinion that an unsatisfactory state of affairs is
disclosed or that a full and fair statement has not been disclosed the registrar shall
report the circumstances of the case in writing to the court.
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Inspection
165. Investigation of company’s affairs on application of members
(1) The court may appoint one or more competent inspectors to investigate the
affairs of a company and to report thereon in such manner as the court directs—
(a) in the case of a company having a share capital, on the application
either of not less than two hundred members or of members holding
not less than one-tenth of the shares issued;
(b) in the case of a company not having a share capital on the application
of not less than one-fifth in number of the persons on the company’s
register of members.
(2) The application shall be supported by such evidence as the court may
require for the purpose of showing that the applicants have good reason for
requiring the investigation, and the court may, before appointing an inspector,
require the applicants to give security, to an amount not exceeding ten thousand
shillings for payment of the costs of the investigation.
166. Investigation of company’s affairs in other cases
Without prejudice to its powers under section 165 the court—
(a) shall appoint one or more competent inspectors to investigate the
affairs of a company and to report thereon in such manner as the court
directs, if the company by special resolution declares that its affairs
ought to be investigated by an inspector appointed by the court; and
(b) may do so, if it appears to the court upon a report from the registrar
that there are circumstances suggesting—
(i) that the company’s business is being conducted with intent to
defraud its creditors or the creditors of any other person or
otherwise for a fraudulent or unlawful purpose or in a manner
oppressive of any part of its members or that it was formed for
any fraudulent or unlawful purpose; or
(ii) that persons concerned with its formation or the management
of its affairs have in connection therewith been guilty of fraud,
misfeasance or other misconduct towards it or towards its
members; or
(iii) that its members have not been given all the information with
respect to its affairs which they might reasonably expect; or
(iv) that it is desirable so to do.
167. Power of inspectors to carry investigation into affairs of related
companies
If an inspector appointed under either section 165 or section 166 to investigate
the affairs of a company thinks it necessary for the purposes of his investigation
to investigate also the affairs of any other body corporate which is or has at any
relevant time been the company’s subsidiary or holding company or a subsidiary
of its holding company or a holding company of its subsidiary, he shall have power
so to do, and shall report on the affairs of the other body corporate so far as he
thinks the results of his investigation thereof are relevant to the investigation of the
affairs of the first-mentioned company.
(4) The registrar shall indemnify the body corporate against any costs or
expenses incurred by it in or in connection with any proceedings brought by virtue
of subsection (3).
171. Expenses of investigation of company’s affairs
(1) The expenses of and incidental to an investigation by an inspector appointed
by the court under the foregoing provisions of this Act shall be defrayed in the first
instance by the registrar, but the following persons shall, to the extent mentioned,
be liable to repay the registrar—
(a) any person who is convicted on a prosecution instituted by the
Attorney-General as a result of the investigation, or who is ordered to
pay damages or restore any property in proceedings brought by virtue
of subsection (3) of section 170, may in the same proceedings be
ordered to pay the said expenses to such extent as may be specified
in the order;
(b) any body corporate in whose name proceedings are brought as
aforesaid shall be liable to the amount or value of any sums or property
recovered by it as a result of those proceedings;
(c) unless as a result of the investigation a prosecution is instituted by
the Attorney-General—
(i) any body corporate dealt with by the report, where the inspector
was appointed otherwise than under paragraph (b) of section
166, shall be liable, except so far as the court otherwise directs;
and
(ii) the applicants for the investigation, where the inspector was
appointed under section 165, shall be liable to such extent (if
any) as the court directs,
and any amount for which a body corporate is liable by virtue of paragraph (b) of
this subsection shall be a first charge on the sums or property mentioned in that
paragraph.
(2) The report of an inspector appointed otherwise than under paragraph (b)
of section 166 may, if he thinks fit, and shall, if the court so directs, include a
recommendation as to the directions (if any) which he thinks appropriate, in the
light of his investigation, to be given under paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this
section.
(3) For the purposes of this section, any costs or expenses incurred by the
registrar in or in connection with proceedings brought by virtue of subsection (3) of
section 170 (including expenses incurred by virtue of subsection (4) of that section)
shall be treated as expenses of the investigation giving rise to the proceedings.
(4) Any liability to repay the registrar imposed by paragraphs (a) and (b) of
subsection (1) shall, subject to satisfaction of the registrar’s right to repayment, be
a liability also to indemnify all persons against liability under paragraph (c) thereof,
and any such liability imposed by paragraph (a) shall, subject as aforesaid, be
a liability also to indemnify all persons against liability under paragraph (b); and
any person liable under paragraph (a) or (b) or either subparagraph of paragraph
(c) shall be entitled to contribution from any other person liable under the same
paragraph or subparagraph, as the case may be, according to the amount of their
respective liabilities thereunder.
(b) the registrar shall not be bound to furnish the company or any other
person with a copy of any report by an inspector appointed under this
section or with a complete copy thereof if he is of opinion that there
is good reason for not divulging the contents of the report or of parts
thereof, but shall keep a copy of any such report or, as the case may
be, the parts of any such report, as respects which he is not of that
opinion.
(6) (a) The expenses of any investigation under subsection (1) shall be defrayed
by the registrar.
(b) The expenses of any investigation under subsection (3) shall be defrayed
by the applicants unless the registrar certifies that it is a case in which he might
properly have acted under subsection (1).
174. Power to require information as to persons interested in shares or
debentures
(1) Where it appears to the registrar that there is good reason to investigate the
ownership of any shares in or debentures of a company and that it is unnecessary
to appoint an inspector for the purpose, he may require any person whom he has
reasonable cause to believe—
(a) to be or to have been interested in those shares or debentures; or
(b) to act or to have acted in relation to those shares or debentures as
the advocate or agent of someone interested therein,
to give him any information which he has or can reasonably be expected to obtain
as to the present and past interests in those shares or debentures and the names
and addresses of the persons interested and of any persons who act or have acted
on their behalf in relation to the shares or debentures.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed to have an
interest in a share or debenture if he has any right to acquire or dispose of the share
or debenture or any interest therein or to vote in respect thereof, or if his consent is
necessary for the exercise of any of the rights of other persons interested therein,
or if other persons interested therein can be required or are accustomed to exercise
their rights in accordance with his instructions.
(3) Any person who fails to give any information required of him under this
section, or who in giving any such information makes any statement which he
knows to be false in a material particular, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings or to
both.
175. Power to impose restrictions on shares or debentures
(1) Where, in connection with an investigation under either section 173 or
section 174, it appears to the registrar that there is difficulty in finding out the
relevant facts about any shares (whether issued or to be issued), and that the
difficulty is due wholly or mainly to the unwillingness of the persons concerned or
any of them to assist the investigation as required by this Act, the registrar may
by order direct that the shares shall until further order be subject to the restrictions
imposed by this section.
(2) So long as any shares are directed to be subject to the restrictions imposed
by this section—
(a) any transfer of those shares, or in the case of unissued shares any
transfer of the right to be issued therewith and any issue thereof, shall
be void; and
(b) no voting rights shall be exercisable in respect of those shares; and
(c) no further shares shall be issued in right of those shares or in
pursuance of any offer made to the holder thereof; and
(d) except in a liquidation, no payment shall be made of any sums due
from the company on those shares, whether in respect of capital or
otherwise.
(3) Where the registrar makes an order directing that shares shall be subject to
the said restrictions, or refuses to make an order directing that shares shall cease
to be subject thereto, any person aggrieved thereby may apply to the court, and
the court may, if it sees fit, direct that the shares shall cease to be subject to the
said restrictions.
(4) Any order (whether of the registrar or of the court) directing that shares
shall cease to be subject to the said restrictions which is expressed to be made
with a view to permitting a transfer of those shares may continue the restrictions
mentioned in paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (2), either in whole or in part, so
far as they relate to any right acquired or offer made before the transfer.
(5) Any person who—
(a) exercises or purports to exercise any right to dispose of any shares
which, to his knowledge, are for the time being subject to the said
restrictions or of any right to be issued with any such shares; or
(b) votes in respect of any such shares, whether as holder or proxy, or
appoints a proxy to vote in respect thereof; or
(c) being the holder of any such shares, fails to notify of their being subject
to the said restrictions any person but does know to be entitled,
apart from the said whom he does not know to be aware of that fact
restrictions, to vote in respect of those shares whether as holder or
proxy,
shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not
exceeding ten thousand shillings, or to both.
(6) Where shares in any company are issued in contravention of the said
restrictions, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall
be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings.
(7) A prosecution shall not be instituted under this section except by or with the
consent of the Attorney-General.
(8) This section shall apply in relation to debentures as it applies in relation
to shares.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a motion for approving a person’s
appointment or for nominating a person for appointment shall be treated as a
motion for his appointment.
(4) Nothing in this section shall apply to a resolution altering the company’s
articles.
185. Removal of directors
(1) A company may by ordinary resolution remove a director before the
expiration of his period of office, notwithstanding anything in its articles or in any
agreement between it and him:
Provided that this subsection shall not in the case of a private company
authorize the removal of a director holding office for life at the commencement of
this Act, whether or not subject to retirement under an age-limit by virtue of the
articles or otherwise.
(2) Special notice shall be required of any resolution to remove a director under
this section or to appoint somebody instead of a director so removed at the meeting
at which he is removed, and on receipt of notice of an intended resolution to remove
a director under this section the company shall forthwith send a copy thereof to
the director concerned, and the director (whether or not he is a member of the
company) shall be entitled to be heard on the resolution at the meeting.
(3) Where notice is given of an intended resolution to remove a director under
this section and the director concerned makes with respect thereto representations
in writing to the company (not exceeding a reasonable length) and requests
their notification to members of the company, the company shall, unless the
representations are received by it too late for it to do so—
(a) in any notice of the resolution given to members of the company state
the fact of the representations having been made; and
(b) send a copy of the representations to every member of the company
to whom notice of the meeting is sent (whether before or after receipt
of the representations by the company),
and, if a copy of the representations is not sent as aforesaid because received too
late or because of the company’s default, the director may (without prejudice to
his right to be heard orally) require that the representations shall be read out at
the meeting:
Provided that copies of the representations need not be sent out and the
representations need not be read out at the meeting if, on the application either
of the company or of any other person who claims to be aggrieved, the court
is satisfied that the rights conferred by this section are being abused to secure
needless publicity for defamatory matter; and the court may order the company’s
costs on an application under this section to be paid in whole or in part by the
director, notwithstanding that he is not a party to the application.
(4) A vacancy created by the removal of a director under this section, if not
filled at the meeting at which he is removed, may be filled as a casual vacancy.
(5) A person appointed director in place of a person removed under this section
shall be treated, for the purpose of determining the time at which he or any other
director is to retire, as if he had become director on the day on which the person
in whose place he is appointed was last appointed a director.
(6) Nothing in this section shall be taken as depriving a person removed
thereunder of compensation or damages payable to him in respect of the
termination of his appointment as director or of any appointment terminating with
that as director or as derogating from any power to remove a director which may
exist apart from this section.
186. Minimum age for appointment of directors; and retirement of directors
over age limit
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, no person shall be capable of being
appointed a director of a company which is subject to this section if at the time of
his appointment he has not attained the age of twenty-one, or he has attained the
age of seventy.
(2) Subject as aforesaid, a director of a company which is subject to this section
shall vacate his office at the conclusion of the annual general meeting commencing
next after he attains the age of seventy:
Provided that acts done by a person as director shall be valid notwithstanding
that it is afterwards discovered that his appointment had terminated by virtue of
this subsection.
(3) Where a person retires by virtue of subsection (2), no provision for the
automatic reappointment of retiring directors in default of another appointment shall
apply; and if at the meeting at which he retires the vacancy is not filled it may be
filled as a casual vacancy.
(4) Subsection (2) shall not apply to a director who is in office at the
commencement of this Act so as to terminate his then appointment before
the conclusion of the third annual general meeting commencing after the
commencement of this Act, but shall apply so as to terminate it at the conclusion
of that meeting if he has attained the age of seventy before the commencement
of the meeting.
(5) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall prevent the
appointment of a director at any age, or require a director to retire at any time, if
his appointment is or was made or approved by the company in general meeting,
but special notice shall be required of any resolution appointing or approving the
appointment of a director for it to have effect for the purposes of this subsection
and the notice thereof given to the company and by the company to its members
must state or must have stated the age of the person to whom it relates.
(6) A person reappointed director on retiring by virtue of subsection (2), or
appointed in place of a director so retiring, shall be treated, for the purpose of
determining the time at which he or any other director is to retire, as if he had
become director on the day on which the retiring director was last appointed before
his retirement; but except as provided by this subsection, the retirement of a
director out of turn by virtue of subsection (2) shall be disregarded in determining
when any other directors are to retire.
(7) In the case of a company first registered after the commencement of this Act,
this section shall have effect subject to the provisions of the company’s articles; and
in the case of a company first registered before the commencement of this Act—
(a) this section shall have effect subject to any alterations of the
company’s articles made after the commencement of this Act; and
(b) if at the commencement of this Act the company’s articles contained
provision for retirement of directors under an age limit or for preventing
or restricting appointments of directors over a given age this section
shall not apply to directors to whom that provision applies.
(8) A company shall be subject to this section if it is not a private company or
if, being a private company, it is the subsidiary of a body corporate incorporated in
Kenya which is not a private company; and for the purposes of any other section
of this Act which refers to a company subject to this section, a company shall be
deemed to be subject to this section notwithstanding that all or any of the provisions
thereof are excluded or modified by the company’s articles.
187. Duty of directors to disclose age to company
(1) Any person who is appointed or to his knowledge proposed to be appointed
director of a company subject to section 186 at a time before he has attained the
age of twenty-one or after he has attained any retiring age applicable to him as
director either under this Act or under the company’s articles shall give notice of
his age to the company:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply in relation to a person’s
reappointment on the termination of a previous appointment as director of the
company.
(2) Any person who—
(a) fails to give notice of his age as required by this section; or
(b) acts as director under any appointment which is invalid or has
terminated by reason of his age,
shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred shillings for every day during
which the failure continues or during which he continues to act as aforesaid.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), a person who has acted as director
under an appointment which is invalid or has terminated shall be deemed to have
continued so to act throughout the period from the invalid appointment or the date
on which the appointment terminated, as the case may be, until the last day on
which he is proved to have acted thereunder.
188. Provisions as to undischarged bankrupts acting as directors
(1) If any person who has been declared bankrupt or insolvent by a competent
court in Kenya or elsewhere and has not received his discharge acts as director
of, or directly or indirectly takes part in or is concerned in the management of, any
company except with the leave of the court, he shall be liable to imprisonment for
a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings
or to both.
(2) The leave of the court for the purposes of this section shall not be given
unless notice of intention to apply therefor has been served on the official receiver,
and it shall be the duty of the official receiver, if he is of opinion that it is contrary
to the public interest that any such application should be granted, to attend on the
hearing of and oppose the granting of the application.
(3) In this section, “company” includes an unregistered company and a
company incorporated outside Kenya which has an established place of business
within Kenya, and “official receiver” means the official receiver in bankruptcy.
189. Power to restrain fraudulent persons from managing companies
(1) Where—
(a) a person is convicted of any offence in connection with the promotion,
formation or management of a company; or
(b) in the course of winding up a company it appears that a person—
(i) has been guilty of any offence for which he is liable (whether
he has been convicted or not) under section 323; or
(ii) has otherwise been guilty, while an officer of the company, of
any fraud in relation to the company or of any breach of his duty
to the company,
the court may make an order that that person shall not, without the leave of the
court, be a director of or in any way, whether directly or indirectly, be concerned
or take part in the management of the company for such period not exceeding five
years as may be specified in the order.
(2) In subsection (1)“the court”, in relation to the making of an order against
any person by virtue of paragraph (a) thereof, includes the court before which he
is convicted, as well as any court having jurisdiction to wind up the company, and
in relation to the granting of leave means any court having jurisdiction to wind up
the company as respects which leave is sought.
(3) A person intending to apply for the making of an order under this section
by the court having jurisdiction to wind up a company shall give not less than ten
days’ notice of his intention to the person against whom the order is sought, and on
the hearing of the application the last-mentioned person may appear and himself
give evidence or call witnesses.
(4) An application for the making of an order under this section by the court
having jurisdiction to wind up a company may be made by the official receiver, or
by the liquidator of the company or by a person who is or has been a member or
creditor of the company; and on the hearing of any application for an order under
this section by the official receiver or the liquidator, or of any application for leave
under this section by a person against whom an order has been made on the
application of the official receiver or the liquidator, the official receiver or liquidator
shall appear and call the attention of the court to any matters which seem to him
to be relevant, and may himself give evidence or call witnesses.
(5) An order may be made by virtue of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of
subsection (1) notwithstanding that the person concerned may be criminally
liable in respect of the matters on the ground of which the order is to be made, and
for the purposes of that subparagraph “officer” includes any person in accordance
with whose directions or instructions the directors of the company have been
accustomed to act.
(6) If any person acts in contravention of an order made under this section, he
shall, in respect of each offence, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
two years or to a fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings, or to both.
190. Prohibition of tax-free payments to directors
(1) It shall not be lawful for a company to pay a director remuneration (whether
as a director or otherwise) free of income tax or surtax, or otherwise calculated by
reference to or varying with the amount of his income tax or surtax, or to or with the
rate of income tax, except under a contract which was in force two years before
the appointed day and provides expressly, and not by reference to the articles, for
payment of remuneration as aforesaid.
(2) Any provision contained in a company’s articles, or in any contract other
than such a contract as aforesaid, or in any resolution of a company or a company’s
directors, for payment to a director of remuneration as aforesaid shall have effect
as if it provided for payment, as a gross sum subject to income tax and surtax, of
the net sum for which it actually provides.
(3) This section shall not apply to remuneration due before the appointed day
or in respect of a period before the appointed day.
191. Prohibition of loans to directors
(1) It shall not be lawful for a company to make a loan to any person who is
its director or a director of its holding company, or to enter into any guarantee or
provide any security in connection with a loan made to such a person as aforesaid
by any other person:
Provided that nothing in this section shall apply either—
(i) to anything done by a company which is for the time being a private
company; or
(ii) to anything done by a subsidiary, where the director is its holding
company; or
(iii) subject to subsection (2), to anything done to provide any such person
as aforesaid with funds to meet expenditure incurred or to be incurred
by him for the purposes of the company or for the purpose of enabling
him properly to perform his duties as an officer of the company; or
(iv) in the case of a company whose ordinary business includes the
lending of money or the giving of guarantees in connection with loans
made by other persons, to anything done by the company in the
ordinary course of that business.
(2) Paragraph (iii) of the proviso to subsection (1) shall not authorize the making
of any loan, or the entering into any guarantee, or the provision of any security,
except either—
(a) with the prior approval of the company given at a general meeting at
which the purposes of the expenditure and the amount of the loan
or the extent of the guarantee or security, as the case may be, are
disclosed; or
(b) the company or any person to whom the transfer was made was privy
to that arrangement,
the payment shall be deemed, except in so far as the contrary is shown, to be one
to which the subsections apply.
(2) If in connection with any such transfer as is mentioned in either section 193
or section 194—
(a) the price to be paid to a director of the company whose office is to be
abolished or who is to retire from office for any shares in the company
held by him is in excess of the price which could at the time have been
obtained by other holders of the like shares; or
(b) any valuable consideration is given to any such director,
the excess or the money value of the consideration, as the case may be, shall, for
the purposes of that section, be deemed to have been a payment made to him by
way of compensation for loss of office or as consideration for or in connection with
his retirement from office.
(3) References in sections 192, 193 and 194 to payments made to any director
of a company by way of compensation for loss of office, or as consideration for
or in connection with his retirement from office, do not include any bona fide
payment by way of damages for breach of contract or by way of pension in respect
of past services, and for the purposes of this subsection “pension” includes any
superannuation allowance, superannuation gratuity or similar payment.
(4) Nothing in sections 193 and 194 shall be taken to prejudice the operation of
any rule of law requiring disclosure to be made with respect to any such payments
as are therein mentioned or with respect to any other like payments made to or be
made to the directors of a company.
196. Register of directors’ shareholdings, etc.
(1) Every company shall keep a register showing as respects each director of
the company (not being its holding company) the number, description and amount
of any shares in or debentures of the company or any other body corporate, being
the company’s subsidiary or holding company, or a subsidiary of the company’s
holding company, which are held by or in trust for him or of which he has any right
to become the holder (whether on payment or not):
Provided that the register need not include shares in any body corporate which
is the wholly-owned subsidiary of another body corporate, and for this purpose a
body corporate shall be deemed to be the wholly-owned subsidiary of another if
it has no members but that other and that other’s wholly-owned subsidiaries and
its or their nominees.
(2) Where any shares or debentures fall to be or cease to be recorded in the
said register in relation to any director by reason of a transaction entered into after
the commencement of this Act and while he is a director, the register shall also
show the date of, and price or other consideration for the transaction:
Provided that, where there is an interval between the agreement for any such
transaction and the completion thereof, the date shall be that of the agreement.
(3) The nature and extent of a director’s interest or right in or over any shares
or debentures recorded in relation to him in the said register shall, if he so requires,
be indicated in the register.
(4) The company shall not, by virtue of anything done for the purposes of this
section, be affected with notice of, or put upon inquiry as to, the rights of any person
in relation to any shares or debentures.
(5) The said register shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be kept at
the company’s registered office and shall be open to inspection during business
hours (subject to such reasonable restrictions as the company may by its articles or
in general meeting impose, so that not less than two hours in each day be allowed
for inspection) as follows—
(a) during the period beginning fourteen days before the date of the
company’s annual general meeting and ending three days after the
date of its conclusion, it shall be open to the inspection of any member
or holder of debentures of the company; and
(b) during that or any other period, it shall be open to the inspection of
any person acting on behalf of the registrar,
and, in computing the fourteen days and the three days mentioned in this
subsection, any day which is a Saturday or a Sunday or a public holiday shall be
disregarded.
(6) Without prejudice to the rights conferred by subsection (5), the registrar may
at any time require a copy of the said register, or any part thereof.
(7) The said register shall also be produced at the commencement of the
company’s annual general meeting and remain open and accessible during the
continuance of the meeting to any person attending the meeting.
(8) If default is made in complying with subsection (7), the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding
one thousand shillings; and if default is made in complying with subsection (1) or
subsection (2), or if any inspection required under this section is refused or any
copy required thereunder is not sent within a reasonable time, the company and
every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding
ten thousand shillings and further to a default fine of one hundred shillings.
(9) In the case of any such refusal, the court may by order compel an immediate
inspection of the register.
(10) For the purposes of this section—
(a) any person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the
directors of a company are accustomed to act shall be deemed to be
a director of the company; and
(b) any sums paid by way of expenses allowance are charged to income
tax after the end of the relevant financial year,
those sums shall, to the extent to which the liability is released or not enforced or
they are charged as aforesaid, as the case may be, be shown in the first accounts
in which it is practicable to show them or in a statement annexed thereto, and shall
be distinguished from the amounts to be shown therein apart from this provision.
(7) Where it is necessary so to do for the purpose of making any distinction
required by this section in any amount to be shown thereunder, the directors may
apportion any payments between the matters in respect of which they have been
paid or are receivable in such manner as they think appropriate.
(8) If in the case of any accounts the requirements of this section are not
complied with, it shall be the duty of the auditors of the company by whom the
accounts are examined to include in their report thereon, so far as they are
reasonably able to do so, a statement giving the required particulars.
(9) In this section any reference to a company’s subsidiary—
(a) in relation to a person who is or was, while a director of the company, a
director also, by virtue of the company’s nomination, direct or indirect,
of any other body corporate, shall, subject to paragraph (b), include
that body corporate, whether or not it is or was in fact the company’s
subsidiary; and
(b) shall, for the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), be taken as referring
to a subsidiary at the time the services were rendered, and, for the
purposes of subsection (4), be taken as referring to a subsidiary
immediately before the loss of office as director of the company.
198. Particulars in accounts of loans to officers, etc.
(1) The accounts which, in pursuance of this Act, are to be laid before every
company in general meeting shall, subject to the provisions of this section, contain
particulars showing—
(a) the amount of any loans made during the company’s financial year
to—
(i) any officer of the company; or
(ii) any person who, after the making of the loan, became during
that year an officer of the company,
by the company or a subsidiary thereof or by any other person
under a guarantee from or on a security provided by the company
or a subsidiary thereof (including any such loans which were repaid
during that year); and
(b) the amount of any loans made in manner aforesaid to any such officer
or person as aforesaid at any time before the company’s financial year
and outstanding at the expiration thereof.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not require the inclusion in accounts of particulars of—
(a) a loan made in the ordinary course of its business by the company or
a subsidiary thereof, where the ordinary business of the company or,
as the case may be, the subsidiary, includes the lending of money; or
(b) a loan made by the company or a subsidiary thereof to an employee
of the company or subsidiary, as the case may be, if the loan does
not exceed forty thousand shillings and is certified by the directors of
the company or subsidiary, as the case may be, to have been made
in accordance with any practice adopted or about to be adopted by
the company or subsidiary with respect to loans to its employees,
not being, in either case, a loan made by the company under a guarantee from or
on a security provided by a subsidiary thereof or a loan made by a subsidiary of
the company under a guarantee from or on a security provided by the company or
any other subsidiary thereof.
(3) If in the case of any such accounts as aforesaid the requirements of this
section are not complied with, it shall be the duty of the auditors of the company by
whom the accounts are examined to include in their report on the balance sheet
of the company, so far as they are reasonably able to do so, a statement giving
the required particulars.
(4) References in this section to a subsidiary shall be taken as referring to a
subsidiary at the end of the company’s financial year (whether or not a subsidiary
at the date of the loan).
199. General duty to make disclosure for purposes of sections 196, 197 and
198
(1) It shall be the duty of any director of a company to give notice to the company
of such matters relating to himself as may be necessary for the purposes of sections
196 and 197, and of section 198 except so far as it relates to loans made, by the
company or by any other person under a guarantee from or on a security provided
by the company, to an officer thereof.
(2) Any such notice given for the purposes of section 196 shall be in writing
and, if it is not given at a meeting of the directors, the director giving it shall take
reasonable steps to secure that it is brought up and read at the next meeting of
directors after it is given.
(3) Subsection (1) shall apply—
(a) for the purposes of section 198, in relation to officers other than
directors; and
(b) for the purposes of sections 197 and 198, in relation to persons who
are or have at any time during the preceding five years been officers,
as it applies in relation to directors.
(4) Any person who makes default in complying with the foregoing provisions
of this section shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand shillings.
against, any liability which by virtue of any rule of law would otherwise attach to
him in respect of any negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust of which
he may be guilty in relation to the company, shall be void:
Provided that—
(i) nothing in this section shall operate to deprive any person of any
exemption or right to be indemnified in respect of anything done or
omitted to be done by him while any such provision was in force; and
(ii) notwithstanding anything in this section, a company may, in
pursuance of any such provision as aforesaid, indemnify any such
officer or auditor against any liability incurred by him in defending any
proceedings, whether civil or criminal in which judgment is given in his
favour or in which he is acquitted or in connection with any application
under section 402 in which relief is granted to him by the court.
Arrangements and Reconstructions
207. Power to compromise with creditors and members
(1) Where a compromise or arrangement is proposed between a company and
its creditors or any class of them or between the company and its members or any
class of them, the court may, on the application of the company or of any creditor
or member of the company, or, in the case of a company being wound up, of the
liquidator, order a meeting of the creditors or class of creditors, or of the members
of the company or class of members, as the case may be, to be summoned in such
manner as the court directs.
(2) If a majority in number representing three-fourths in value of the creditors
or class of creditors or members or class of members, as the case may be, present
and voting either in person or by proxy at the meeting, agree to any compromise
or arrangement, the compromise or arrangement shall, if sanctioned by the court,
be binding on all the creditors or the class of creditors, or on the members or class
of members, as the case may be, and also on the company or, in the case of a
company in the course of being wound up, on the liquidator and contributories of
the company.
(3) An order made under subsection (2) shall have no effect until a certified
copy of the order has been delivered to the registrar for registration, and a copy
of every such order shall be annexed to every copy of the memorandum of the
company issued after the order has been made, or, in the case of a company not
having a memorandum, of every copy so issued of the instrument constituting or
defining the constitution of the company.
(4) If a company makes default in complying with subsection (3), the company
and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not
exceeding one hundred shillings for each copy in respect of which default is made.
(5) In this section and in section 208, “company” means any company liable to
be wound up under this Act, and “arrangement” includes a reorganization of the
share capital of the company by the consolidation of shares of different classes or
by the division of shares into shares of different classes or by both those methods.
the making of the offer in that behalf by the transferee company been approved
by the holders of not less than nine-tenths in value of the shares whose transfer is
involved (other than shares already held at the date of the offer by, or by a nominee
for, the transferee company or its subsidiary), the transferee company may, at any
time within two months after the expiration of the said four months, give notice in
the prescribed manner to any dissenting shareholder that it desires to acquire his
shares, and when such a notice is given the transferee company shall, unless on
an application made by the dissenting shareholder within one month from the date
on which the notice was given the court thinks fit to order otherwise, be entitled
and bound to acquire those shares on the terms on which, under the scheme or
contract, the shares of the approving shareholders are to be transferred to the
transferee company:
Provided that, where shares in the transferor company of the same class or
classes as the shares whose transfer is involved are already held as aforesaid
to a value greater than one-tenth of the aggregate of their value and that of the
shares (other than those already held as aforesaid) whose transfer is involved, the
foregoing provisions of this subsection shall not apply unless—
(a) the transferee company offers the same terms to all holders of the
shares (other than those already held as aforesaid) whose transfer is
involved, or, where those shares include shares of different classes,
of each class of them; and
(b) the holders who approve the scheme or contract, besides holding not
less than nine-tenths in value of the shares (other than those already
held as aforesaid) whose transfer is involved, are not less than three-
fourths in number of the holders of those shares.
(2) Where, in pursuance of any such scheme or contract as aforesaid, shares
in a company are transferred to another company or its nominee, and those
shares together with any other shares in the first-mentioned company held by,
or by a nominee for, the transferee company or its subsidiary at the date of the
transfer comprise or include nine-tenths in value of the shares in the first-mentioned
company or of any class of those shares, then—
(a) the transferee company shall within one month from the date of the
transfer (unless on a previous transfer in pursuance of the scheme
or contract it has already complied with this requirement) give notice
of that fact in the prescribed manner to the holder of the remaining
shares or of the remaining shares of that class, as the case may be,
who have not assented to the scheme or contract; and
(b) any such holder may within three months from the giving of the
notice to him require the transferee company to acquire the shares
in question,
and where a shareholder gives notice under paragraph (b) with respect to any
shares, the transferee company shall be entitled and bound to acquire those shares
on the terms on which under the scheme or contract the shares of the approving
shareholders were transferred to it, or on such other terms as may be agreed or
as the court on the application of either the transferee company or the shareholder
thinks fit to order.
(3) Where a notice has been given by the transferee company under subsection
(1) and the court has not, on an application made by the dissenting shareholder,
ordered to the contrary, the transferee company shall, on the
expiration of one month from the date on which the notice has been given,
or, if an application to the court by the dissenting shareholder is then pending,
after that application has been disposed of, transmit a copy of the notice to the
transferor company together with an instrument of transfer executed on behalf of
the shareholder by any person appointed by the transferee company and on its own
behalf by the transferee company, and pay or transfer to the transferor company
the amount or other consideration representing the price payable by the transferee
company for the shares which by virtue of this section that company is entitled
to acquire, and the transferor company shall thereupon register the transferee
company as the holder of those shares:
Provided that an instrument of transfer shall not be required for any share for
which a share warrant is for the time being outstanding.
(4) Any sums received by the transferor company under this section shall be
paid into a separate bank account, and any such sums and any other consideration
so received shall be held by that company on trust for the several persons entitled
to the shares in respect of which the said sums or other consideration were
respectively received.
(5) In this section, “dissenting shareholder” includes a shareholder who has
not assented to the scheme or contract and any shareholder who has failed or
refused to transfer his shares to the transferee company in accordance with the
scheme or contract.
(6) In relation to an offer made by the transferee company to shareholders of
the transferor company before the commencement of this Act, this section shall
have effect—
(a) with the substitution, in subsection (1), for the words “the shares
whose transfer is involved (other than shares already held at the date
of the offer by, or by a nominee for, the transferee company or its
subsidiary)”, of the words “the shares affected” and with the omission
of the proviso to that subsection;
(b) with the omission of subsection (2); and
(c) with the omission, in subsection (3), of the words “together with an
instrument of transfer executed on behalf of the shareholder by any
person appointed by the transferee company and on its own behalf
by the transferee company” and of the proviso to that subsection.
Minorities
211. Alternative remedy to winding up in cases of oppression.
(1) Any member of a company who complains that the affairs of the company
are being conducted in a manner oppressive to some part of the members
(including himself) or, in a case falling within subsection (2) of section 170, the
Attorney-General, may make an application to the court by petition for an order
under this section.
(2) If on any such petition the court is of opinion—
(a) that the company’s affairs are being conducted as aforesaid; and
(b) that to wind up the company would unfairly prejudice that part of
the members, but otherwise the facts would justify the making of a
winding-up order on the ground that it was just and equitable that the
company should be wound up,
the court may, with a view to bringing to an end the matters complained of, make
such order as it thinks fit, whether for regulating the conduct of the company’s affairs
in future, or for the purchase of the shares of any members of the company by other
members of the company or by the company and, in the case of a purchase by the
company, for the reduction accordingly of the company’s capital, or otherwise.
(3) Where an order under this section makes any alteration in or addition to
any company’s memorandum or articles, then notwithstanding anything in any
other provision of this Act but subject to the provisions of the order, the company
concerned shall not have power without the leave of the court to make any
further alteration in or addition to the memorandum or articles inconsistent with the
provisions of the order; but, subject to the foregoing provisions of this subsection,
the alterations or additions made by the order shall be of the same effect as if duly
made by resolution of the company and the provisions of this Act shall apply to the
memorandum or articles as so altered or added to accordingly.
(4) A certified copy of any order under this section altering or adding to, or
giving leave to alter or add to, a company’s memorandum or articles shall, within
fourteen days after the making thereof, be delivered by the company to the registrar
for registration; and if a company makes default in complying with this subsection,
the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to
a default fine.
(5) In relation to a petition under this section, section 344 shall apply as it applies
in relation to a winding-up petition.
PART VI – WINDING UP
(i) Preliminary
Modes of Winding up
212. Modes of winding up
(1) The winding up of a company may be either—
(a) by the court; or
(b) voluntary; or
(c) subject to the supervision of the court.
(2) The provisions of this Act with respect to winding up apply, unless the
contrary appears, to the winding up of a company in any of those modes.
Contributories
213. Liability as contributories of present and past members
(1) In the event of a company being wound up, every present and past member
shall be liable to contribute to the assets of the company to an amount sufficient
for payment of its debts and liabilities, and the costs, charges and
expenses of the winding up, and for the adjustment of the rights of the contributories
among themselves, subject to the provisions of subsection (2) and the following
qualifications—
(a) a past member shall not be liable to contribute if he has ceased to
be a member for one year or upwards before the commencement of
the winding up;
(b) a past member shall not be liable to contribute in respect of any debt
or liability of the company contracted after he ceased to be a member;
(c) a past member shall not be liable to contribute unless it appears to the
court that the existing members are unable to satisfy the contributions
required to be made by them in pursuance of this Act;
(d) in the case of a company limited by shares, no contribution shall be
required from any member exceeding the amount, if any, unpaid on
the shares in respect of which he is liable as a present or past member;
(e) in the case of a company limited by guarantee, no contribution shall,
subject to the provisions of subsection (3), be required from any
member exceeding the amount undertaken to be contributed by him
to the assets of the company in the event of its being wound up;
(f) nothing in this Act shall invalidate any provision contained in any
policy of insurance or other contract whereby the liability of individual
members on the policy or contract is restricted, or whereby the funds
of the company are alone made liable in respect of the policy or
contract;
(g) a sum due to any member of a company, in his character of a member,
by way of dividends, profits or otherwise shall not be deemed to be a
debt of the company payable to that member in a case of competition
between himself and any other creditor not a member of the company,
but any such sum may be taken into account for the purpose of the
final adjustment of the rights of the contributories among themselves.
(2) In the winding up of a limited company, any director or manager, whether
past or present, whose liability is, under the provisions of this Act, unlimited, shall,
in addition to his liability (if any) to contribute as an ordinary member, be liable to
make a further contribution as if he were at the commencement of the winding up
a member of an unlimited company:
Provided that—
(i) a past director or manager shall not be liable to make such further
contribution if he has ceased to hold office for a year or upwards
before the commencement of the winding up;
(ii) a past director or manager shall not be liable to make such further
contribution in respect of any debt or liability of the company
contracted after he ceased to hold office;
(iii) subject to the articles of the company, a director or manager shall not
be liable to make such further contribution unless the court deems it
necessary to require that contribution in order to satisfy the debts and
liabilities of the company and the costs, charges and expenses of the
winding up.
the ground only that the assets of the company have been mortgaged to an amount
equal to or in excess of those assets or that the company has no assets.
(2) Where the petition is presented by members of the company as
contributories on the ground that it is just and equitable that the company should
be wound up, the court, if it is of opinion—
(a) that the petitioners are entitled to relief either by winding up the
company or by some other means; and
(b) that in the absence of any other remedy it would be just and equitable
that the company should be wound up,
shall make a winding-up order, unless it is also of the opinion both that some other
remedy is available to the petitioners and that they are acting unreasonably in
seeking to have the company wound up instead of pursuing that other remedy.
(3) Where the petition is presented on the ground of default in delivering the
statutory report to the registrar or in holding the statutory meeting, the court may—
(a) instead of making a winding-up order, direct that the statutory report
shall be delivered or that a meeting shall be held; and
(b) order the costs to be paid by any persons who, in the opinion of the
court, are responsible for the default.
223. Power to stay or restrain proceedings against company
At any time after the presentation of a winding-up petition, and before a winding-
up order has been made, the company, or any creditor or contributory, may—
(a) where any suit or proceeding against the company is pending in the
High Court or the Court of Appeal, apply to the court in which the suit
or proceedings is pending for a stay of proceedings therein; and
(b) where any other suit or proceeding is pending against the company,
apply to the court having jurisdiction to wind up the company to
restrain further proceedings in the suit or proceeding;
and the court to which application is so made may, as the case may be, stay or
restrain the proceedings accordingly on such terms as it thinks fit.
224. Avoidance of dispositions of property, etc., after commencement of
winding up
In a winding up by the court, any disposition of the property of the company,
including things in action, and any transfer of shares, or alteration in the status of
the members of the company, made after the commencement of the winding up,
shall, unless the court otherwise orders, be void.
225. Avoidance of attachments, etc.
Where any company is being wound up by the court, any attachment, distress
or execution put in force against the estate or effects of the company after the
commencement of the winding up shall be void.
Commencement of Winding Up
226. Commencement of winding up by the court
(1) Where, before the presentation of a petition for the winding up of a company
by the court, a resolution has been passed by the company for voluntary winding
up, the winding up of the company shall be deemed to have commenced at the time
of the passing of the resolution, and unless the court, on proof of fraud or mistake,
thinks fit otherwise to direct, all proceedings taken in the voluntary winding up shall
be deemed to have been validly taken.
(2) In any other case, the winding up of a company by the court shall be deemed
to commence at the time of the presentation of the petition for the winding up.
Consequences of Winding-Up Order
227. Copy of order to be forwarded to registrar
On the making of a winding-up order, a copy of the order shall forthwith be
forwarded by the company, or otherwise as may be prescribed, to the registrar for
registration.
228. Actions stayed on winding-up order
When a winding-up order has been made or an interim liquidator has been
appointed under section 235, no action or proceeding shall be proceeded with or
commenced against the company except by leave of the court and subject to such
terms as the court may impose.
229. Effect of winding-up order
An order for winding up a company shall operate in favour of all the creditors
and of all the contributories of the company as if made on the joint petition of a
creditor and of a contributory.
Official Receiver in Winding Up
230. Official receiver in bankruptcy to be official receiver for winding-up
purposes
(1) For the purposes of this Act so far as it relates to the winding up of
companies by the court, “official receiver” means the official receiver attached to
the court for bankruptcy purposes.
(2) Any such officer shall, for the purpose of his duties under this Act, be styled
the official receiver.
231. Appointment of official receiver by court in certain cases
If, in the case of the winding up of any company by the court it appears to
the court desirable, with a view to securing the more convenient and economical
conduct of the winding up, that some officer other than the person who would by
virtue of section 230 be the official receiver should be the official receiver for the
purposes of that winding up, the court may appoint that other officer to act as official
receiver in that winding up, and the person so appointed shall be deemed to be the
official receiver in that winding up for all the purposes of this Act.
(2) Where a person other than the official receiver is appointed liquidator, he
shall receive such salary or remuneration by way of percentage or otherwise as
the court may direct, and, if more such persons than one are appointed liquidators,
their remuneration shall be distributed among them in such proportions as the court
directs.
(3) A vacancy in the office of a liquidator appointed by the court shall be filled
by the court.
(4) If more than one liquidator is appointed by the court, the court shall declare
whether any act by this Act required or authorized to be done by the liquidator is
to be done by all or any one or more of the persons appointed.
(5) Subject to the provisions of section 326, the acts of a liquidator shall be valid
notwithstanding any defects that may afterwards be discovered in his appointment
or qualification.
239. Custody of company’s property
Where a winding-up order has been made or where an interim liquidator has
been appointed, the liquidator or the interim liquidator, as the case may be, shall
take into his custody or under his control all the property and things in action to
which the company is or appears to be entitled.
240. Vesting of property of company in liquidator
Where a company is being wound up by the court, the court may on the
application of the liquidator by order direct that all or any part of the property of
whatsoever description belonging to the company or held by trustees on its behalf
shall vest in the liquidator by his official name, and thereupon the property to
which the order relates shall vest accordingly, and the liquidator may, after giving
such indemnity, if any, as the court may direct, bring or defend in his official name
any action or other legal proceeding which relates to that property or which it is
necessary to bring or defend for the purpose of effectually winding up the company
and recovering its property.
241. Powers of liquidator
(1) The liquidator in a winding up by the court shall have power, with the sanction
either of the court or of the committee of inspection—
(a) to bring or defend any action or other legal proceeding in the name
and on behalf of the company;
(b) to carry on the business of the company so far as may be necessary
for the beneficial winding up thereof;
(c) to appoint an advocate to assist him in the performance of his duties;
(d) to pay any classes of creditors in full;
(e) to make any compromise, or arrangement with creditors, or persons
claiming to be creditors, or having or alleging themselves to have any
claim, present or future, certain or contingent, ascertained or sounding
only in damages against the company, or whereby the company may
be rendered liable;
(f) to compromise all calls and liabilities to calls, debts and liabilities
capable of resulting in debts, and all claims, present or future, certain
or contingent, ascertained or sounding only in damages, subsisting
or supposed to subsist between the company and a contributory or
alleged contributory or other debtor or person apprehending liability to
the company, and all questions in any way relating to or affecting the
assets or the winding up of the company, on such terms as may be
agreed, and take any security for the discharge of any such call, debt,
liability or claim and give a complete discharge in respect thereof.
(2) The liquidator in a winding up by the court shall have power—
(a) to sell the movable and immovable property and things in action of the
company by public auction or private contract, with power to transfer
the whole thereof to any person or company or to sell the same in
parcels;
(b) to do all acts and to execute, in the name and on behalf of the
company, all deeds, receipts and other documents, and for that
purpose to use, when necessary, the company’s seal;
(c) to prove, rank and claim in the bankruptcy, insolvency or
sequestration of any contributory for any balance against his
estate, and to receive dividends in the bankruptcy, insolvency or
sequestration in respect of that balance, as a separate debt due
from the bankrupt or insolvent, and rateably with the other separate
creditors;
(d) to draw, accept, make and endorse any bill of exchange or promissory
note in the name and on behalf of the company, with the same effect
with respect to the liability of the company as if the bill or note had been
drawn, accepted, made or endorsed by or on behalf of the company
in the course of its business;
(e) to raise on the security of the assets of the company any money
requisite;
(f) to take out in his official name letters of administration to any
deceased contributory, and to do in his official name any other
act necessary for obtaining payment of any money due from a
contributory or his estate which cannot be conveniently done in the
name of the company, and in all such cases the money due shall,
for the purpose of enabling the liquidator to take out the letters of
administration or recover the money, be deemed to be due to the
liquidator himself:
Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to affect the rights,
duties and privileges of the Public Trustee;
(g) to appoint an agent to do any business which the liquidator is unable
to do himself;
(2) The court may make any appointment and order required to give effect to
any such determination, and if there is a difference between the determinations of
the meetings of the creditors and contributories in respect of the matters aforesaid
the court shall decide the difference and make such order thereon as the court
may think fit.
249. Constitution and proceedings of committee of inspection
(1) A committee of inspection appointed in pursuance of this Act shall consist
of creditors and contributories of the company or persons holding general powers
of attorney from creditors or contributories in such proportions as may be agreed
on by the meetings of creditors and contributories or as, in case of difference, may
be determined by the court.
(2) The committee shall meet at such times as they from time to time appoint,
and, failing such appointment, at least once a month, and the liquidator or any
member of the committee may also call a meeting of the committee as and when
he thinks necessary.
(3) The committee may act by a majority of their members present at a meeting
but shall not act unless a majority of the committee are present.
(4) A member of the committee may resign by notice in writing signed by him
and delivered to the liquidator.
(5) If a member of the committee becomes bankrupt or compounds or arranges
with his creditors or is absent from five consecutive meetings of the committee
without the leave of those members who together with himself represent the
creditors or contributories, as the case may be, his office shall thereupon become
vacant.
(6) A member of the committee may be removed by an ordinary resolution at a
meeting of creditors, if he represents creditors, or of contributories, if he represents
contributories, of which twenty-one days notice has been given, stating the object
of the meeting.
(7) On a vacancy occurring in the committee the liquidator shall forthwith
summon a meeting of creditors or of contributories, as the case may require, to fill
the vacancy, and the meeting may, by resolution, reappoint the same or appoint
another creditor or contributory to fill the vacancy:
Provided that if the liquidator, having regard to the position in the winding up,
is of the opinion that it is unnecessary for the vacancy to be filled he may apply to
the court and the court may make an order that the vacancy shall not be filled, or
shall not be filled except in such circumstances as may be specified in the order.
(8) The continuing members of the committee, if not less than two, may act
notwithstanding any vacancy in the committee.
250. Powers of court where no committee of inspection
Where in the case of a winding up there is no committee of inspection, the court
may, on the application of the liquidator, do any act or thing or give any
of the company other than himself, apply to the court, and the court may on such
application appoint a special manager of the said estate or business to act during
such time as the court may direct, with such powers, including any of the powers
of a receiver or manager, as may be entrusted to him by the court.
(2) The special manager shall give such security and account in such manner
as the official receiver shall direct.
(3) The special manager shall receive such remuneration as may be fixed by
the court.
259. Power to exclude creditors not proving in time
The court may fix a time or times within which creditors are to prove their debts
or claims or to be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before those
debts are proved.
260. Adjustment of rights of contributories
The court shall adjust the rights of the contributories among themselves and
make an order for the distribution of any surplus among the persons entitled
thereto.
261. Inspection of books by creditors and contributories
(1) The court may, at any time after making a winding-up order, make such
order for inspection of the books and papers of the company by creditors and
contributories as the court thinks just, and any books and papers of the company
may be inspected by creditors or contributories accordingly, but not further or
otherwise.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be taken as excluding or restricting any statutory
rights of any department of the Government or of any officer thereof or of any
person acting under the authority of any such department or officer.
262. Power to order costs of winding up to be paid out of assets
The court may, in the event of the assets being insufficient to satisfy the
liabilities, make an order as to the payment out of the assets of the costs, charges
and expenses incurred in the winding up in such order of priority as the court thinks
just.
263. Power to summon persons suspected of having property of company,
etc.
(1) The court may, at any time after the appointment of an interim liquidator or
the making of a winding-up order, summon before it any officer of the company or
person known or suspected to have in his possession any property of the company
or supposed to be indebted to the company, or any person whom the court deems
capable of giving information concerning the promotion, formation, trade, dealings,
affairs or property of the company.
(2) The court may examine him on oath concerning the matters aforesaid, either
by word of mouth or on written interrogatories, and may reduce his answers to
writing and require him to sign them.
(3) The court may require him to produce any books and papers in his custody
or power relating to the company, but, where he claims any lien on books or papers
produced by him, the production shall be without prejudice to that lien, and the
court shall have jurisdiction in the winding up to determine all questions relating
to that lien.
(4) If any person so summoned, after being tendered a reasonable sum for his
expenses, refuses to come before the court at the time appointed, not having a
lawful impediment (made known to the court at the time of its sitting and allowed
by it), the court may cause him to be arrested and brought before the court for
examination.
264. Attendance of officers of company at meetings of creditors, etc.
In the winding up by the court of a company the court shall have power to require
the attendance of any officer of the company at any meeting of creditors or of
contributories or of a committee of inspection for the purpose of giving information
as to the trade, dealings, affairs or property of the company.
265. Power to order public examination of promoters and officers
(1) Where an order has been made for winding up a company by the court,
and the official receiver has made a further report under this Act stating that in his
opinion a fraud has been committed by any person in the promotion or formation of
the company or by any officer of the company in relation to the company since its
formation, the court may, after consideration of the report, direct that that person or
officer shall attend before the court on a day appointed by the court for that purpose
and be publicly examined as to the promotion or formation or the conduct of the
business of the company or as to his conduct and dealings as an officer thereof.
(2) The official receiver shall take part in the examination, and for that purpose
may, if specially authorized by the court in that behalf, employ an advocate.
(3) The liquidator, where the official receiver is not the liquidator, and any
creditor or contributory may also take part in the examination either personally or
by advocate.
(4) The court may put such questions to the person examined as the court
thinks fit.
(5) The person examined shall be examined on oath and shall answer all such
questions as the court may put or allow to be put to him.
(6) A person ordered to be examined under this section shall at his own cost,
before his examination, be furnished with a copy of the official receiver’s report, and
may at his own cost employ an advocate, who shall be at liberty to put to him such
questions as the court may deem just for the purpose of enabling him to explain
or qualify any answers given by him:
Provided that, if any such person applies to the court to be exculpated from any
charges made or suggested against him, it shall be the duty of the official receiver
to appear on the hearing of the application and call the attention of the
court to any matters which appear to the official receiver to be relevant, and if
the Court, after hearing any evidence given or witnesses called by the official
receiver, grants the application, the court may allow the applicant such costs as in
its discretion it may think fit.
(7) Notes of the examination shall be taken down in writing, and shall be read
over to or by, and signed by, the person examined, and may thereafter be used
in evidence against him, and shall be open to the inspection of any creditor or
contributory at all reasonable times.
(8) The court may, if it thinks fit, adjourn the examination from time to time.
266. Power to arrest absconding promoters, officers and contributories
The court, at any time either before or after making a winding-up order, on proof
of probable cause for believing that any person or officer of the company mentioned
in subsection (1) of section 265 or a contributory is about to quit Kenya or otherwise
to abscond or to remove or conceal any of his property for the purpose of evading
payment of calls or of avoiding examination respecting the affairs of the company,
may cause him to be arrested and his books and papers and movable personal
property to be seized and him and them to be safely kept until such time as the
court may order.
267. Powers of court cumulative
Any powers by this Act conferred on the court shall be in addition to and not in
restriction of any existing powers of instituting proceedings against any contributory
or debtor of the company or the estate of any contributory or debtor, for the recovery
of any call or other sums.
268. Delegation to liquidator of certain powers of court
Provision may be made by rules for enabling or requiring all or any of the powers
and duties conferred and imposed on the court by this Act in respect of the following
matters—
(a) the holding and conducting of meetings to ascertain the wishes of
creditors and contributories;
(b) the settling of lists of contributories and the rectifying of the register
of members where required, and the collecting and applying of the
assets;
(c) the paying, delivery, conveyance, surrender or transfer of money,
property, books or papers to the liquidator;
(d) the making of calls;
(e) the fixing of a time within which debts and claims must be proved,
to be exercised or performed by the liquidator as an officer of the court, and subject
to the control of the court:
Provided that the liquidator shall not, without the special leave of the court,
rectify the register of members, and shall not make any call without either the
special leave of the court or the sanction of the committee of inspection.
(4) A winding up in the case of which a declaration has been made and delivered
in accordance with this section or section 226 of the repealed Companies Act is in
this Act referred to as a members’ voluntary winding up, and a winding up in the
case of which a declaration has not been made and delivered as aforesaid is in
this Act referred to as a creditors’ voluntary winding up.
(5) Subsections (1) to (3) shall not apply to a winding up commenced before
the appointed day.
Provisions Applicable to a Members’ Voluntary Winding Up
277. Provisions applicable to a members’ winding up
The provisions of sections 278 to 284 shall, subject to the provisions of section
284, apply in relation to a members’ voluntary winding up.
278. Power of company to appoint and fix remuneration of liquidators
(1) The company in general meeting shall appoint one or more liquidators for
the purpose of winding up the affairs and distributing the assets of the company,
and may fix the remuneration to be paid to him or them.
(2) On the appointment of a liquidator all the powers of the directors shall cease,
except so far as the company in general meeting or the liquidator sanctions the
continuance thereof.
279. Power to fill vacancy in office of liquidator
(1) If a vacancy occurs by death, resignation or otherwise in the office of
liquidator appointed by the company, the company in general meeting may, subject
to any arrangement with its creditors, fill the vacancy.
(2) For that purpose a general meeting may be convened by any contributory
or, if there were more liquidators than one, by any continuing liquidator.
(3) The meeting shall be held in manner provided by this Act or by the articles,
or in such manner as may, on application by any contributory or, by any continuing
liquidator, be determined by the court.
280. Power of liquidator to accept shares, etc., as consideration for sale of
property of company
(1) Where a company is proposed to be, or is in course of being, wound up
voluntarily, and the whole or part of its business or property is proposed to be
transferred or sold to another company, whether a company within the meaning of
this Act or not (in this section called the transferee company), the liquidator of the
first-mentioned company (in this section called the transferor company) may, with
the sanction of a special resolution of that company, conferring either a general
authority on the liquidator or an authority in respect of any particular arrangement,
receive, in compensation or part compensation for the transfer or sale, shares,
policies or other like interests in the transferee company for distribution among
the members of the transferor company, or may enter into any other arrangement
whereby the members of the transferor company may, in lieu of receiving cash,
shares, policies or other like interests, or in addition thereto, participate in the profits
of or receive any other benefit from the transferee company.
from the end of the year or such longer period as the registrar may allow, and shall
lay before the meetings an account of his acts and dealings and of the conduct of
the winding up during the preceding year.
(2) If the liquidator fails to comply with this section he shall be liable to a fine
not exceeding two hundred shillings.
294. Final meeting and dissolution
(1) As soon as the affairs of the company are fully wound up, the liquidator
shall make up an account of the winding up, showing how the winding up has been
conducted and the property of the company disposed of, and thereupon shall call
a general meeting of the company and a meeting of the creditors for the purpose
of laying the account before the meetings and giving any explanation thereof.
(2) Each such meeting shall be called by advertisement in the Gazette and in a
newspaper circulating in Kenya, specifying the time, place and object thereof, and
published, thirty days at least before the meeting.
(3) Within fourteen days after the date of the meetings, or, if the meetings are
not held on the same date, after the date of the later meeting, the liquidator shall
deliver to the registrar a copy of the account, and shall make a return to him of
the holding of the meetings and of their dates, and if the copy is not delivered or
the return is not made in accordance with this subsection the liquidator shall be
liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred shillings for every day during which the
default continues:
Provided that, if a quorum is not present at either such meeting, the liquidator
shall, in lieu of the return hereinbefore mentioned, make a return that the meeting
was duly summoned and that no quorum was present thereat and upon such a
return being made the provisions of this subsection as to the making of the return
shall, in respect of that meeting, be deemed to have been complied with.
(4) The registrar on receiving the account and, in respect of each such meeting,
either of the returns hereinbefore mentioned, shall forthwith register them, and on
the expiration of three months from the registration thereof the company shall be
deemed to be dissolved:
Provided that the court may, on the application of the liquidator or of any other
person who appears to the court to be interested, make an order deferring the date
at which the dissolution of the company is to take effect for such time as the court
thinks fit.
(5) It shall be the duty of the person on whose application an order of the court
under this section is made, within seven days after the making of the order, to
deliver to the registrar a certified copy of the order for registration, and if that person
fails so to do he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred shillings for
every day during which the default continues.
(6) If the liquidator fails to call a general meeting of the company or a meeting
of the creditors as required by this section, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding
one thousand shillings.
winding up by the court for the purpose of section 249, except subsection (1)
thereof, except in so far as the operation of that section is excluded in a voluntary
winding up by general rules.
(v) Provisions Applicable to Every Mode of Winding Up
Proof and Ranking of Claims
309. Debts of all descriptions may be proved
In every winding up (subject, in the case of insolvent companies, to the
application in accordance with the provisions of this Act of the law of bankruptcy)
all debts payable on a contingency, and all claims against the company, present
or future, certain or contingent, ascertained or sounding only in damages, shall be
admissible to proof against the company, a just estimate being made, so far as
possible, of the value of such debts or claims as may be subject to any contingency
or sound only in damages, or for some other reason do not bear a certain value.
310. Application of bankruptcy rules in winding up of insolvent companies
In the winding up of an insolvent company the same rules shall prevail and be
observed with regard to the respective rights of secured and unsecured creditors
and to debts provable and to the valuation of annuities and future and contingent
liabilities as are in force for the time being under the law of bankruptcy with respect
to the estates of persons adjudged bankrupt, and all persons who in any such
case would be entitled to prove for and receive dividends out of the assets of the
company may come in under the winding up and make such claims against the
company as they respectively are entitled to by virtue of this section.
311. Preferential payments
(1) In the winding up of a company there shall be paid in priority to all other
debts—
(a) all taxes and local rates due from the company at the relevant date
and having become due and payable within twelve months next before
that date not exceeding in the whole one year’s assessment;
(b) all Government rents not more than one year in arrear;
(c) all wages or salary (whether or not earned wholly or in part by way of
commission) of any clerk or servant (not being a director) in respect
of services rendered to the company during four months next before
the relevant date and all wages (whether payable for time or for piece
work) of any workman or labourer in respect of services so rendered;
(cA) all retirement benefits contributions and vested benefits of any clerk
or servant of the Company;
(d) unless the company is being wound up voluntarily merely for the
purposes of reconstruction or amalgamation with another company,
or unless the company has, at the commencement of the winding up,
under any contract with insurers, rights capable of being transferred
to and vested in the workman, all amounts due in respect of any
compensation or liability for compensation under the Workmen’s
Compensation Act (Cap. 236) (now repealed), being amounts which
have accrued before the relevant dates;
(e) unless the company is being wound up voluntarily merely for the
purposes of reconstruction or amalgamation with another company,
all amounts due in respect of contributions payable during the period
of twelve months immediately preceding the relevant date by the
company as the employer of any person under the National Social
Security Fund Act (Cap. 258) or the Retirement Benefits Act (No. 3
of 1997).
(2) Notwithstanding anything in paragraph (c) or (cA) of subsection (1), the sum
to which priority is to be given under these paragraphs shall not, in the case of any
one claimant, exceed twenty thousand shillings:
Provided that, where a claimant under the said paragraph (c) is a labourer in
husbandry who has entered into a contract for the payment of a portion of his wages
in a lump sum at the end of the year of hiring, he shall have priority in respect of
the whole of such sum, or a part thereof, as the court may decide to be due under
the contract, proportionate to the time of service up to the relevant date.
(3) Where any compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation Act (Cap.
236) (now repealed) is a weekly payment, the amount due in respect thereof shall,
for the purposes of paragraph (d) of subsection (1), be taken to be amount of the
lump sum for which the weekly payment could, if redeemable, be redeemed if the
employer made an application for that purpose under the said Act.
(4) Where any payment has been made to any clerk, or servant (not being
a director) or to any workman or labourer in the employment of a company, on
account of wages or salary out of money advanced by some person for that
purpose, the person by whom the money was advanced shall in a winding up have
a right of priority in respect of the money so advanced and paid up to the amount
by which the sum in respect of which the clerk, servant, workman or labourer would
have been entitled to priority in the winding up has been diminished by reason of
the payment having been made.
(5) The foregoing debts shall—
(a) rank equally among themselves and be paid in full, unless the assets
are insufficient to meet them, in which case they shall abate in equal
proportions; and
(b) so far as the assets of the company available for payment of general
creditors are insufficient to meet them, have priority over the claims
of holders of debentures under any floating charge created by the
company, and be paid accordingly out of any property comprised in
or subject to that charge.
(6) Subject to the retention of such sums as may be necessary for the costs
and expenses of the winding up, the foregoing debts shall be discharged forthwith
so far as the assets are sufficient to meet them.
(7) In the event of a landlord or other person distraining or having distrained on
any goods or effects of the company within six months next before the date of a
winding-up order, the debts to which priority is given by this section shall be a first
charge on the goods or effects so distrained on, or the proceeds of the sale thereof:
Provided that, in respect of any money paid under any such charge, the landlord
or other person shall have the same rights of priority as the person to whom the
payment is made.
(8) For the purposes of this section—
(a) any remuneration in respect of a period of absence from work through
sickness or other good cause shall be deemed to be wages in respect
of services rendered to the company during that period;
(b) “the relevant date” means—
(i) in the case of a company ordered to be wound up compulsorily,
the date of the appointment (or first appointment) of an interim
liquidator, or, if no such appointment was made, the date of
the winding-up order, unless in either case the company had
commenced to be wound up voluntarily before that date; and
(ii) in any case where subparagraph (i) does not apply, the date of
the passing of the resolution for the winding up of the company.
(9) This section shall not apply in the case of a winding up where the relevant
date as defined in subsection (6) of section 259 of the repealed Companies Act
occurred before the commencement of this Act, and in such a case the provisions
relating to preferential payments which would have applied if this Act had not been
enacted shall be deemed to remain in full force.
[Act No. 28 of 1965, s. 48, Act No. 9 of 1967, Sch., Act No. 38
of 1968, Sch., Act No. 8 of 2003, s. 7, Act No. 15 of 2003, s. 61.]
(2) The value of the said person’s interest shall be determined as at the date of
the transaction constituting the fraudulent preference, and shall be determined as if
the interest were free of all encumbrances other than those to which the mortgage
or charge for the company’s debt was then subject.
(3) (a) On any application made to the court with respect to any payment on
the ground that the payment was a fraudulent preference of a surety or guarantor,
the court shall have jurisdiction to determine any questions with respect to the
payment arising between the person to whom the payment was made and the
surety or guarantor and to grant relief in respect thereof, notwithstanding that it is
not necessary so to do for the purposes of the winding up, and for that purpose
may give leave to bring in the surety or guarantor as a third party as in the case of
an action for the recovery of the sum paid.
(b) This subsection shall apply, with the necessary modifications, in relation
to transactions other than the payment of money as it applies in relation to such
payments.
314. Effect of floating charge
Where a company is being wound up, a floating charge on the undertaking or
property of the company created within twelve months of the commencement of the
winding up shall, unless it is proved that the company immediately after the creation
of the charge was solvent, be invalid, except to the amount of any cash paid to
the company at the time of or subsequently to the creation of, and in consideration
for, the charge, together with interest on that amount at the rate of six per cent per
annum or such other rate as may for the time being be prescribed:
Provided that, in relation to a charge created more than six months before the
appointed day, this section shall have effect with the substitution, for the words
“twelve months”, of the words “six months”.
315. Disclaimer of onerous property in case of company wound up
(1) Where any part of the property of a company which is being wound up
consists of land of any tenure burdened with onerous covenants, of shares or stock
in companies, of unprofitable contracts or of any other property that is unsaleable,
or not readily saleable, by reason of its binding the possessor thereof to the
performance of any onerous act or to the payment of any sum of money, the
liquidator of the company, notwithstanding that he has endeavoured to sell or has
taken possession of the property or exercised any act of ownership in relation
thereto, may, with the leave of the court and subject to the provisions of this section,
by writing signed by him, at any time within twelve months after the commencement
of the winding up or such extended period as may be allowed by the court, dislaim
the property:
Provided that, where any such property has not come to the knowledge of the
liquidator within one month after the commencement of the winding up, the power
under this section of disclaiming the property may be exercised at any time within
twelve months after he has become aware thereof or such extended period as may
be allowed by the court.
(2) The disclaimer shall operate to determine, as from the date of disclaimer,
the rights, interest and liabilities of the company, and the property of the company,
in or in respect of the property dislaimed, but shall not, except so far as is necessary
for the purpose of releasing the company and the property of the company from
liability, affect the rights or liabilities of any other person.
(3) The court, before or on granting leave to disclaim, may require such notices
to be given to persons interested, and impose such terms as a condition of granting
leave, and make such other order, in the matter as the court thinks just.
(4) The liquidator shall not be entitled to disclaim any property under this section
in any case where an application in writing has been made to him by any persons
interested in the property requiring him to decide whether he will or will not disclaim
and the liquidator has not, within a period of twenty-eight days after the receipt of
the application or such further period as may be allowed by the court, given notice
to the applicant that he intends to apply to the court for leave to disclaim, and, in
the case of a contract, if the liquidator, after such an application as aforesaid, does
not within the said period or further period disclaim the contract, the company shall
be deemed to have adopted it.
(5) The court may, on the application of any person who is, as against the
liquidator, entitled to the benefit or subject to the burden of a contract made with the
company, make an order rescinding the contract on such terms as to payment by
or to either party of damages for the non-performance of the contract, or otherwise
as the court thinks just, and any damages payable under the order to any such
person may be proved by him as a debt in the winding up.
(6) The court may, on an application by any person who either claims any
interest in any disclaimed property or is under any liability not discharged by this Act
in respect of any disclaimed property and on hearing any such persons as it thinks
fit, make an order for the vesting of the property in or the delivery of the property to
any persons entitled thereto, or to whom it may seem just that the property should
be delivered by way of compensation for such liability as aforesaid, or a trustee for
him, and on such terms as the court thinks just, and on any such vesting order being
made the property comprised therein shall vest accordingly in the person therein
named in that behalf without any conveyance or assignment for the purpose:
Provided that, where the property disclaimed is of a leasehold nature, the court
shall not make a vesting order in favour of any person claiming under the company,
whether as under-lessee or as chargee, except upon the terms of making that
person—
(i) subject to the same liabilities and obligations as those to which the
company was subject under the lease in respect of the property at the
commencement of the winding up; or
(ii) if the court thinks fit, subject only to the same liabilities and obligations
as if the lease had been assigned to that person at that date,
and in either event (if the case so requires) as if the lease had comprised only
the property comprised in the vesting order, and any mortgagee or under-lessee
declining to accept a vesting order upon such terms shall be excluded from all
interest in and security upon the property, and, if there is no person claiming
under the company who is willing to accept an order upon such terms, the court
shall have power to vest the estate and interest of the company in the property
in any person liable either personally or in a representative character, and either
alone or jointly with the company, to perform the lessee’s covenants in the lease,
freed and discharged from all estates, encumbrances and interests created therein
by the company.
(7) Any person injured by the operation of a disclaimer under this section shall
be deemed to be a creditor of the company to the amount of the injury, and may
accordingly prove the amount as a debt in the winding up.
316. Restriction of rights of creditor as to execution or attachment in case
of company being wound up
(1) Where a creditor has issued execution against the movable or immovable
property of a company or has attached any debt due to the company, and the
company is subsequently wound up, he shall not be entitled to retain the benefit of
the execution or attachment against the liquidator in the winding up of the company
unless he has completed the execution or attachment before the commencement
of the winding up:
Provided that—
(i) where any creditor has had notice of a meeting having been called
at which a resolution for voluntary winding up is to be proposed, the
date on which the creditor so had notice shall, for the purposes of the
foregoing provision, be substituted for the date of the commencement
of the winding up;
(ii) a person who purchases in good faith under a sale by order of the
court any movable property of a company on which an execution has
been levied shall in all cases acquire a good title thereto against the
liquidator; and
(iii) the rights conferred by this subsection on the liquidator may be set
aside by the court in favour of the creditor to such extent and subject
to such terms as the court may think fit.
(2) For the purposes of this section, an execution against movable property
shall be taken to be completed by seizure and sale, and an attachment of a debt
shall be deemed to be completed by receipt of the debt, and an execution against
immovable property shall be deemed to be completed by seizure and, in the case
of an equitable interest, by the appointment of a receiver.
(3) In this section and in section 317, “movable property” includes all chattels
personal.
317. Duties of court as to goods taken in execution
(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3), where any movable property of
a company is taken in execution, and, before the sale thereof or the completion
of the execution by the receipt or recovery of the full amount of the levy, notice is
served on the court that an interim liquidator has been appointed or that a winding-
up order has been made or that a resolution for voluntary winding up has been
passed, the court shall, on being so required, deliver the
(f) makes any material omission in any statement relating to the affairs
of the company; or
(g) knowing or believing that a false debt has been proved by any person
under the winding up, fails for the period of a month to inform the
liquidator thereof; or
(h) after the commencement of the winding up prevents the production
of any book or paper affecting or relating to the property or affairs of
the company; or
(i) within twelve months next before the commencement of the winding
up or at any time thereafter, conceals, destroys, mutilates or falsifies,
or is privy to the concealment, destruction, mutilation or falsification
of, any book or paper affecting or relating to the property or affairs of
the company; or
(j) within twelve months next before the commencement of the winding
up or at any time thereafter makes or is privy to the making of any
false entry in any book or paper affecting or relating to the property
or affairs of the company; or
(k) within twelve months next before the commencement of the winding
up or at any time thereafter fraudulently parts with, alters or makes any
omission in, or is privy to the fraudulent parting with, alters or makes
any omission in, any document affecting or relating to the property or
affairs of the company; or
(l) after the commencement of the winding up or at any meeting of
the creditors of the company within twelve months next before the
commencement of the winding up attempts to account for any part of
the property of the company by fictitious losses or expenses; or
(m) has within twelve months next before the commencement of the
winding up or at any time thereafter, by any false representation or
other fraud, obtained any property for or on behalf of the company on
credit which the company does not subsequently pay for; or
(n) within twelve months next before the commencement of the winding
up or at any time thereafter, under the false pretence that the company
is carrying on its business, obtains on credit, for or on behalf of the
company, any property which the company does not subsequently
pay for; or
(o) within twelve months next before the commencement of the winding
up or at any time thereafter pawns, pledges or disposes of any
property of the company which has been obtained on credit and has
not been paid for, unless such pawning, pledging or disposing is in
the ordinary way of the business of the company; or
(p) is guilty of any false representation or other fraud for the purpose of
obtaining the consent of the creditors of the company or any of them
to an agreement with reference to the affairs of the company or to the
winding up; or
(q) has within twelve months next before the commencement of the
winding up been privy to the carrying on of the business of the
company knowing that the company was unable to pay its debts; or
(r) has been privy to the contracting by the company of any debt provable
in the liquidation without having at the time when the debt was
contracted any reasonable or probable ground of expectation (proof
whereof shall lie on him) that the company would be able to pay that
debt,
he shall, in the case of the offences mentioned respectively in paragraphs (m), (n)
and (o), be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years and in the
case of any other offence shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
three years:
Provided that it shall be a good defence to a charge under any of paragraphs
(a), (b), (c), (d), (f), (n), (o), (q) and (r) if the accused proves that he had no intent
to defraud, and to a charge under any of paragraphs (h), (i) and (j) if he proves that
he had no intent to conceal the state of affairs of the company or to defeat the law.
(2) Where any person pawns, pledges or disposes of any property in
circumstances which amount to an offence under paragraph (o) of subsection (1),
every person who takes in pawn or pledge or otherwise receives the property
knowing it to be pawned, pledged or disposed of in such circumstances as
aforesaid shall be liable to be punished in the same way as if he had been convicted
of an offence under subsection (1) of section 322 of the Penal Code (Cap. 63).
(3) For the purposes of this section, “officer” includes any person in
accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of a company have
been accustomed to act.
319. Penalty for falsification of books
If any officer or contributory of any company being wound up destroys,
mutilates, alters or falsifies any books, papers or securities, or makes or is privy
to the making of any false or fraudulent entry in any register, book of account or
document belonging to the company, with intent to defraud or deceive any person,
he shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, and shall
also be liable to a fine.
320. Fraud by officers of companies which have gone into liquidation
(1) If any person, being at the time of the commission of the alleged offence an
officer of a company which is subsequently ordered to be wound up by the court
or subsequently passes a resolution for voluntary winding up—
(a) has by false pretences or by means of any other fraud induced any
person to give credit to the company;
(b) with intent to defraud creditors of the company, has made or caused to
be made any gift or transfer of or charge on, or has caused or connived
at the levying of any execution against, the property of the company;
(c) with intent to defraud creditors of the company, has concealed or
removed any part of the property of the company since, or within
two months before, the date of any unsatisfied judgment or order for
payment of money obtained against the company,
he shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
(2) For the purposes of this section, “officer” includes any person in
accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of a company have
been accustomed to act.
321. Officers of company failing to account for loss of part of company’s
property
(1) If any person being a past or present officer of a company which is being
wound up under the provisions of this Act, on being required by the official receiver
at any time or in the course of his examination by the court under the provisions
of section 265 to account for the loss of any substantial part of the company’s
property incurred within a period of a year next preceding the commencement of
the winding up, fails to give a satisfactory explanation of the manner in which such
loss occurred, he shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three
years.
(2) A prosecution shall not be instituted against any person under this section
except by or with the consent of the Attorney-General.
322. Liability where proper accounts not kept
(1) If in the course of the winding up of a company it is shown that proper books
of account were not kept by the company at any time during the period of two
years immediately preceding the commencement of the winding up, or the period
between the incorporation of the company and the commencement of the winding
up, whichever is the shorter, every officer of the company who is in default shall,
unless he shows that he acted honestly and that in the circumstances in which the
business of the company was carried on the default was excusable, be liable on
conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.
(2) For the purpose of this section a company shall be deemed not to have kept
proper books of account, if it has not kept such books or accounts as are required
to be kept by subsection (2) of section 147.
323. Responsibility for fraudulent trading of persons concerned
(a) If in the course of the winding up of a company it appears that any
business of the company has been carried on with intent to defraud
creditors of the company or creditors of any other person or for any
fraudulent purpose, the court, on the application of the official receiver,
or the liquidator or any creditor or contributory of the company, may, if
it thinks proper so to do, declare that any persons who were knowingly
parties to the carrying on of the business in manner aforesaid shall be
personally responsible, without any limitation of liability, for all or any
of the debts or other liabilities of the company as the court may direct.
(b) On the hearing of an application under this subsection the official
receiver or the liquidator, as the case may be, may himself give
evidence or call witnesses.
(2) (a) Where the court makes any such declaration, it may give such further
directions as it thinks proper for the purpose of giving effect to that declaration, and
in particular may make provision for making the liability of any such person under
the declaration a charge on any debt or obligation due from the company to him,
or on any mortgage or charge or any interest in any mortgage or charge on any
assets of the company held by or vested in him, or any company or
person on his behalf, or any person claiming as assignee from or through the
person liable or any company or person acting on his behalf, and may from time
to time make such further order as may be necessary for the purpose of enforcing
any charge imposed under this subsection.
(b) For the purpose of this subsection, “assignee” includes any person to
whom or in whose favour, by the directions of the person liable, the debt,
obligation, mortgage or charge was created, issued or transferred or the interest
created, but does not include an assignee for valuable consideration (not including
consideration by way of marriage) given in good faith and without notice of any of
the matters on the ground of which the declaration is made.
(3) Where any business of a company is carried on with such intent or for such
purpose as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, every person who was
knowingly a party to the carrying on of the business in manner aforesaid shall be
liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding
ten thousand shillings or to both.
(4) The provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding that the
person concerned may be criminally liable in respect of the matters on the ground
of which the declaration is to be made, and where the declaration under subsection
(1) is made the declaration shall be deemed to be a final decree within the meaning
of paragraph (g) of subsection (1) of section 3 of the Bankruptcy Act (Cap. 53).
324. Power of court to assess damages against delinquent directors, etc.
(1) If in the course of winding up a company it appears that any person who
has taken part in the formation or promotion of the company, or any past or present
director, manager or liquidator, or any officer of the company, has misapplied or
retained or become liable or accountable for any money or property of the company,
or been guilty of any misfeasance or breach of trust in relation to the company,
the court may, on the application of the official receiver, or of the liquidator, or of
any creditor or contributory, examine into the conduct of the promoter, director,
manager, liquidator or officer, and compel him to repay or restore the money or
property or any part thereof respectively with interest at such rate as the court
thinks just, or to contribute such sum to the assets of the company by way of
compensation in respect of the misapplication, retainer, misfeasance or breach of
trust as the court thinks just.
(2) The provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding that the
offence is one for which the offender may be criminally liable.
(3) Where an order for payment of money is made under this section, the
order shall be deemed to be a final decree within the meaning of paragraph (g) of
subsection (1) of section 3 of the Bankruptcy Act (Cap. 53).
325. Prosecution of delinquent officers and members of company
(1) If it appears to the court in the course of a winding up by, or subject to the
supervision of, the court that any past or present officer, or any member, of the
company has been guilty of any offence in relation to the company for which he is
criminally liable, the court may, either on the application of any person interested
in the winding up or of its own motion, direct the liquidator to refer the matter to
the Attorney-General.
(b) every power of attorney, proxy paper, writ, order, certificate, affidavit,
statutory declaration, bond or other instrument of writing relating
solely to the property of any company which is being so wound up, or
to any proceeding under any such winding up,
shall be exempt from stamp duty.
(2) In subsection (1), “assurance” includes deed, conveyance, grant, transfer,
assignment and surrender.
331. Books of company to be evidence
Where a company is being wound up, all books and papers of the company
and of the liquidators shall, as between the contributories of the company, be prima
facie evidence of the truth of all matters purporting to be therein recorded.
332. Disposal of books and papers of company
(1) When a company has been wound up and is about to be dissolved, the
books and papers of the company and of the liquidators may be disposed of as
follows, that is to say—
(a) in the case of a winding up by or subject to the supervision of the
court, in such way as the court directs; or
(b) in the case of a members’ voluntary winding up, in such way as the
company by special resolution directs; or
(c) in the case of a creditors’ voluntary winding up, in such way as the
committee of inspection or, if there is no such committee, as the
creditors of the company may direct.
(2) Subject to the other provisions of this section, after five years from
the dissolution of the company no responsibility shall rest on the company, the
liquidators, or any person to whom the custody of the books and papers has been
committed, by reason of any book or paper not being forthcoming to any person
claiming to be interested therein.
(3) Provision may be made by rules to prevent, for any period not exceeding
five years from the dissolution of the company, the destruction of the books and
papers of a company which has been wound up, and for enabling any creditor or
contributory of the company to appeal from any direction so given.
(4) If any person acts in contravention of any rules made for the purposes of
this section he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand shillings.
333. Information as to pending liquidations
(1) If where a company is being wound up the winding up is not concluded within
one year after its commencement, the liquidator shall, at such intervals as may be
prescribed, until the winding up is concluded, deliver to the registrar a statement
in the prescribed form and containing the prescribed particulars with respect to the
proceedings in and position of the liquidation.
(2) If a liquidator fails to comply with this section, he shall be liable to a fine not
exceeding one thousand shillings for each day during which the default continues.
Provisions as to Dissolution
338. Power of court to declare dissolution of company void
(1) Where a company has been dissolved, the court may at any time within two
years of the date of the dissolution, on an application being made for the purpose
by the liquidator of the company or by any other person who appears to the court
to be interested, make an order, upon such terms as the court thinks fit, declaring
the dissolution to have been void and thereupon such proceedings may be taken
as might have been taken if the company had not been dissolved.
(2) It shall be the duty of the person on whose application the order was made,
within seven days after the making of the order or such further time as the court
may allow, to deliver to the registrar for registration a certified copy of the order, and
if that person fails so to do he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred
shillings for every day during which the default continues.
339. Registrar may strike defunct company off register
(1) Where the registrar has reasonable cause to believe that a company is not
carrying on business or in operation, he may send to the company by post a letter
inquiring whether the company is carrying on business or in operation.
(2) If the registrar does not within thirty days of sending the letter receive any
answer thereto, he shall within fourteen days after the expiration of the said period
of thirty days send to the company by registered post a letter referring to the first
letter, and stating that no answer thereto has been received, and that if an answer
is not received to the second letter within thirty days from the date thereof, a notice
will be published in the Gazette with a view to striking the name of the company
off the register.
(3) If the registrar either receives an answer to the effect that the company is
not carrying on business or in operation, or does not within thirty days after sending
the second letter receive any answer, he may publish in the Gazette, and send to
the company by post, a notice that at the expiration of three months from the date
of the notice the name of the company mentioned therein will,
unless cause is shown to the contrary, be struck off the register and the company
will be dissolved:
Provided that the registrar shall not be required to send the letters referred to in
subsections (1) and (2) in any case where the company itself or any director or the
secretary of the company has requested him to strike the company off the register
or has notified him that the company is not carrying on business.
(4) If, in any case where a company is being wound up, the registrar has
reasonable cause to believe either that no liquidator is acting, or that the affairs
of the company are fully wound up, and the returns required to be made by the
liquidator have not been made for a period of six consecutive months, the registrar
shall publish in the Gazette and send to the company or the liquidator, if any, a like
notice as is provided in subsection (3).
(5) At the expiration of the time mentioned in the notice the registrar may, unless
cause to the contrary is previously shown by the company, or the liquidator, as the
case may be, strike the name of the company off the register, and shall publish
notice thereof in the Gazette, and on the publication in the Gazette of this notice
the company shall be dissolved:
Provided that—
(i) the liability, if any, of every director, officer and member of the company
shall continue and may be enforced as if the company had not been
dissolved; and
(ii) nothing in this subsection shall affect the power of the court to wind
up a company the name of which has been struck off the register.
(6) If a company or any member or creditor thereof feels aggrieved by the
company having been struck off the register the court on an application made by
the company or member or creditor before the expiration of ten years from the
publication in the Gazette of the notice aforesaid may, if satisfied that the company
was at the time of the striking off carrying on business or in operation, or otherwise
that it is just that the company be restored to the register, order the name of the
company to be restored to the register, and upon a certified copy of the order being
delivered to the registrar for registration the company shall be deemed to have
continued in existence as if its name had not been struck off; and the court may by
the order give such directions and make such provisions as seem just for placing
the company and all other persons in the same position as nearly as may be as if
the name of the company had not been struck off.
(7) A notice to be sent under this section to a liquidator may be addressed to the
liquidator at his last known place of business, and a letter or notice to be sent under
this section to a company may be addressed to the company at its registered postal
address or, if no postal address has been registered, to the care of some officer
of the company, or, if there is no officer of the company whose name and address
are known to the registrar, may be sent to each of the persons who subscribed the
memorandum, addressed to him at the address mentioned in the memorandum.
340. Property of dissolved company to be bona vacantia
Where a company is dissolved, all property and rights whatsoever vested in or
held in trust for the company immediately before its dissolution (including leasehold
property but not including property held by the company in trust for any
other person) shall, subject and without prejudice to any order which may at any
time be made by the court under section 338 or section 339, be deemed to be bona
vacantia, and shall accordingly belong to the Government.
[Act No. 9 of 1967, Sch.]
company secured by a floating charge, then subject to the provisions of this section
and of section 352—
(a) the receiver shall forthwith send notice to the company of his
appointment; and
(b) there shall, within fourteen days after receipt of the notice, or such
longer period as may be allowed by the court or by the receiver, be
made out and submitted to the receiver in accordance with section 352
a statement in the prescribed form as to the affairs of the company;
and
(c) the receiver shall within two months after receipt of the said statement
send—
(i) to the registrar and to the court, a copy of the statement and
of any comments he sees fit to make thereon and in the case
of the registrar also a summary of the statement and of his
comments (if any) thereon; and
(ii) to the company, a copy of any such comments as aforesaid or,
if he does not see fit to make any comment, a notice to that
effect; and
(iii) to any trustees for the debenture holders on whose behalf he
was appointed and, so far as he is aware of their addresses, to
all such debenture holders, a copy of the said summary.
(2) The receiver shall within two months, or such longer period as the court
may allow after the expiration of the period of twelve months from the date of
his appointment and of every subsequent period of twelve months, and within
two months or such longer period as the court may allow after he ceases to act
as receiver or manager of the property of the company, send to the registrar, to
any trustees for the debenture holders of the company on whose behalf he was
appointed, to the company and (so far as he is aware of their addresses) to all
such debenture holders an abstract in the prescribed form showing his receipts
and payments during that period of twelve months or, where he ceases to act as
aforesaid, during the period from the end of the period to which the last preceding
abstract related up to the date of his so ceasing, and the aggregate amounts of his
receipts and of his payments during all preceding periods since his appointment.
(3) Where the receiver is appointed under the powers contained in any
instrument, this section shall have effect—
(a) with the omission of the references to the court in subsection (1); and
(b) with the substitution for the references to the court in subsection (2)
of references to the registrar,
and in any other case references to the court shall be construed as referring to the
court by which the receiver was appointed.
(a) Subsection (1) shall not apply in relation to the appointment of a
receiver or manager to act with an existing receiver or manager or in
place of a receiver or manager dying or ceasing to act, except that,
where that subsection
(b) Nothing in this subsection shall be taken as limiting the meaning of the
expression “the receiver” where used in, or in relation to, subsection
(2).
(5) This section and section 352 shall apply where the company is being wound
up, notwithstanding that the receiver or manager and the liquidator are the same
person, but with any necessary modifications arising from that fact.
(6) Nothing in subsection (2) shall be taken to prejudice the duty of the receiver
to render proper accounts of his receipts and payments to the persons to whom,
and at the times at which, he may be required to do so apart from that subsection.
(7) If the receiver makes default in complying with the requirements of this
section, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred shillings for every
day during which the default continues.
352. Special provisions as to statement submitted to receiver
(1) The statement as to the affairs of a company required by section 351
to be submitted to the receiver (or his successor) shall show as at the date
of the receiver’s appointment the particulars of the company’s assets, debts
and liabilities, the names, postal addresses and occupations of its creditors,
the securities held by them respectively, the dates when the securities were
respectively given and such further or other information as may be prescribed.
(2) The said statement shall be submitted by, and be verified by affidavit, of
one or more of the persons who are at the date of the receiver’s appointment the
directors and by the person who is at that date the secretary of the company, or by
such of the persons hereafter in this subsection mentioned as the receiver (or his
successor), subject to the direction of the court, may require to submit and verify
the statement, that is to say, persons—
(a) who are or have been officers of the company;
(b) who have taken part in the formation of the company at any time within
one year before the date of the receiver’s appointment;
(c) who are in the employment of the company, or have been in the
employment of the company within the said year, and are in the
opinion of the receiver capable of giving the information required;
(d) who are or have been within the said year officers of or in the
employment of a company which is, or within the said year was, an
officer of the company to which the statement relates.
(3) Any person making the statement and affidavit shall be allowed, and shall be
paid by the receiver (or his successor) out of his receipts, such costs and expenses
incurred in and about the preparation and making of the statement and affidavit
as the receiver (or his successor) may consider reasonable, subject to an appeal
to the court.
(4) Where the receiver is appointed under the powers contained in any
instrument, this section shall have effect with the substitution for references to the
court of references to the registrar or official receiver and for references to an
affidavit of references to a statutory declaration; and in any other case references
to the court shall be construed as referring to the court by which the receiver was
appointed.
(5) If any person without reasonable excuse makes default in complying with
the requirements of this section, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two
hundred shillings for every day during which the default continues.
(6) References in this section to the receiver’s successor shall include a
continuing receiver or manager.
353. Delivery to registrar of accounts of receivers and managers
(1) Except where subsection (2) of section 351 applies, every receiver or
manager of the property of a company who has been appointed under the powers
contained in any instrument shall, within one month, or such longer period as
the registrar may allow, after the expiration of the period of six months from the
date of his appointment and of every subsequent period of six months, and within
one month after he ceases to act as receiver or manager, deliver to the registrar
for registration an abstract in the prescribed form showing his receipts and his
payments during that period of six months or, where he ceases to act as aforesaid,
during the period from the end of the period to which the last preceding abstract
related up to the date of his so ceasing, and the aggregate amount of his receipts
and of his payments during all preceding periods since his appointment.
(2) Every receiver or manager who makes default in complying with the
provisions of this section shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred
shillings for every day during which the default continues.
354. Enforcement of duty of receivers and managers to make returns, etc.
(1) If any receiver or manager of the property of a company—
(a) having made default in filing, delivering or making any return, account
or other document, or in giving any notice, which a receiver or
manager is by law required to file, deliver, make or give, fails to make
good the default within fourteen days after the service on him of a
notice requiring him to do so; or
(b) having been appointed under the powers contained in any instrument,
has, after being required at any time by the liquidator of the company
so to do, failed to render proper accounts of his receipts and payments
and to vouch the same and to pay over to the liquidator the amount
properly payable to him,
the court may, on an application made for the purpose, make an order directing
the receiver or manager, as the case may be, to make good the default within such
time as may be specified in the order.
(2) In the case of any such default as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of
subsection (1) an application for the purposes of this section may be made by any
member or creditor of the company or by the registrar, and in the case of any such
default as is mentioned in paragraph (b) of that subsection, the application shall be
made by the liquidator, and in either case the order may provide that all
costs of and incidental to the application shall be borne by the receiver or manager,
as the case may be.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be taken to prejudice the operation of any
provision of this Act imposing penalties on receivers in respect of any such default
as is mentioned in subsection (1).
355. Construction of references to receivers and managers
It is hereby declared that except where the context otherwise requires—
(a) any reference in this Act to a receiver or manager of the property of a
company, or to a receiver thereof, includes a reference to a receiver
or manager, or (as the case may be) to a receiver, of part only of that
property and to a receiver only of the income arising from that property
or from part thereof; and
(b) any reference in this Act to the appointment of a receiver or manager
under powers contained in any instrument includes a reference to an
appointment made under powers which, by virtue of any written law,
are implied in and have effect as if contained in an instrument.
PART VIII – APPLICATION OF ACT TO COMPANIES
FORMED OR REGISTERED UNDER THE REPEALED ACTS
356. Application of Act to companies formed and registered under the
repealed Acts
This Act shall apply to existing companies—
(a) in the case of a limited company, other than a company limited by
guarantee, as if the company had been formed and registered under
this Act as a company limited by shares;
(b) in the case of a company limited by guarantee, as if the company had
been formed and registered under this Act as a company limited by
guarantee; and
(c) in the case of a company other than a limited company, as if the
company had been formed and registered under this Act as an
unlimited company:
Provided that any reference, express or implied, to the date of registration shall
be construed as a reference to the date at which the company was registered under
that one of the repealed Acts under which such company was registered.
PART IX – WINDING UP OF UNREGISTERED COMPANIES
357. Meaning of unregistered company
For the purposes of this Part, “unregistered company” includes any
partnership, whether limited or not, any association and any company with the
following exceptions—
(a) a company registered under any of the repealed Acts or under this
Act;
liquidator may exercise any powers or do any act in the case of unregistered
companies which might be exercised or done by it or him in winding up companies
formed and registered under this Act:
Provided that an unregistered company shall not, except in the event of its being
wound up, be deemed to be a company under this Act and then only to the extent
provided by this Part.
364. Saving for winding up under the repealed Acts
Nothing in this Part shall affect the operation of any written law which provides
for any partnership, association or company being wound up, or being wound up
as a company or as an unregistered company, under any of the repealed Acts.
PART X – COMPANIES INCORPORATED OUTSIDE KENYA
Provisions as to Establishment of Place of Business in Kenya
365. Application of sections 366 to 375
(1) Sections 366 to 375 shall apply to all foreign companies, that is to say,
companies incorporated outside Kenya which, after the appointed day, establish a
place of business within Kenya and companies incorporated outside Kenya which
have, before the appointed day, established a place of business within Kenya and
continue to have a place of business within Kenya on and after the appointed day:
Provided that the said sections shall not apply to any such company which is
registered, under the Building Societies Act (Cap. 489).
(2) A foreign company shall not be deemed to have a place of business in
Kenya solely on account of its doing business through an agent in Kenya at the
place of business of the agent.
366. Documents, etc., to be delivered to registrar by foreign companies
carrying on business in Kenya
(1) Foreign companies which, after the appointed day, establish a place of
business within Kenya shall, within thirty days of the establishment of the place of
business, deliver to the registrar for registration—
(a) a certified copy of the charter, statutes or memorandum and articles
of the company or other instrument constituting or defining the
constitution of the company, and, if the instrument is not written in the
English language, a certified translation thereof;
(b) a list of the directors and secretary of the company containing the
particulars mentioned in subsection (2);
(c) a statement of all subsisting charges created by the company, being
charges of the kinds set out in subsection (2) of section 96 and not
being charges comprising solely property situate outside Kenya;
(d) the names and postal addresses of some one or more persons
resident in Kenya authorized to accept on behalf of the company
service of process and any notices required to be served on the
company; and
(e) the full address of the registered or principal office of the company.
(2) The list referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) shall contain the
following particulars with respect to each director and secretary—
(a) in the case of an individual, his present Christian name and surname
and any former Christian name or surname, his usual postal address,
his nationality and his business occupation, if any; and
(b) in the case of a corporation, its corporate name and registered or
principal office, and its postal address:
Provided that, where all the partners in a firm are joint secretaries of the
company, the name and principal office of the firm may be stated instead of the
particulars mentioned in this subsection.
(3) Paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subsection (9) of section 201 shall apply for the
purpose of the construction of references in subsection (2) to present and former
Christian names and surnames as they apply for the purpose of the construction
of such references in that section.
(4) If any charge, being a charge which ought to have been included in the
statement required by paragraph (c) of subsection (1), is not so included, it shall
be void as regards property in Kenya against the liquidator and any creditor of the
company.
367. Certificate of registration and power to hold land
(1) Where a foreign company has delivered to the registrar the documents and
particulars mentioned in section 366, the registrar shall, if such documents and
particulars are so delivered after the appointed day, certify under his hand that the
company has complied with the provisions of the said section; and such certificate,
and any certificate given by the registrar of companies before the appointed day
that a foreign company has delivered to him the documents and particulars required
by any provision of any of the repealed Acts corresponding to the said section and
to the like effect, shall be conclusive evidence that the company is registered as a
foreign company for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Where a foreign company has, after the appointed day, delivered to the
registrar the documents and particulars mentioned in section 366, it shall have the
same power to hold land in Kenya as if it were a company incorporated under this
Act.
(3) Where a foreign company has, before the appointed day, delivered to the
registrar of companies the documents and particulars required by any provision
of any of the repealed Acts corresponding to section 366 of this Act and to the
like effect, it shall, subject to the provisions of that one of the repealed Acts in
accordance with which such documents and particulars were so delivered and
of this Act, have the same power to hold land in Kenya as if it were a company
incorporated under this Act.
368. Returns to be delivered to registrar by foreign company
(1) If any alteration is made in—
(a) the charter, statutes or memorandum and articles of a foreign
company or any such instrument as aforesaid; or
(ii) it would, had it been incorporated in Kenya, have been exempt from
the provisions of section 128 by virtue of subsection (4) of that section;
and
(iii) in every calendar year there is delivered to the registrar for registration
a certificate signed by a director and the secretary of the company
verifying the conditions requisite for such exemption.
(2) If any such document as is mentioned under subsection (1) is not written in
the English language there shall be annexed to it a certified translation thereof.
371. Obligation to state name of foreign company, whether limited and
country where incorporated
(1) Every foreign company shall—
(a) in every prospectus inviting subscriptions for its shares or debentures
in Kenya state the country in which the company is incorporated; and
(b) conspicuously exhibit in easily legible roman letters on every place
where it carries on business in Kenya the name of the company and
the country in which the company is incorporated; and
(c) cause the name of the company and of the country in which the
company is incorporated to be stated in legible roman letters in all bill-
heads and letter paper, and in all notices and other official publications
of the company; and
(d) if the liability of the members of the company is limited, cause notice of
that fact to be stated in the English language in legible roman letters in
every such prospectus as aforesaid and in all bill-heads, letter paper,
notices and other official publications of the company in Kenya and to
be affixed on every place where it carries on its business.
(2) Every foreign company shall, in all trade catalogues, trade circulars,
showcards and business letters on or in which the company’s name appears
and which are issued or sent by the company to any person in Kenya, state
in legible roman letters, with respect to every director being a corporation, the
corporate name, and with respect to every director, being an individual, the
following particulars—
(a) his present Christian name, or the initials thereof, and present
surname;
(b) any former Christian names and surnames;
(c) his nationality, if he is not a Kenya citizen:
Provided that, if special circumstances exist which render it in the opinion of
the registrar expedient that such an exemption should be granted, the registrar
may grant, subject to such conditions as may be specified, exemption from the
obligations imposed by this subsection.
[Act No. 9 of 1967, Sch.]
Provided that this subsection shall not apply if it is shown that the form of
application was issued in connection with a bona fide invitation to a person to enter
into an underwriting agreement with respect to the shares or debentures.
(4) In the event of non-compliance with or contravention of any of the
requirements imposed by paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1), a director or
other person responsible for the prospectus shall not incur any liability by reason
of the non-compliance or contravention, if—
(a) as regards any matter not disclosed, he proves that he was not
cognizant thereof; or
(b) he proves that the non-compliance or contravention arose from an
honest mistake of fact on his part; or
(c) the non-compliance or contravention was in respect of matters which,
in the opinion of the court dealing with the case, were immaterial or
were otherwise such as ought, in the opinion of that court, having
regard to all the circumstances of the case, reasonably to be excused:
Provided that, in the event of failure to include in a prospectus a statement with
respect to the matters contained in paragraph 16 of the Third Schedule, no director
or other person shall incur any liability in respect of the failure unless it be proved
that he had knowledge of the matters not disclosed.
(5) This section—
(a) shall not apply to the issue to existing members or debenture holders
of a company or a prospectus or form of application relating to shares
in or debentures of the company, whether an applicant for shares or
debentures will or will not have the right to renounce in favour of other
persons;
(b) except in so far as it requires a prospectus to be dated, shall not apply
to the isse of a prospectus relating to shares or debentures which
are or are to be in all respects uniform with shares or debentures
previously issued,
but, subject as aforesaid, this section shall apply to a prospectus or form of
application whether issued on or with reference to the formation of a company or
subsequently.
(6) Nothing in this section shall limit or diminish any liability which any person
may incur under the general law or this Act, apart from this section.
[Act No. 9 of 1967, Sch.]
(b) if the prospectus does not have the effect, where an application is
made in pursuance thereof, of rendering all persons concerned bound
by all the provisions (other than penal provisions) of sections 52 and
53 so far as applicable.
(2) In this section, “expert” includes engineer, valuer, accountant and any other
person whose profession gives authority to a statement made by him, and for the
purposes of this section a statement shall be deemed to be included in a prospectus
if it is contained therein or in any report or memorandum appearing on the face
thereof or by reference incorporated therein or issued therewith.
378. Registration of prospectus
(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to issue, circulate or distribute in Kenya
any prospectus offering for subscription shares in or debentures of a company
incorporated or to be incorporated outside Kenya, whether the company has or
has not established, or when formed will or will not establish, a place of business
in Kenya, unless before the issue, circulation or distribution of the prospectus in
Kenya, a copy thereof certified by the chairman and two other directors of the
company as having been approved by resolution of the managing body has been
delivered to the registrar for registration and the prospectus states on the face of
it that a copy has been so delivered, and there is endorsed on or attached to the
copy—
(a) any consent to the issue of the prospectus required by section 377;
(b) a copy of any contract required by paragraph 14 of the Third Schedule
to be stated in the prospectus or, in the case of a contract not reduced
into writing, a memorandum giving full particulars thereof; and
(c) where the persons making any report required by Part II of
that Schedule have made therein or have, without giving the
reasons, indicated therein any such adjustments as are mentioned in
paragraph 29 of that Schedule, a written statement signed by those
persons setting out the adjustments and giving the reasons therefor.
(2) The references in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) to the copy of a contract
required thereby to be endorsed on or attached to a copy of the prospectus shall,
in the case of a contract wholly or partly in a language other than English, be
construed as references to a copy of a translation of the contract in English or
a copy embodying a translation in English of the parts in a language other than
English, as the case may be, being a translation certified in the prescribed manner
to be a correct translation, and the reference to a copy of a contract required to be
available for inspection shall include a reference to a copy of a translation thereof
or a copy embodying a translation of parts thereof.
379. Penalty for contravention of sections 376 to 378
Any person who is knowingly responsible for the issue, circulation or distribution
of a prospectus, or for the issue of a form of application for shares or debentures, in
contravention of any of the provisions of sections 376, 377 and 378 shall be liable
to a fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings.
383. Fees
The fees to be paid to the registrar under this Act shall be such as may from
time to time be prescribed by the Minister.
384. Inspection, production and evidence of documents kept by registrar
(1) Any person may—
(a) inspect the documents kept by the registrar, on payment of the
prescribed fee;
(b) require a certificate of the incorporation of any company, or a copy
or extract of any other document or any part of any other document,
to be certified by the registrar, on payment for the certificate, certified
copy or extract of the prescribed fee:
Provided that—
(i) in relation to documents delivered to the registrar with a
prospectus in pursuance of subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b)
of subsection (1) of section 43, the rights conferred by this
subsection shall be exercisable only during the fourteen days
beginning with the date of the prospectus or with the permission
of the registrar, and in relation to documents so delivered in
pursuance of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 378
the said rights shall be exercisable only during the fourteen
days beginning with the date of the prospectus, or with the
permission of the registrar; and
(ii) the right conferred by paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not
extend to any copy sent to the registrar under section 351 of a
statement as to the affairs of a company or of any comments
of the receiver or his successor or a continuing receiver or
manager thereon, but only to the summary thereof, except
where the person claiming the right either is, or is the agent of,
a person stating himself in writing to be a member or creditor
of the company to which the statement relates, and the right
conferred by paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be similarly
limited.
(2) No process for compelling the production of any documents kept by the
registrar shall issue from any court except with the leave of that court, and any such
process if issued shall bear thereon a statement that it is issued with the leave of
the court.
(3) A copy of, or extract from, any document kept and registered at the office
of the registrar, certified to be a true copy under the hand of the registrar (whose
official position it shall not be necessary to prove), shall in all legal proceedings be
admissible as prima facie evidence of such document or extract, as the case may
be, and of the matters, transactions and accounts therein recorded.
(4) The registrar shall not, in any legal proceeding to which he is not a party,
be compellable—
(a) to produce any document the contents of which can be proved under
subsection (3); or
(b) to appear as a witness to prove the matters, transactions or accounts
recorded in any such document,
unless by order of the court made for special cause.
(5) Any person untruthfully stating himself in writing for the purposes of proviso
(ii) to subsection (1) to be a member or creditor of a company shall be liable to a
fine not exceeding one thousand shillings.
385. Enforcement of duty of company to make returns to registrar
(1) If a company, having made default in complying with any provision of this Act
which requires it to file with, deliver or send to the registrar any return, account or
other document, or to give notice to him of any matter, fails to make good the default
within fourteen days after the service of a notice on the company requiring it to do
so, the court may, on an application made to the court by any member or creditor
of the company or by the registrar, make an order directing the company and any
officer thereof to make good the default within such time as may be specified in
the order.
(2) Any such order may provide that all costs of and incidental to the application
shall be borne by the company or by any officer of the company responsible for
the default.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be taken to prejudice the operation of any written
law imposing penalties on a company or its officers in respect of any such default
as aforesaid.
PART XII – MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS WITH
RESPECT TO INSURANCE AND PRODUCE COMPANIES,
AND CERTAIN SOCIETIES AND PARTNERSHIPS
386. Certain companies to publish periodical statement
(1) Every company, including a company incorporated outside Kenya and
having a place of business in Kenya, being an insurance company or being a
deposit provident or benefit society, shall, before it commences business, and also
on the first Monday in February and the first Tuesday in August in every year during
which it carries on business, deliver to the registrar for registration a statement in
the form set out in the Ninth Schedule, or as near thereto as circumstances admit.
(2) A copy of the statement shall be exhibited in a conspicuous place in every
office of the company, or other place where the business of the company is carried
on.
(3) Every member and every creditor of the company shall be entitled to a copy
of the statement, on payment of a sum not exceeding one shilling.
(4) If default is made in complying with this section, the company and every
officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
(5) This section shall not apply to or in respect of a building society registered
under the Building Societies Act (Cap. 489), or a bank or financial institution or
mortgage finance company licensed under the Banking Act (Cap. 488).
[Act No. 1 of 1985, Act No. 9 of 1989, Second Sch.]
Offences
393. Penalty for false statements
If any person in any return, report, certificate, balance sheet or other document,
required by or for the purposes of any of the provisions of this Act specified in the
Tenth Schedule, wilfully makes a statement false in any material particular, knowing
it to be false, he shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years
or to a fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings or to both.
394. Penalty for improper use of word “limited”
If any person or persons trade or carry on business under any name or title of
which “limited”, or any contraction or imitation of that word, is the last word, that
person or those persons shall, unless duly incorporated with limited liability, be
liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred shillings for every day upon which that
name or title has been used.
395. Provision with respect to default fines and meaning of “officer in
default”
(1) Where, by any section of this Act, it is provided that a company and
every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine, the
company and every officer shall, for every day during which the default, refusal
or contravention continues, be liable to a fine not exceeding such amount as is
specified in such section, or, if the amount of the fine is not so specified, to a fine
not exceeding one hundred shillings.
(2) For the purpose of any section of this Act which provides that an officer of
a company who is in default shall be liable to a fine or penalty, “officer who is in
default” means any officer of the company:
Provided that—
(i) in any proceedings against an officer of a company who is alleged
to be in default, it shall be a good defence to prove that he had
reasonable grounds to believe, and did believe, that a competent
and reliable person was responsible for complying with the particular
requirement and was in a position to discharge that responsibility; and
(ii) an officer who is in default shall not be sentenced to imprisonment
for such default unless, in the opinion of the court, the offence was
committed wilfully.
396. Production and inspection of books where offence suspected
(1) If on an application made to a judge of the High Court in chambers by
the Attorney-General, or the registrar, there is shown to be reasonable cause to
believe that any person has, while an officer of a company, committed an offence
in connection with the management of the company’s affairs and that evidence of
the commission of the offence is to be found in any books or papers of or under
the control of the company, an order may be made—
(a) authorizing any person named therein to inspect the said books or
papers or any of them for the purpose of investigating and obtaining
evidence of the offence; or
(b) requiring the secretary of the company or such other officer thereof
as may be named in the order to produce the said books or papers or
any of them to a person named in the order at a place so named.
(2) Subsection (1) shall apply also in relation to any books or papers of a person
carrying on the business of banking so far as they relate to the company’s affairs,
as it applies to any books or papers of or under the control of the company, except
that no such order as is referred to in paragraph (b) thereof shall be made by virtue
of this subsection.
(3) The decision of a judge of the High Court on an application under this section
shall not be appealable.
397. Cognizance of offences
(1) No court inferior to a subordinate court of the first class shall try any offence
under this Act.
(2) Proceedings in respect of any offence under this Act may, notwithstanding
anything to the contrary contained in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 75), be
taken by the Attorney-General or by the registrar at any time within twelve months
from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the Attorney-General or
the registrar, as the case may be, to justify the proceedings comes to the knowledge
of the Attorney-General or the registrar, as the case may be:
Provided that proceedings shall not be so taken more than three years after the
commission of the offence.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), a certificate of the Attorney-general
or the registrar as to the date on which such evidence as aforesaid came to his
knowledge shall be conclusive evidence thereof.
(4) Subsection (2), so far as it relates to the time within which proceedings
may be taken, and subsection (3), shall apply to proceedings in respect of offences
under the repealed Companies Act, as it applies to proceedings in respect of the
offences mentioned in subsection (2):
Provided that this subsection shall not have effect in relation to any proceedings
if the time allowed under the said Act apart from this section for taking them had
already expired before the appointed day.
398. Application of fines
The court imposing any fine under this Act may direct that the whole or any part
thereof shall be applied in or towards rewarding the person on whose information
or at whose suit the fine is recovered.
399. Provisions relating to institution of criminal proceedings by the
Attorney-General
(1) Nothing in this Act relating to the institution of criminal proceedings by the
Attorney-General shall be taken to preclude any person from instituting or carrying
on any such proceedings.
(6) All funds and accounts constituted under this Act shall be deemed to be
in continuation of the corresponding funds and accounts constituted under any of
the repealed Act.
(7) Nothing in this Act shall affect—
(a) the incorporation of any company registered under any of the repealed
Act;
(b) Table A in the First Schedule to any of the repealed Act, or any part
thereof, so far as the same apply to any company existing on the
appointed day.
(8) Where on the appointed day the articles of any company carrying on
business in Kenya require any matter or thing to be done by the passing of an
extraordinary resolution, such matter or thing shall, on and after the appointed day,
be deemed to have been lawfully and sufficiently done if it is done by the passing
of a special resolution.
(9) Where any offence, being an offence for the continuance of which a
penalty was provided, has been committed under the repealed Companies Act,
proceedings may be taken under this Act in respect of the continuance of the
offence after the appointed day in the same manner as if the offence had been
committed under the corresponding provisions of this Act.
(10) The mention of particular matters in this section shall be without prejudice
to the general application of section 23 of the Interpretation and General Provisions
Act (Cap. 2), which relates to the effect of repeals.
406. Provision as to winding up commenced prior to appointed day
The provisions of this Act with respect to winding up shall not apply to any
company of which the winding up has commenced before the appointed day, but
every such company shall be wound up in the same manner and with the same
incidents as if this Act had not been enacted, and for the purposes of the winding
up the repealed Companies Act shall be deemed to remain in full force.
FIRST SCHEDULE
[Sections 2 and 11.]
Tables A, B, C, D and E
TABLE A
FIRST SCHEDULE
[Sections 2 and 11, Act No. 8 of 2008, s. 60.]
Tables A, B, C, D and E
TABLE A
PART I – REGULATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT OF A COMPANY
LIMITED BY SHARES, NOT BEING A PRIVATE COMPANY
Interpretation
1. In these regulations—
“the Act” means the Companies Act;
fourteen days after a notice in writing, stating and demanding payment of such part
of the amount in respect of which the lien exists as is presently payable, has been
given to the registered holder for the time being of the share, or the person entitled
thereto by reason of his death or bankruptcy.
13. To give effect to any such sale the directors may authorize some person to
transfer the shares sold to the purchaser thereof. The purchaser shall be registered
as the holder of the shares comprised in any such transfer, and he shall not be
bound to see to the application of the purchase money, nor shall his title to the
shares be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the proceedings in reference
to the sale.
14. The proceeds of the sale shall be received by the company and applied in
payment of such part of the amount in respect of which the lien exists as is presently
payable, and the residue, if any, shall (subject to a like lien for sums not presently
payable as existed upon the shares before the sale) be paid to the person entitled
to the shares at the date of the sale.
Calls on Shares
15. The directors may from time to time make calls upon the members in respect of
any moneys unpaid on their shares (whether on account of the nominal value of the
shares or by way of premium) and not by the conditions of allotment thereof made
payable at fixed times, provided that no call shall exceed one-fourth of the nominal
value of the share or be payable at less than one month from the date fixed for the
payment of the last preceding call, and each member shall (subject to receiving at
least fourteen days’ notice specifying the time or times and place of payment) pay
to the company at the time or times and place so specified the amount called on
his shares. A call may be revoked or postponed as the directors may determine.
16. A call shall be deemed to have been made at the time when the resolution
of the directors authorizing the call was passed and may be required to be paid
by instalment.
17. The joint holders of a share shall be jointly and severally liable to pay all calls
in respect thereof.
18. If a sum called in respect of a share is not paid before or on the day appointed
for payment thereof, the person from whom the sum is due shall pay interest on the
sum from the day appointed for payment thereof to the time of actual payment at
such rate not exceeding 5 per cent per annum as the directors may determine, but
the directors shall be at liberty to waive payment of such interest wholly or in part.
19. Any sum which by the terms of issue of a share becomes payable on allotment
or at any fixed date, whether on account of the nominal value of the share or by
way of premium, shall for the purposes of these regulations be deemed to be a
call duly made and payable on the date on which by the terms of issue the same
becomes payable, and in case of non-payment all the relevant provisions of these
regulations as to payment of interest and expenses, forfeiture or otherwise shall
apply as if such sum had become payable by virtue of a call duly made and notified.
20. The directors may, on the issue of shares, differentiate between the holders
as to the amount of calls to be paid and the times of payment.
21. The directors may, if they think fit, receive from any member willing to advance
the same, all or any part of the moneys uncalled and unpaid upon any shares held
by him, and upon all or any of the moneys so advanced may (until the same would,
but for such advance, become payable) pay interest at such rate not exceeding
(unless the company in general meeting shall otherwise direct) 6 per cent per
annum, as may be agreed upon between the directors and the member paying
such sum in advance.
Transfer of Shares
22. The instrument of transfer of any share shall be executed by or on behalf of the
transferor and transferee, and the transferor shall be deemed to remain a holder
of the share until the name of the transferee is entered in the register of members
in respect thereof.
23. Subject to such of the restrictions of these regulations as may be applicable,
any member may transfer all or any of his shares by instrument in writing in any
usual or common form or any other form which the directors may approve.
24. The directors may decline to register the transfer of a share (not being a fully
paid share) to a person of whom they shall not approve, and they may also decline
to register the transfer of a share on which the company has a lien.
25. The directors may also decline to recognize any instrument of transfer unless—
(a) a fee of Sh. 2/50 or such lesser sum as the directors may from time
to time require is paid to the company in respect thereof;
(b) the instrument of transfer is accompanied by the certificate of the
shares to which it relates, and such other evidence as the directors
may reasonably require to show the right of the transferor to make
the transfer; and
(c) the instrument of transfer is in respect of only one class of share.
26. If the directors refuse to register a transfer they shall within sixty days after
the date on which the transfer was lodged with the company send to the transferee
notice of the refusal.
27. The registration of transfers may be suspended at such times and for such
periods as the directors may from time to time determine, provided always that
such registration shall not be suspended for more than thirty days in any year.
28. The company shall be entitled to charge a fee not exceeding Sh. 2/50 on
the registration of every probate, letters of administration, certificate of death or
marriage, power of attorney or other instrument.
Transmission of Shares
29. In case of the death of a member the survivor or survivors where the deceased
was a joint holder, and the personal representatives of the deceased where he
was a sole holder, shall be the only persons recognized by the company as having
any title to his interest in the shares; but nothing herein contained shall release the
estate of a deceased joint holder from any liability in respect of any share which
had been jointly held by him with other persons.
30. Any person becoming entitled to a share in consequence of the death or
bankruptcy of a member may, upon such evidence being produced as may from
time to time properly be required by the directors and subject as hereinafter
provided, elect either to be registered himself as holder of the share or to have some
person nominated by him registered as the transferee thereof, but the directors
shall, in either case, have the same right to decline or suspend registration as they
would have had in the case of a transfer of the share by that member before his
death or bankruptcy, as the case may be.
31. If the person so becoming entitled shall elect to be registered himself, he
shall deliver or send to the company a notice in writing signed by him stating that
he so elects. If he shall elect to have another person registered he shall testify
his election by executing to that person a transfer of the share. All the limitations,
restrictions and provisions of these regulations relating to the right to transfer and
the registration of transfers of shares shall be applicable to any such notice or
transfer as aforesaid as if the death or bankruptcy of the member had not occurred
and the notice or transfer were a transfer signed by that member.
32. A person becoming entitled to a share by reason of the death or bankruptcy of
the holder shall be entitled to the same dividends and other advantages to which
he would be entitled if he were the registered holder of the share, except that he
shall not, before being registered as a member in respect of the share, be entitled in
respect of it to exercise any right conferred by membership in relation to meetings
of the company:
Provided always that the directors may at any time give notice requiring any
such person to elect either to be registered himself or to transfer the share, and
if the notice is not complied with within three months the directors may thereafter
withhold payment of all dividends, bonuses or other moneys payable in respect of
the share until the requirements of the notice have been complied with.
Forfeiture of Shares
33. If a member fails to pay any call or instalment of a call on the day appointed
for payment thereof, the directors may, at any time thereafter during such time as
any part of the call or instalment remains unpaid, serve a notice on him requiring
payment of so much of the call or instalment as is unpaid, together with any interest
which may have accrued.
34. The notice shall name a further day (not earlier than the expiration of fourteen
days from the date of service of the notice) on or before which the payment required
by the notice is to be made, and shall state that in the event of non-payment at
or before the time appointed the shares in respect of which the call was made will
be liable to be forfeited.
35. If the requirements of any such notice as aforesaid are not complied with, any
share in respect of which the notice has been given may at any time thereafter,
before the payment required by the notice has been made, be forfeited by a
resolution of the directors to that effect.
36. A forfeited share may be sold or otherwise disposed of on such terms and in
such manner as the directors think fit, and at any time before a sale or disposition
the forfeiture may be cancelled on such terms as the directors think fit.
37. A person whose shares have been forfeited shall cease to be a member in
respect of the forfeited shares, but shall, notwithstanding, remain liable to pay to
the company all moneys which, at the date of forfeiture, were payable by him to
the company in respect of the shares, but his liability shall cease if and when the
company shall have received payment in full of all such moneys in respect of the
shares.
38. A statutory declaration in writing that the declarant is a director or the secretary
of the company, and that a share in the company has been duly forfeited on a date
stated in the declaration, shall be conclusive evidence of the facts therein stated as
against all persons claiming to be entitled to the share. The company may receive
the consideration, if any, given for the share on any sale or disposition thereof and
may execute a transfer of the share in favour of the person to whom the share
is sold or disposed of and he shall thereupon be registered as the holder of the
share, and shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase money, if
any, nor shall his title to the share be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the
proceedings in reference to the forfeiture, sale or disposal of the share.
39. The provisions of these regulations as to forfeiture shall apply in the case of
non-payment of any sum which, by the terms of issue of a share, becomes payable
at a fixed time, whether on account of the nominal value of the share or by way of
premium, as if the same had been payable by virtue of a call duly made and notified.
Conversion of Shares into Stock
40. The company may by ordinary resolution convert any paid-up shares into stock,
and reconvert any stock into paid-up shares of any denomination.
41. The holders of stock may transfer the same, or any part thereof, in the same
manner, and subject to the same regulations, as and subject to which the shares
from which the stock arose might previously to conversion have been transferred,
or as near thereto as circumstances admit; and the directors may from time to time
fix the minimum amount of stock transferable but so that such minimum shall not
exceed the nominal amount of the shares from which the stock arose.
42. The holders of stock shall, according to the amount of stock held by them,
have the same rights, privileges and advantages as regards dividends, voting
at meetings of the company and other matters as if they held the shares from
which the stock arose, but no such privilege or advantage (except participation in
the dividends and profits of the company and in the assets on winding up) shall
be conferred by an amount of stock which would not, if existing in shares, have
conferred that privilege or advantage.
43. Such of the regulations of the company as are applicable to paid-up shares
shall apply to stock, and the words “share” and “shareholder” therein shall include
“stock” and “stockholder”.
Alteration of Capital
44. The company may from time to time by ordinary resolution increase the share
capital by such sum, to be divided into shares of such amount, as the resolution
shall prescribe.
45. The company may by ordinary resolution—
(a) consolidate and divide all or any of its share capital into shares of
larger amount than its existing shares;
(b) subdivide its existing shares, or any of them, into shares of smaller
amount than is fixed by the memorandum of association subject,
nevertheless, to the provisions of section 63(1)(d) of the Act;
(c) cancel any shares which, at the date of the passing of the resolution,
have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person.
46. The company may by special resolution reduce its share capital, any capital
redemption reserve fund or any share premium account in any manner and with,
and subject to, any incident authorized, and consent required, by law.
General Meetings
47. The company shall in each year hold a general meeting as its annual general
meeting in addition to any other meetings in that year, and shall specify the meeting
as such in the notices calling it; and not more than fifteen months shall elapse
between the date of one annual general meeting of the company and that of the
next:
Provided that so long as the company holds its first annual general meeting
within eighteen months of its incorporation, it need not hold it in the year of its
incorporation or in the following year. The annual general meeting shall be held at
such time and place as the directors shall appoint.
48. All general meetings other than annual general meetings shall be called
extraordinary general meetings.
49. The directors may, whenever they think fit, convene an extraordinary general
meeting, and extraordinary general meetings shall also be convened on such
requisition, or, in default, may be convened by such requisitionists, as provided
by section 132 of the Act. If at any time there are not within Kenya sufficient
directors capable of acting to form a quorum, any director or any two members of
the company may convene an extraordinary general meeting in the same manner
as nearly as possible at that in which meetings may be convened by the directors.
Votes of Members
62. Subject to any rights or restrictions for the time being attached to any class
or classes of shares, on a show of hands every member present in person shall
have one vote, and on a poll every member shall have one vote for each share of
which he is the holder.
63. In the case of joint holders the vote of the senior who tenders a vote, whether in
person or by proxy, shall be accepted to the exclusion of the votes of the other joint
holders; and for this purpose seniority shall be determined by the order in which
the names stand in the register of members.
64. A member of unsound mind in respect of whose estate a manager has been
appointed under section 38 of the Mental Treatment Act (Cap. 248) may vote,
whether on a show of hands or on a poll, by his said manager, and any such
manager may, on a poll, vote by proxy.
65. No member shall be entitled to vote at any general meeting unless all calls
or other sums presently payable by him in respect of shares in the company have
been paid.
66. No objection shall be raised to the qualification of any voter except at the
meeting or adjourned meeting at which the vote objected to is given or tendered,
and every vote not disallowed at such meeting shall be valid for all purposes. Any
such objection made in due time shall be referred to the chairman of the meeting,
whose decision shall be final and conclusive.
67. On a poll votes may be given either personally or by proxy.
68. The instrument appointing a proxy shall be in writing under the hand of the
appointor or of his attorney duly authorized in writing, or, if the appointor is a
corporation, either under seal, or under the hand of an officer or attorney duly
authorized. A proxy need not be a member of the company.
69. The instrument appointing a proxy and the power of attorney or other authority,
if any, under which it is signed or a notarially certified copy of that power or authority
shall be deposited at the registered office of the company or at such other place
within Kenya as is specified for that purpose in the notice convening the meeting,
not less than 48 hours before the time for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting,
at which the person named in the instrument proposes to vote, or, in the case of a
poll, not less than 24 hours before the time appointed for the taking of the poll, and
in default the instrument of proxy shall not be treated as valid.
70. An instrument appointing a proxy shall be in the following form or a form as
near thereto as circumstances admit—
Directors
75. The number of the directors and the names of the first directors shall be
determined in writing by the subscribers of the memorandum of association or a
majority of them and until such determination the signatories to the Memorandum
of Association shall be the first directors.
76. The remuneration of the directors shall from time to time be determined by
the company in general meeting. Such remuneration shall be deemed to accrue
from day to day. The directors may also be paid all traveling, hotel and other
expenses properly incurred by them in attending and returning from meetings of
the directors or any committee of the directors or general meetings of the company
or in connection with the business of the company.
77. The shareholding qualification for directors may be fixed by the company in
general meeting, and unless and until so fixed no qualification shall be required.
78. A director of the company may be or become a director or other officer of,
or otherwise interested in, any company promoted by the company or which the
company may be interested as shareholder or otherwise, and no such director shall
be accountable to the company for any remuneration or other benefits received by
him as a director or officer of, or from his interest in, such other company unless
the company otherwise direct.
Borrowing Powers
79. The directors may exercise all the powers of the company to borrow money,
and to mortgage or charge its undertaking, property and uncalled capital, or
any part thereof, and to issue debentures, debenture stock, and other securities
whether outright or as security for any debt, liability or obligation of the company
or of any third party:
Provided that the amount for the time being remaining undischarged of moneys
borrowed or secured by the directors as aforesaid (apart from temporary loans
obtained from the company’s bankers in the ordinary course of business) shall
not any time, without the previous sanction of the company in general meeting,
exceed the nominal amount of the share capital of the company for the time being
issued, but nevertheless no lender or other person dealing with the company shall
be concerned to see or inquire whether this limit is observed. No debt incurred or
security given in excess of such limit shall be invalid or ineffectual except in the
case of express notice to the lender or the recipient of the security at the time when
the debt was incurred or security given that the limit hereby imposed had been or
was thereby exceeded.
Powers and Duties of Directors
80. The business of the company shall be managed by the directors, who may pay
all expenses incurred in promoting and registering the company, and may exercise
all such powers of the company as are not, by the Act or by these regulations,
required to be exercised by the company in general meeting, subject, nevertheless,
to any of these regulations, to the provisions of the Act and to such regulations,
being not inconsistent with the aforesaid regulations or
(3) A director may hold any other office or place of profit under the company
(other than the office of auditor) in conjunction with his office of director for such
period and on such terms (as to remuneration and otherwise) as the directors may
determine and no director or intending director shall be disqualified by his office
from contracting with the company either with regard to his tenure of any such
other office or place of profit or as a vendor, purchaser or otherwise, nor shall any
such contract, or any contract or arrangement entered into by or on behalf of the
company in which any director is in any way interested, be liable to be avoided, nor
shall any director so contracting or being so interested be liable to account to the
company for any profit realized by any such contract or arrangement by reason of
such director holding that office or of the fiduciary relation thereby established.
(4) A director, notwithstanding his interest, may be counted in the quorum
present at any meeting whereat he or any other director is appointed to hold any
such office or place of profit under the company or whereat the terms of any
such appointment are arranged, and he may vote on any such appointment or
arrangement other than his own appointment or the arrangement of the terms
thereof.
(5) Any director may act by himself or his firm in a professional capacity for
the company, and he or his firm shall be entitled to remuneration for professional
services as if he were not a director; provided that nothing herein contained shall
authorize a director or his firm to act as auditor to the company.
85. All cheques, promissory notes, drafts, bills of exchange and other negotiable
instruments, and all receipts for moneys paid to the company, shall be signed,
drawn, accepted, endorsed or otherwise executed, as the case may be, in such
manner as the directors shall from time to time by resolution determine.
86. The directors shall cause minutes to be made in books provided for the purpose
—
(a) of all appointments of officers made by the directors;
(b) of the names of the directors present at each meeting of the directors
and of any committee of the directors;
(c) of all resolutions and proceedings at all meetings of the company, and
of the directors, and of committees of directors,
and every director present at any meeting of directors or committee of directors
shall sign his name in a book to be kept for that purpose.
87. The directors on behalf of the company may pay a gratuity or pension or
allowance on retirement to any director who has held any other salaried office or
place of profit with the company or to his widow or dependants and may make
contributions to any fund and pay premiums for the purchase or provision of any
such gratuity, pension or allowance.
Disqualification of Directors
88. The office of director shall be vacated if the director—
(a) ceases to be a director by virtue of section 183 or 186 of the Act; or
(b) becomes bankrupt or makes any arrangement or composition with his
creditors generally; or
(c) becomes prohibited from being a director by reason of any order made
under section 189 of the Act; or
(d) becomes of unsound mind; or
(e) resigns his office by notice in writing to the company; or
(f) shall for more than six months have been absent without permission
of the directors from meetings of the directors held during that period.
Rotation of Directors
89. At the first annual general meeting of the company all the directors shall retire
from office, and at the annual general meeting in every subsequent year one-third
of the directors for the time being, or, if their number is not three or a multiple of
three, then the number nearest one-third, shall retire from office.
90. The directors to retire in every year shall be those who have been longest in
office since their last election, but as between persons who became directors on
the same day those to retire shall (unless they otherwise agree among themselves)
be determined by lot.
91. A retiring director shall be eligible for re-election.
92. The company at the meeting at which a director retires in manner aforesaid
may fill the vacated office by electing a person thereto, and in default the retiring
director shall if offering himself for re-election be deemed to have been re-elected,
unless at such meeting it is expressly resolved not to fill such vacated office or
unless a resolution for the re-election of such director shall have been put to the
meeting and lost.
93. No person other than a director retiring at the meeting shall unless
recommended by the directors be eligible for election to the office of director at any
general meeting unless not less than three nor more than twenty-one days before
the date appointed for the meeting there shall have been left at the registered
office of the company notice in writing signed by a member duly qualified to attend
and vote at the meeting for which such notice is given, of his intention to propose
such person for election, and also notice in writing signed by that person of his
willingness to be elected.
94. The company may from time to time by ordinary resolution increase or reduce
the number of directors, and may also determine in what rotation the increased or
reduced number is to go out of office.
95. The directors shall have power at any time, and from time to time, to appoint any
person to be a director, either to fill a casual vacancy or as an addition to the existing
directors, but so that the total number of directors shall not at any time exceed
the number fixed in accordance with these regulations. Any director so appointed
shall hold office only until the next following annual general meeting, and shall then
be eligible for re-election but shall not be taken into account in determining the
directors who are to retire by rotation at such meeting.
96. The company may by ordinary resolution, of which special notice has been
given in accordance with section 142 of the Act, remove any director before the
expiration of his period of office notwithstanding anything in these regulations or
in any agreement between the company and such director. Such removal shall be
without prejudice to any claim such director may have for damages for breach of
any contract of service between him and the company.
97. The company may by ordinary resolution appoint another person in place of
a director removed from office under regulation 96, and, without prejudice to the
powers of the directors under regulation 95, the company in general meeting may
appoint any person to be a director either to fill a casual vacancy or as an additional
director. A person appointed in place of a director so removed or to fill such a
vacancy shall be subject to retirement at the same time as if he had become a
director on the day on which the director in whose place he is appointed was last
elected a director.
Proceedings of Directors
98. The directors may meet together for the dispatch of business, adjourn, and
otherwise regulate their meetings, as they think fit. Questions arising at any meeting
shall be decided by a majority of votes. In case of an equality of votes, the chairman
shall have a second or casting vote. A director may, and the secretary on the
requisition of a director shall, at any time summon a meeting of the directors. It
shall not be necessary to give notice of a meeting of directors to any director for
the time being absent from Kenya.
99. The quorum necessary for the transaction of the business of the directors may
be fixed by the directors, and unless so fixed shall be two.
100. The continuing directors may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their body,
but, if and so long as their number is reduced below the number fixed by or pursuant
to the regulations of the company as the necessary quorum of directors, the
continuing directors or director may act for the purpose of increasing the number
of directors to that number, or of summoning a general meeting of the company,
but for no other purpose.
101. The directors may elect a chairman of their meetings and determine the period
for which he is to hold office; but if no such chairman is elected, or if at any meeting
the chairman is not present within five minutes after the time appointed for holding
the same, the directors present may choose one of their number to be a chairman
of the meeting.
102. The directors may delegate any of their powers to committees consisting of
such member or members of their body as they think fit; any committee so formed
shall in the exercise of the powers so delegated conform to any regulations that
may be imposed on it by the directors.
103. A committee may elect a chairman of its meetings; if no such chairman is
elected, or if at any meeting the chairman is not present within five minutes after
the time appointed for holding the same, the members present may choose one of
their number to be chairman of the meeting.
104. A committee may meet and adjourn as it thinks proper. Questions arising at
any meeting shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present,
and in the case of an equality of votes the chairman shall have a second or casting
vote.
105. All acts done by any meeting of the directors or of a committee of directors
or by any person acting as a director shall, notwithstanding that it be afterwards
discovered that there was some defect in the appointment of any such director or
person acting as aforesaid, or that they or any of them were disqualified, be as valid
as if every such person had been duly appointed and was qualified to be a director.
106. A resolution in writing, signed by all the directors for the time being entitled
to receive notice of a meeting of the directors, shall be as valid and effectual as if
it had been passed at a meeting of the directors duly convened and held.
Managing Director
107. The directors may from time to time appoint one or more of their body to
the office of managing director for such period and on such terms as they think
fit, and, subject to the terms of any agreement entered into in any particular case,
may revoke such appointment. A director so appointed shall not, whilst holding that
office, be subject to retirement by rotation or be taken into account in determining
the rotation of retirement of directors, but his appointment shall be automatically
determined if he cease from any cause to be a director.
108. A managing director shall receive such remuneration (whether by way of
salary, commission or participation in profits, or partly in one way and partly in
another) as the directors may determine.
109. The directors may entrust to and confer upon a managing director any of
the powers exercisable by them upon such terms and conditions and with such
restrictions as they may think fit, and either collaterally with or to the exclusion of
their own powers and may from time to time revoke, withdraw, alter or vary all or
any of such powers.
Secretary
110. The secretary shall be appointed by the directors for such term, at such
remuneration and upon such conditions as they may think fit; and any secretary
so appointed may be removed by them.
111. No person shall be appointed or hold office as a secretary who is—
(a) the sole director of the company; or
(b) a corporation the sole director of which is the sole director of the
company; or
(c) the sole director of a corporation which is the sole director of the
company.
112. A provision of the Act or these regulations requiring or authorizing a thing to
be done by or to a director and the secretary shall not be satisfied by its being done
by or to the same person acting both as director and as, or in place of, the secretary.
The Seal
113. The directors shall provide for the safe custody of the seal, which shall only be
used by the authority of the directors or of a committee of the directors authorized
by the directors in that behalf, and every instrument to which the seal shall be
affixed shall be signed by a director and shall be countersigned by the secretary
or by a second director or by some other person appointed by the directors for the
purpose.
Dividends and Reserve
114. The company in general meeting may declare dividends, but no dividend shall
exceed the amount recommended by the directors.
115. The directors may from time to time pay to the members such interim
dividends as appear to the directors to be justified by the profits of the company.
116. No dividend shall be paid otherwise than out of profits.
117. The directors may, before recommending any dividend, set aside out of the
profits of the company such sums as they think proper as a reserve or reserves
which shall, at the discretion of the directors, be applicable for any purpose to which
the profits of the company may be properly applied, and pending such application
may, at the like discretion, either be employed in the business of the company or be
invested in such investments (other than shares of the company) as the directors
may from time to time think fit. The directors may also without placing the same to
reserve carry forward any profits which they may think prudent not to divide.
118. Subject to the rights of persons, if any, entitled to shares with special rights
as to dividend, all dividends shall be declared and paid according to the amounts
paid or credited as paid on the shares in respect whereof the dividend is paid,
but no amount paid or credited as paid on a share in advance of calls shall be
treated for the purposes of this regulation as paid on the share. All dividends shall
be apportioned and paid proportionally to the amounts paid or credited as paid
on the shares during any portion or portions of the period in respect of which the
dividend is paid; but if any share is issued on terms providing that it shall rank for
dividend as from a particular date such share shall rank for dividend accordingly.
119. The directors may deduct from any dividend payable to any member all sums
of money (if any) presently payable by him to the company on account of calls or
otherwise in relation to the shares of the company.
120. Any general meeting declaring a dividend or bonus may direct payment
of such dividend or bonus wholly or partly by the distribution of specific assets
and in particular of paid-up shares, debentures or debenture stock of any other
company or in any one or more of such ways, and the directors shall give effect to
such resolution, and where any difficulty arises in regard to such distribution, the
directors may settle the same as they think expedient, and in particular may issue
fractional certificates and fix the value for distribution of such specific
assets or any part thereof and may determine that cash payments shall be made to
any members upon the footing of the value so fixed in order to adjust the rights of all
parties, and may vest any such specific assets in trustees as may seem expedient
to the directors.
121. Any dividend, interest or other moneys payable in cash in respect of shares
may be paid by cheque or warrant sent through the post directed to the registered
address of the holder or, in the case of joint holders, to the registered address of
that one of the joint holders who is first named on the register of members or to
such person and to such address as the holder or joint holders may in writing direct.
Every such cheque or warrant shall be made payable to the order of the person to
whom it is sent. Any one of two or more joint holders may give effectual receipts
for any dividends, bonuses or other moneys payable in respect of the shares held
by them as joint holders.
122. No dividend shall bear interest against the company.
Accounts
123. The directors shall cause proper books of account to be kept with respect to—
(a) all sums of money received and expended by the company and the
matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place;
(b) all sales and purchases of goods by the company; and
(c) the assets and liabilities of the company.
Proper books shall not be deemed to be kept if there are not kept such books of
account as are necessary to give a true and fair view of the state of the company’s
affairs and to explain its transactions.
124. The books of account shall be kept at the registered office of the company, or,
subject to section 147(3) of the Act, at such other place or places as the directors
think fit, and shall always be open to the inspection of the directors.
125. The directors shall from time to time determine whether and to what extent and
at what times and places and under what conditions or regulations the accounts
and books of the company or any of them shall be open to the inspection of
members not being directors, and no member (not being a director) shall have any
right of inspecting any account or book or document of the company except as
conferred by statute or authorized by the directors or by the company in general
meeting.
126. The directors shall from time to time, in accordance with sections 148, 150
and 157 of, cause to be prepared and to be laid before the company in general
meeting such profit and loss accounts, balance sheets, group accounts (if any) and
reports as are referred to in those sections.
127. A copy of every balance sheet (including every document required by law to
be annexed thereto) which is to be laid before the company in general meeting,
together with a copy of the auditors’ report, shall not less than twenty-one days
before the date of the meeting be sent to every member of, and every holder of
debentures of, the company and to every person registered under regulation 31:
Provided that this regulation shall not require a copy of those documents to be sent
to any person of whose address the company is not aware or to more than one of
the joint holders of any shares or debentures.
Capitalization of Profits
128. The company in general meeting may upon the recommendation of the
directors resolve that it is desirable to capitalize any part of the amount for the
time being standing to the credit of any of the company’s reserve accounts or to
the credit of the profit and loss account or otherwise available for distribution, and
accordingly that such sum be set free for distribution amongst the members who
would have been entitled thereto if distributed by way of dividend and in the same
proportions on condition that the same be not paid in cash but be applied either
in or towards paying up any amounts for the time unpaid on any shares held by
such members respectively or paying up in full unissued shares or debentures of
the company to be allotted and distributed credited as fully paid up to and amongst
such members in the proportion aforesaid, or partly in the one way and partly in the
other and the directors shall give effect to such resolution: Provided that a share
premium account and a capital redemption reserve fund may, for the purposes of
this regulation, only be applied in the paying up of unissued shares to be issued to
members of the company as fully-paid bonus shares.
129. Whenever such a resolution as aforesaid shall have been passed the
directors shall make all appropriations and applications of the undivided profits
resolved to be capitalized thereby, and all allotments and issues of fully-paid shares
or debentures, if any, and generally shall do all acts and things required to give
effect thereto, with full power to the directors to make such provision by the issue
of fractional certificates or by payment in cash or otherwise as they think fit for
the case of shares or debentures becoming distributable in fractions, and also to
authorize any person to enter on behalf of all the members entitled thereto into
an agreement with the company providing for the allotment to them respectively,
credited as fully paid up, of any further shares or debentures to which they may
be entitled upon such capitalization, or (as the case may require) for the payment
up by the company on their behalf, by the application thereto of their respective
proportions of the profits resolved to be capitalized, of the amounts or any part of
the amounts remaining unpaid on their existing shares, and any agreement made
under such authority shall be effective and binding on all such members.
Audit
130. Auditors shall be appointed and their duties regulated in accordance with
sections 159 to 162 of the Act.
Notices
131. A notice may be given by the company to any member either personally or
by sending it by post to him at his registered address, or (if he has no registered
address within Kenya) to him at the address, if any, within Kenya supplied by him to
the company for the giving of notice to him. Where a notice is sent by post, service
of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying,
and posting a letter containing the notice, and to have been effected in the case
of a notice of a meeting at the expiration of 72 hours after the letter containing
the same is posted, and in any other case at the time at which the letter would be
delivered in the ordinary course of post.
Provided that in the case of a notice of an annual general meeting, such notice
may also be given by—
(a) publishing a notice containing a summary of both the annual financial
statement and auditors’ report, in at least any two local daily
newspapers with national circulation for at least two consecutive days;
or
(b) sending to every member, a notice through the electronic media
containing a summary of both the annual financial statement and
auditors’ report.
[Act No. 8 of 2008, s. 60.]
132. A notice may be given by the company to the joint holders of a share by giving
the notice to the joint holder first named in the register of members in respect of
the share.
133. A notice may be given by the company to the persons entitled to a share in
consequence of the death or bankruptcy of a member by sending it through the post
in a prepaid letter addressed to them by name, or by the title of representatives of
the deceased, or trustee of the bankrupt, or by any like description, at the address,
if any, within Kenya supplied for the purpose by the persons claiming to be so
entitled, or (until such an address has been so supplied) by giving the notice in
any manner in which the same might have been given if the death or bankruptcy
had not occurred.
134. Notice of every general meeting shall be given in any manner hereinbefore
authorized to—
(a) every member except those members who (having no registered
address within Kenya) have not supplied to the company an address
within Kenya for the giving of notices to them;
(b) every person upon whom the ownership of a share devolves by
reason of his being a personal representative or a trustee in
bankruptcy of a member where the member but for his death or
bankruptcy would be entitled to receive notice of the meeting; and
(c) the auditor for the time being of the company.
No other person shall be entitled to receive notices of general meetings.
Winding Up
135. If the company shall be wound up the liquidator may, with the sanction of
a special resolution of the company and any other sanction required by the Act,
divide amongst the members in specie or kind the whole or any part of the assets
of the company (whether they shall consist of property of the same kind or not) and
may, for such purpose set such value as he deems fair upon any property to be
divided as aforesaid and may determine how such division shall be carried out as
between the members or different classes of members. The liquidator may, with
the like sanction, vest the whole or any part of such assets in trustees upon such
trust for the benefit of the contributories as the liquidator, with the like sanction,
shall think fit, but so that no member shall be compelled to accept any shares or
other securities whereon there is any liability.
Indemnity
136. Every director, managing director, agent, auditor, secretary and other officer
for the time being of the company shall be indemnified out of the assets of
the company against any liability incurred by him in defending any proceedings,
whether civil or criminal, in which judgment is given in his favour or in which he is
acquitted or in connection with any application under section 402 of the Act which
relief is granted to him by the court.
PART II – REGULATIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT
OF A PRIVATE COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
1. The regulations contained in Part I of Table A (with the exception of regulations
24 and 53) shall apply.
2. The company is a private company and accordingly—
(a) the right to transfer shares is restricted in manner hereinafter
prescribed;
(b) the number of members of the company (exclusive of persons who
are in the employment of the company and of persons who having
been formerly in the employment of the company were while in
such employment and have continued after the determination of
such employment to be members of the company) is limited to fifty:
Provided that where two or more persons hold one or more shares
in the company jointly they shall for the purpose of this regulation be
treated as a single member;
(c) any invitation to the public to subscribe for any shares or debentures
of the company is prohibited;
(d) the company shall not have power to issue share warrants to bearer.
3. The directors may, in their absolute discretion and without assigning any reason
therefor, decline to register any transfer of any share, whether or not it is a fully
paid share.
4. No business shall be transacted at any general meeting unless a quorum of
members is present at the time when the meeting proceeds to business; save as
herein otherwise provided two members present in person or by proxy shall be a
quorum.
5. Subject to the provisions of the Act, a resolution in writing signed by all the
members for the time being entitled to receive notice of and to attend and vote at
general meetings (or being corporations by their duly authorized representatives)
shall be as valid and effective as if the same had been passed at a general meeting
of the company duly convened and held.
Note. – Regulations 3 and 4 of this Part are alternative to regulations 24 and
53 respectively of Part I.
TABLE B
FORM OF MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION
OF A COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
TABLE C
FORM OF MEMORANDUMAND ARTICLES OF
ASSOCIATION OF A COMPANY LIMITED BY
GUARANTEE, AND NOT HAVING A SHARE CAPITAL
Memorandum of Association
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION TO ACCOMPANY
PRECEDING MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION
Interpretation
1. In these articles—
Members
2. The number of members with which the company proposes to be registered is
500, but the directors may from time to time register an increase of members.
3. The subscribers to the memorandum of association and such other persons as
the directors shall admit to membership shall be members of the company.
General Meetings
4. The company shall in each year hold a general meeting as its annual general
meeting in addition to any other meetings in that year, and shall specify the meeting
as such in the notices calling it; and not more than fifteen months shall elapse
between the date of one annual general meeting of the company and that of the
next:
Provided that so long as the company holds its first annual general meeting
within eighteen months of its incorporation, it need not hold it in the year of its
incorporation or in the following year. The annual general meeting shall be held at
such time and place as the directors shall appoint.
5. All general meetings other than annual general meetings shall be called
extraordinary general meetings.
6. The directors may, whenever they think fit, convene an extraordinary general
meeting, and extraordinary general meetings shall also be convened on such
requisition, or, in default, may be convened by such requisitionists, as provided
by section 132 of the Act. If at any time there are not within Kenya sufficient
directors capable of acting to form a quorum, any director or any two members of
the company may convene an extraordinary general meeting in the same manner
as nearly as possible as that in which meetings may be convened by the directors.
Notice of General Meetings
7. Every general meeting shall be called by twenty-one days’ notice in writing at
the least. The notice shall be exclusive of the day on which it is served or deemed
to be served and of the day for which it is given, and shall specify the place, the
day and the hour of meeting and, in case of special business, the general nature
of that business and shall be given, in manner hereinafter mentioned or in such
other manner, if any, as may be prescribed by the company in general meeting, to
such persons as are, under the articles of the company, entitled to receive such
notices from the company:
Provided that a meeting of the company shall, notwithstanding that it is called
by shorter notice than that specified in this article be deemed to have been duly
called if it is so agreed—
(i) in the case of a meeting called as the annual general meeting, by all
the members entitled to attend and vote thereat; and
(ii) in the case of any other meeting, by a majority in number of the
members having a right to attend and vote at the meeting, being a
majority together representing not less than 95 per cent of the total
voting rights at that meeting of all the members.
25. The instrument appointing a proxy and the power of attorney or other authority,
if any, under which it is signed or a notarially certified copy of that power or authority
shall be deposited at the registered office of the company or at such other place
within Kenya as is specified for that purpose in the notice convening the meeting,
not less than 48 hours before the time for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting
at which the person named in the instrument proposes to vote, or, in the case of a
poll, not less than 24 hours before the time appointed for the taking of the poll, and
under the hand of an officer or attorney duly authorized. A proxy
26. An instrument appointing a proxy shall be in the following form or a form as
near thereto as circumstances admit—
36. All cheques, promissory notes, drafts, bills of exchange and other negotiable
instruments, and all receipts for moneys paid to the company, shall be signed,
drawn, accepted, endorsed, or otherwise executed, as the case may be, in such
manner as the directors shall from time to time by resolution determine.
37. The directors shall cause minutes to be made in books provided for the purpose
—
(a) of all appointments of officers made by the directors;
(b) of the names of the directors present at each meeting of the directors
and of any committee of the directors;
(c) of all resolutions and proceedings at all meetings of the company, and
of the directors, and of committees of directors,
and every director present at any meeting of directors or committee of directors
shall sign his name in a book to be kept for that purpose.
Disqualification of Directors
38. The office of director shall be vacated if the director—
(a) without the consent of the company in general meeting holds any
other office of profit under the company; or
(b) becomes bankrupt or makes any arrangement or composition with his
creditors generally; or
(c) becomes prohibited from being a director by reason of any order made
under section 189 of the Act; or
(d) becomes of unsound mind; or
(e) resigns his office by notice in writing to the company; or
(f) ceases to be a director by virtue of section 186 of the Act; or
(g) is directly or indirectly interested in any contract with the company and
fails to declare the nature of his interest in manner required by section
200 of the Act.
A director shall not vote in respect of any contract in which he is interested or
any matter arising thereout, and if he does so vote his vote shall not be counted.
Rotation of Directors
39. At the first annual general meeting of the company all the directors shall retire
from office, and at the annual general meeting in every subsequent year one-third
of the directors for the time being, or, if their number is not three or a multiple of
three, then the number nearest one-third, shall retire from office.
40. The directors to retire in every year shall be those who have been longest in
office since their last election, but as between persons who became directors on
the same day those to retire shall (unless they otherwise agree among themselves)
be determined by lot.
41. A retiring director shall be eligible for re-election.
42. The company at the meeting at which a director retires in manner aforesaid
may fill the vacated office by electing a person thereto, and in default the retiring
director shall, if offering himself for re-election, be deemed to have been re-elected,
unless at such meeting it is expressly resolved not to fill such vacated office or
unless a resolution for the re-election of such director shall have been put to the
meeting and lost.
43. No person other than a director retiring at the meeting shall unless
recommended by the directors be eligible for election to the office of director at any
general meeting unless, not less than three nor more than twenty-one days before
the date appointed for the meeting, there shall have been left at the registered
office of the company notice in writing, signed by a member duly qualified to attend
and vote at the meeting for which such notice is given, of his intention to propose
such person for election, and also notice in writing signed by that person of his
willingness to be elected.
44. The company may from time to time by ordinary resolution increase or reduce
the number of directors, and may also determine in what rotation the increased or
reduced number is to go out of office.
45. The directors shall have power at any time, and from time to time, to appoint any
person to be a director, either to fill a casual vacancy or as an addition to the existing
directors, but so that the total number of directors shall not at any time exceed the
number fixed in accordance with these articles. Any director so appointed shall hold
office only until the next following annual general meeting, and shall then be eligible
for re-election, but shall not be taken into account in determining the directors who
are to retire by rotation at such meeting.
46. The company may by ordinary resolution, of which special notice has been
given in accordance with section 142 of the Act, remove any director before the
expiration of his period of office notwithstanding anything in these articles or in
any agreement between the company and such director. Such removal shall be
without prejudice to any claim such director may have for damages for breach of
any contract of service between him and the company.
47. The company may by ordinary resolution appoint another person in place of
a director removed from office under article 46. Without prejudice to the powers
of the directors under article 45 the company in general meeting may appoint any
person to be a director either to fill a casual vacancy or as an additional director.
The person appointed to fill such a vacancy shall be subject to retirement at the
same time as if he had become a director on the day on which the director in whose
place he is appointed was last elected a director.
Proceedings of Directors
48. The directors may meet together for the dispatch of business, adjourn, and
otherwise regulate their meetings, as they think fit. Questions arising at any meeting
shall be decided by a majority of votes. In the case of an equality of votes the
chairman shall have a second or casting vote. A director may, and the secretary on
the requisition of a director shall, at any time summon a meeting of the directors.
It shall not be necessary to give notice of a meeting of directors to any director for
the time being absent from Kenya.
49. The quorum necessary for the transaction of the business of the directors may
be fixed by the directors, and unless so fixed shall be two.
50. The continuing directors may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their body,
but, if and so long as their number is reduced below the number fixed by or pursuant
to the articles of the company as the necessary quorum of directors, the continuing
directors or director may act for the purpose of increasing the number of directors
to that number, or of summoning a general meeting of the company, but for no
other purpose.
51. The directors may elect a chairman of their meetings and determine the period
for which he is to hold office; but, if no such chairman is elected, or if at any meeting
the chairman is not present within five minutes after the time appointed for holding
the same, the directors present may choose one of their number to be chairman
of the meeting.
52. The directors may delegate any of their powers to committees consisting of
such member or members of their body as they think fit; any committee so formed
shall in the exercise of the powers so delegated conform to any regulations that
may be imposed on it by the directors.
53. A committee may elect a chairman of its meetings; if no such chairman is
elected, or if at any meeting the chairman is not present within five minutes after
the time appointed for holding the same, the members present may choose one of
their number to be chairman of the meeting.
54. A committee may meet and adjourn as it thinks proper. Questions arising at
any meeting shall be determined by majority of votes of the members present, and
in the case of an equality of votes the chairman shall have a second or casting vote.
55. All acts done by any meeting of the directors or of a committee of directors,
or by any person acting as a director, shall notwithstanding that it be afterwards
discovered that there was some defect in the appointment of any such director or
person acting as aforesaid, or that they or any of them were disqualified, be as valid
as if every such person had been duly appointed and was qualified to be a director.
56. A resolution in writing, signed by all the directors for the time being entitled to
receive notice of a meeting of the directors, shall be as valid and effectual as if it
had been passed at a meeting of the directors duly convened and held.
Secretary
57. The secretary shall be appointed by the directors for such term, at such
remuneration and upon such conditions as they may think fit; and any secretary
so appointed may be removed by them.
58. A provision of the Act or these articles requiring or authorizing a thing to be
done by or to a director and the secretary shall not be satisfied by its being done by
or to the same person acting both as director and as, or in place of, the secretary.
The Seal
59. The directors shall provide for the safe custody of the seal, which shall only be
used by the authority of the directors or of a committee of the directors authorized
by the directors in that behalf, and every instrument to which the seal shall be
affixed shall be signed by a director and shall be countersigned by the secretary
or by a second director or by some other person appointed by the directors for the
purpose.
Accounts
60. The directors shall cause proper books of account to be kept with respect to—
(a) all sums of money received and expended by the company and the
matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place;
(b) all sales and purchases of goods by the company; and
(c) the assets and liabilities of the company.
Proper books shall not be deemed to be kept if there are not kept such books of
account as are necessary to give a true and fair view of the state of the company’s
affairs and to explain its transactions.
61. The books of account shall be kept at the registered office of the company, or,
subject to section 147(3) of, at such other place or places as the directors think fit,
and shall always be open to the inspection of the directors.
62. The directors shall from time to time determine whether and to what extent and
at what times and places and under what conditions or regulations the accounts
and books of the company or any of them shall be open to the inspection of
members not being directors, and no member (not being a director) shall have any
right of inspecting any account or book or document of the company except as
conferred by statute or authorized by the directors or by the company in general
meeting.
63. The directors shall from time to time in accordance with sections 148, 150 and
157 of the Act, cause to be prepared and to be laid before the company in general
meeting such profit and loss accounts, balance sheets, group accounts (if any) and
reports as are referred to in those sections.
64. A copy of every balance sheet (including every document required by law to
be annexed thereto) which is to be laid before the company in general meeting,
together with a copy of the auditor’s report, shall not less than twenty-one days
before the date of the meeting be sent to every member of, and every holder of
debentures of, the company:
Provided that this article shall not require a copy of those documents to be sent
to any person of whose address the company is not aware or to more than one of
the joint holders of any debentures.
Audit
65. Auditors shall be appointed and their duties regulated in accordance with
sections 159 to 162 of the Act.
Notices
66. A notice may be given by the company to any member either personally or
by sending it by post to him at his registered address, or (if he has no registered
address within Kenya) to him at the address, if any, within Kenya supplied by him to
the company for the giving of notice to him. Where a notice is sent by post, service
of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing, prepaying and
posting a letter containing the notice, and to have been effected in the case of a
notice of a meeting at the expiration of 72 hours after the letter containing the same
is posted, and in any other case, at the time at which the letter would be delivered
in the ordinary course of post.
67. Notice of every general meeting shall be given in any manner hereinbefore
authorized to—
(a) every member except those members who (having no registered
address within Kenya) have not supplied to the company an address
within Kenya for the giving of notices to them;
(b) every person being a personal representative or a trustee in
bankruptcy of a member where the member but for his death or
bankruptcy would be entitled to receive notice of the meeting; and
(c) the auditor for the time being of the company.
No other person shall be entitled to receive notices of general meetings.
TABLE D
MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION OF A COMPANY
LIMITED BY GUARANTEE, AND HAVING A SHARE CAPITAL
Memorandum of Association
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION TO ACCOMPANY
PRECEDING MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION
1. The number of members with which the company proposes to be registered is
50, but the directors may from time to time register an increase of members.
2. The regulations of Table A, Part I, set out in the First Schedule of the companies
Act shall be deemed to be incorporated with these articles and shall apply to the
company.
TABLE E
MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION OF
AN UNLIMITED COMPANY HAVING A SHARE CAPITAL
Memorandum of Association
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION TO ACCOMPANY THE
PRECEDING MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION
1. The number of members with which the company proposes to be registered is
20, but the directors may from time to time register an increase of members.
2. The share capital of the company is two thousand shillings, divided into twenty
shares of one hundred shillings each.
3. The company may by special resolution—
(a) increase the share capital by such sum to be divided into shares of
such amount as the resolution may prescribe;
(b) consolidate its shares into shares of a larger amount than its existing
shares;
(c) subdivide its shares into shares of a smaller amount than its existing
shares;
(d) cancel any shares which at the date of the passing of the resolution
have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person;
(e) reduce its share capital in any way.
4. The regulations of Table A, Part I, set out in the First Schedule to the Companies
Act (other than regulations 40 to 46 inclusive) shall be deemed to be incorporated
with these articles and shall apply to the company.
SECOND SCHEDULE
[Section 32.]
(b) the assets and liabilities of the business at the last date to which the
accounts of the business were made up.
(1) If unissued shares or debentures of the company are to be applied directly
or indirectly in any manner resulting in the acquisition of shares in a body corporate
which by reason of the acquisition or anything to be done in consequence thereof
or in connection therewith will become a subsidiary of the company, a report made
by accountants (who shall be named in the statement) with respect to the profits
and losses and assets and liabilities of the other body corporate in accordance with
subparagraph (2) or (3), as the case requires, indicating how the profits or losses
of the other body corporate dealt with by the report would, in respect of the shares
to be acquired, have concerned members of the company, and what allowance
would have fallen to be made, in relation to assets and liabilities so dealt with, for
holders of other shares, if the company had at all material times held the shares
to be acquired.
(2) If the other body corporate has no subsidiaries, the report referred to in
subparagraph (1) shall—
(a) so far as regards profits and losses, deal with the profits or losses
of the body corporate in respect of each of the five financial years
immediately preceding the delivery of the statement to the registrar;
and
(b) so far as regards assets and liabilities, deal with the assets and
liabilities of the body corporate at the last date to which the accounts
of the body corporate were made up.
(3) If the other body corporate has subsidiaries, the report referred to in
subparagraph (1) shall—
(a) so far as regards profits and losses, deal separately with the other
body corporate’s profits or losses as provided by the last foregoing
subparagraph, and in addition deal either—
(i) as a whole with the combined profits or losses of its
subsidiaries, so far as they concern members of the other body
corporate; or
(ii) individually with the profits or losses of each subsidiary, so far
as they concern members of the other body corporate,
or, instead of dealing separately with the other body corporate’s profits
or losses, deal as a whole with the profits or losses of the other body
corporate and, so far as they concern members of the other body
corporate, with the combined profits or losses of its subsidiaries; and
(b) so far as regards assets and liabilities, deal separately with the
other body corporate’s assets and liabilities as provided by the last
foregoing subparagraph and, in addition, deal either—
(i) as a whole with the combined assets and liabilities of its
subsidiaries, with or without the other body corporate’s assets
and liabilities; or
(ii) individually with the assets and liabilities of each subsidiary,
and shall indicate as respects the assets and liabilities of the subsidiaries the
allowance to be made for persons other than members of the company.
PART III – PROVISIONS APPLYING TO
PARTS I AND II OF THIS SCHEDULE
3. In this Schedule the expression “vendor” includes a vendor as defined in Part
III of the Third Schedule, and the expression “financial year” has the meaning
assigned to it in that Part of that Schedule.
4. If in the case of a business which has been carried on, or of a body corporate
which has been carrying on business, for less than five years, the accounts of
the business or body corporate have only been made up in respect of four years,
three years, two years or one year, Part II of this Schedule shall have effect as if
references to four years, three years, two years or one year, as the case may be,
were substituted for references to five years.
5. Any report required by Part II of this Schedule shall either indicate by way of
note any adjustments as respects the figures of any profits or losses or assets and
liabilities dealt with by the report which appear to the persons making the report
necessary or shall make those adjustments and indicate that adjustments have
been made.
6. Any report by accountants required by Part II of this Schedule shall be made
by accountants qualified under this Act for appointment as auditors of a company
which is not a private company and shall not be made by any accountant who is an
officer or servant, or a partner of or in the employment of an officer or servant, of
the company, or of the company’s subsidiary or holding company or of a subsidiary
of the company’s holding company; and for the purposes of this paragraph the
expression “officer” shall include a proposed director but not an auditor.
THIRD SCHEDULE
[Sections 32, 40, 43, 49, 376 and 378.]
2. The number of shares, if any, fixed by the articles as the qualification of a director,
and any provision in the articles as to the remuneration of the directors.
3. The names, occupations and postal addresses of the directors or proposed
directors.
4. Where shares are offered to the public for subscription, particulars as to—
(a) the minimum amount which, in the opinion of the directors must be
raised by the issue of those shares in order to provide the sums, or, if
any part thereof is to be defrayed in any other manner, the balance of
the sums, required to be provided in respect of each of the following
matters—
(i) the purchase price of any property purchased or to be
purchased which is to be defrayed in whole or in part out of the
proceeds of the issue;
(ii) any preliminary expenses payable by the company, and any
commission so payable to any person in consideration of his
agreeing to subscribe for, or of his procuring or agreeing to
procure subscriptions for, any shares in the company;
(iii) the repayment of any moneys borrowed by the company in
respect of any of the foregoing matters;
(iv) working capital; and
(b) the amounts to be provided in respect of the matters aforesaid
otherwise than out of the proceeds of the issue and the sources out
of which those amounts are to be provided.
5. The time of the opening of the subscription lists.
6. The amount payable on application and allotment on each share, and, in the
case of a second or subsequent offer of shares, the amount offered for subscription
on each previous allotment made within the two preceding years, the amount
actually allotted, and the amount, if any, paid on the shares so allotted.
7. The number, description and amount of any shares in or debentures of the
company which any person has, or is entitled to be given, an option to subscribe
for, together with the following particulars of the option, that is to say—
(a) the period during which it is exercisable;
(b) the price to be paid for shares or debentures subscribed for under it;
(c) the consideration (if any) given or to be given for it or for the right to it;
(d) the names and postal addresses of the persons to whom it or the
right to it was given or, if given to existing shareholders or debenture
holders as such, the relevant shares or debentures.
8. The number and amount of shares and debentures which within the two
preceding years have been issued, or agreed to be issued, as fully or partly paid
up otherwise than in cash, and in the latter case the extent to which they are so
paid up, and in either case the consideration for which those shares or debentures
have been issued or are proposed or intended to be issued.
firm, the nature and extent of the interest of the firm, with a statement of all sums
paid or agreed to be paid to him or to the firm in cash or shares or otherwise by any
person either to induce him to become, or to qualify him as, a director, or otherwise
for services rendered by him or by the firm in connection with the promotion or
formation of the company.
17. If the prospectus invites the public to subscribe for shares in the company and
the share capital of the company is divided into different classes of shares, the
right of voting at meetings of the company conferred by, and the rights in respect
of capital and dividends attached to, the several classes of shares respectively.
18. In the case of a company which has been carrying on business, or of a business
which has been carried on for less than three years, the length of time during which
the business of the company or the business to be acquired, as the case may be,
has been carried on.
PART II – REPORTS TO BE SET OUT
(1) A report by the auditors of the company with respect to—
(a) profits and losses and assets and liabilities, in accordance with
subparagraph (2) or (3), as the case requires; and
(b) the rates of the dividends, if any, paid by the company in respect of
each class of shares in the company in respect of each of the five
financial years immediately preceding the issue of the prospectus,
giving particulars of each such class of shares on which such
dividends have been paid and particulars of the cases in which no
dividends have been paid in respect of any class of shares in respect
of any of those years,
and, if no accounts have been made up in respect of any part of the period of five
years ending on a date three months before the issue of the prospectus, containing
a statement of that fact.
(2) If the company has no subsidiaries, the report shall—
(a) so far as regards profits and losses, deal with the profits or losses of
the company in respect of each of the five financial years immediately
preceding the issue of the prospectus; and
(b) so far as regards assets and liabilities, deal with the assets and
liabilities of the company at the last date to which the accounts of the
company were made up.
(3) If the company has subsidiaries, the report shall—
(a) so far as regards profits and losses, deal separately with the
company’s profits or losses as provided by subparagraph (2), and in
addition, deal either—
(i) as a whole with the combined profits or losses of its
subsidiaries, so far as they concern members of the company;
or
(b) where the other body corporate has subsidiaries, deal with the profits
or losses and the assets and liabilities of the body corporate and its
subsidiaries in the manner provided by subparagraph (3) of paragraph
19 in relation to the company and its subsidiaries.
PART III – PROVISIONS APPLYING TO PARTS I AND II OF SCHEDULE
22. Paragraphs 2, 3, 12 (so far as it relates to preliminary expenses) and 16 shall
not apply in the case of a prospectus issued more than two years after the date at
which the company is entitled to commence business.
23. Every person shall for the purposes of this Schedule, be deemed to be a vendor
who has entered into any contract, absolute or conditional, for the sale or purchase,
or for any option of purchase, of any property to be acquired by the company, in
any case where—
(a) the purchase money is not fully paid at the date of the issue of the
prospectus;
(b) the purchase money is to be paid or satisfied wholly or in part out of
the proceeds of the issue offered for subscription by the prospectus;
(c) the contract depends for its validity or fulfilment on the result of that
issue.
24. Where any property to be acquired by the company is to be taken on lease,
this Schedule shall have effect as if the expression “vendor” included the lessor,
and the expression “purchase money” included the consideration for the lease,
and the expression “sub-purchaser” included a sub-lessee.
25. References in paragraph 7 to subscribing for shares or debentures shall
include acquiring them from a person to whom they have been allotted or agreed
to be allotted with a view to his offering them for sale.
26. For the purposes of paragraph 9 where the vendors or any of them are a firm,
the members of the firm shall not be treated as separate vendors.
27. If in the case of a company which has been carrying on business, or of a
business which has been carried on for less than five years, the accounts of the
company or business have only been made up in respect of four years, three years,
two years or one year, Part II of this Schedule shall have effect as if references to
four years, three years, two years or one year, as the case may be, were substituted
for references to five years.
28. The expression “financial year” in Part II of this Schedule means the year in
respect of which the accounts of the company or of the business, as the case may
be, are made up, and where by reason of any alteration of the date on which the
financial year of the company or business terminates the accounts of the company
or business have been made up for a period greater or less than a year, that greater
or less period shall for the purpose of that Part of this Schedule be deemed to be
a financial year.
29. Any report required by Part II of this Schedule shall either indicate by way of
note any adjustments as respects the figures of any profits or losses or assets and
liabilities dealt with by the report which appear to the persons making the report
necessary or shall make those adjustments and indicate that adjustments have
been made.
30. Any report by accountants required by Part II of this Schedule shall be made
by accountants qualified under this Act for appointment as auditors of a company
which is not a private company and shall not be made by any accountant who is an
officer or servant, or a partner of or in the employment of an officer or servant, of
the company or of the company’s subsidiary or holding company or of a subsidiary
of the company’s holding company; and for the purposes of this paragraph the
expression “officer” shall include a proposed director but not an auditor.
FOURTH SCHEDULE
[Section 50.]
(b) so far as regards assets and liabilities, deal separately with the
other body corporate’s assets and liabilities as provided by the last
foregoing subparagraph and, in addition, deal either—
(i) as a whole with the combined assets and liabilities of its
subsidiaries, with or without the other body corporate’s assets
and liabilities; or
(ii) individually with the assets and liabilities of each subsidiary,
and shall indicate as respects the assets and liabilities of the subsidiaries the
allowance to be made for persons other than members of the company.
PART III – PROVISIONS APPLYING TO
PARTS I AND II OF THIS SCHEDULE
3. In this Schedule the expression “vendor” includes a vendor as defined in Part
III of the Third Schedule, and the expression “financial year” has the meaning
assigned to it in that Part of that Schedule.
4. If in the case of a business which has been carried on, or of a body corporate
which has been carrying on business, for less than five years, the accounts of
the business or body corporate have only been made up in respect of four years,
three years, two years or one year, Part II of this Schedule shall have effect as if
references to four years, three years, two years or one year, as the case may be,
were substituted for references to five years.
5. Any report required by Part II of this Schedule shall either indicate by way of
note any adjustments as respects the figures of any profits or losses or assets and
liabilities dealt with by the report which appear to the persons making the report
necessary or shall make those adjustments and indicate that adjustments have
been made.
6. Any report by accountants required by Part II of this Schedule shall be made
by accountants qualified under this Act for appointment as auditors of a company
which is not a private company and shall not be made by any accountant who is an
officer or servant, or a partner of or in the employment of an officer or servant, of
the company or of the company’s subsidiary or holding company or of a subsidiary
of the company’s holding company; and for the purposes of this paragraph the
expression “officer” shall include a proposed director but not an auditor.
FIFTH SCHEDULE
[Section 125.]
(1) If the register of members is, under the provisions of this Act, kept elsewhere
than at the registered office of the company, the address of the place where it is
kept.
(2) If any register of holders of debentures of the company or part of any such
register is, under the provisions of this Act, kept elsewhere than at the registered
office of the company, the address of the place where it is kept.
3. A summary, distinguishing between shares issued for cash and shares issued as
fully or partly paid up otherwise than in cash, specifying the following particulars—
(a) the amount of the share capital of the company and the number of
shares into which it is divided;
(b) the number of shares taken from the commencement of the company
up to the date of the return;
(c) the amount called up on each share;
(d) the total amount of calls received;
(e) the total amount of calls unpaid;
(f) the total amount of the sums (if any) paid by way of commission in
respect of any shares or debentures;
(g) the discount allowed on the issue of any shares issued at a discount
or so much of that discount as has not been written off at the date on
which the return is made;
(h) the total amount of the sums (if any) allowed by way of discount in
respect of any debentures since the date of the last return;
(i) the total number of shares forfeited;
(j) the total amount of shares for which share warrants are outstanding at
the date of the return and of share warrants issued and surrendered
respectively since the date of the last return, and the number of shares
comprised in each warrant.
4. Particulars of the total amount of the indebtedness of the company as at the
date of this return in respect of all mortgages and charges which are required to
be registered with the registrar under this Act.
5. A list—
(a) containing the names and postal addresses of all persons who, on
the fourteenth day after the company’s annual general meeting for the
year, are members of the company, and of persons who have ceased
to be members since the date of the last return or, in the case of the
first return, since the incorporation of the company;
(b) stating the number of shares held by each of the existing members at
the date of the return, specifying shares transferred since the date of
the last return (or, in the case of the first return, since the incorporation
of the company) by persons who are still members and have ceased to
be members respectively and the dates of registration of the transfers;
(c) if the names aforesaid are not arranged in alphabetical order, having
annexed thereto an index sufficient to enable the name of any person
therein to be easily found.
6. All such particulars with respect to the persons who at the date of the return are
the directors of the company and any person who at that date is the secretary of
the company as are by this Act required to be contained with respect to directors
and the secretary respectively in the register of the directors and secretaries of a
company.
PART II – FORM
SIXTH SCHEDULE
[Sections 58,149,152 and 157, Act No. 46 of 1960.]
ACCOUNTS – PRELIMINARY
1. Paragraphs 2 to 11 of this Schedule apply to the balance sheet and 12 to 14
to the profit and loss account, and are subject to the exceptions and modifications
provided by Part II of this Schedule in the case of a holding company and by Part III
thereof in the case of companies of the classes there mentioned; and this Schedule
has effect in addition to the provisions of sections 197 and 198 of this Act.
PART I – GENERAL PROVISIONS AS TO BALANCE
SHEET AND PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
Balance Sheet
2. The authorized share capital, issued share capital, liabilities and assets shall be
summarized, with such particulars as are necessary to disclose the general nature
of the assets and liabilities, and there shall be specified—
(a) any part of the issued capital that consists of redeemable preference
shares, and the earliest date on which the company has power to
redeem those shares;
(b) so far as the information is not given in the profit and loss account,
any share capital on which interest has been paid out of capital during
the financial year, and the rate at which interest has been so paid;
(c) the amount of the share premium account;
(d) particulars of any redeemed debentures which the company has
power to re-issue.
3. There shall be stated under separate headings, so far as they are not written
off—
(a) the preliminary expenses;
(b) any expenses incurred in connection with any issue of share capital
or debentures;
(c) any sums paid by way of commission in respect of any shares or
debentures;
(d) any sums allowed by way of discount in respect of any debentures;
and
(e) the amount of the discount allowed on any issue of shares at a
discount.
(1) The reserves, provisions, liabilities and fixed and current assets shall be
classified under headings appropriate to the company’s business:
Provided that—
(i) where the amount of any class is not material, it may be in cluded
under the same heading as some other class; and
(ii) Where any assets of one class are not separable from assets of
another class, those assets may be included under the same heading;
(iii) where any asset cannot properly be described either as “fixed or as
“current” it shall be separately classified and described.
(2) Fixed assets shall also be distinguished from current assets.
(3) The method or methods used to arrive at the amount of the fixed assets
under each heading shall be stated.
(1) The method of arriving at the amount of any fixed asset shall, subject to
subparagraph (2), be to take the difference between—
(a) its cost or, if it stands in the company’s books at a valuation, the
amount of the valuation; and
(b) the aggregate amount provided or written off since the date of
acquisition or valuation, as the case may be, for depreciation or
diminution in value,
and for the purposes of this paragraph the net amount at which any assets stand
in the company’s books at the commencement of this Act (after deduction of the
amounts previously provided or written off for depreciation or diminution in value)
shall, if the figures relating to the period before the commencement of this Act
cannot be obtained without unreasonable expense or delay, be treated as if it were
the amount of a valuation of those assets made at the commencement of this Act
and, where any of those assets are sold, the said net amount less the amount of
the sales shall be treated as if it were the amount of a valuation so made of the
remaining assets.
(2) Subparagraph (1) shall not apply—
(a) to assets for which the figures relating to the period begining with the
commencement of this Act cannot be obtained without unreasonable
expense or delay; or
(b) to assets the replacement of which is provided for wholly or partly—
(i) by making provision for renewals and charging the cost of
replacement against the provision so made; or
(ii) by charging the cost of replacement direct to revenue; or
(c) to any investments of which the market value (or, in the case of
investments not having a market value, their value as estimated by
the directors) is shown either as the amount of the investments or by
way of note; or
(d) to goodwill, patents or trade marks.
(3) For the assets under each heading whose amount is arrived at in
accordance with subparagraph (1), there shall be shown—
(a) the aggregate of the amounts referred to in head (a) of that
subparagraph; and
(b) the aggregate of the amounts referred to in head (b) thereof.
(4) As respects the assets under each heading whose amount is not arrived at
in accordance with subparagraph (1) because their replacement is provided for as
mentioned in subparagraph (2)(b), there shall be stated—
(a) the means by which their replacement is provided for; and
(b) the aggregate amount of the provision (if any) made for renewals and
not used.
6. The aggregate amounts respectively of capital reserves, revenue reserves and
provisions (other than provisions for depreciation, renewals or diminution in value
of assets) shall be stated under separate headings:
Provided that—
(i) this paragraph shall not require a separate statement of any of the
said three amounts which is not material; and
(ii) the registrar may direct that it shall not require a separate statement of
the amount of provisions where he is satisfied that that is not required
in the public interest and would prejudice the company, but subject
to the condition that any heading stating an amount arrived at after
taking into account a provision (other than as aforesaid) shall be so
framed or marked as to indicate that fact.
(1) There shall also be shown (unless it is shown in the profit and loss account
or a statement or report annexed thereto, or the amount involved is not material)—
(a) where the amount of the capital reserves, of the revenue reserves or
of the provisions (other than provisions for depreciation, renewals or
diminution in value of assets) shows an increase as compared with
the amount at the end of the immediately preceding financial year; the
source from which the amount of the increase has been derived; and
(b) where—
(i) the amount of the capital reserves or of the revenue reserves
shows a decrease as compared with the amount at the end of
the immediately preceding financial year; or
(ii) the amount at the end of the immediately preceding financial
year of the provisions (other than provisions for depreciation,
renewals or diminution in value of assets) exceeded the
aggregate of the sums since applied and amounts still retained
for the purposes thereof,
the application of the amounts derived from the difference.
(2) Where the heading showing any of the reserves or provisions aforesaid
is divided into subheadings, this paragraph shall apply to each of the separate
amounts shown in the subheadings instead of applying to the aggregate amount
thereof.
(3) The amount of any arrears of fixed cumulative dividends on the company’s
shares and the period for which the dividends or, if there is more than one class
each class of them are in arrear, the amount to be stated before deduction of
income tax, except that, in the case of tax-free dividends, the amount shall be
shown free of tax and the fact that it is so shown shall also be stated.
(4) Particulars of any charge on the assets of the company to secure the
liabilities of any other person, including, where practicable, the amount secured.
(5) The general nature of any other contingent liabilities not provided for and,
where practicable, the aggregate amount or estimated amount of those liabilities,
if it is material.
(6) Where practicable the aggregate amount or estimated amount, if it is
material, of contracts for capital expenditure, so far as not provided for.
(7) If in the opinion of the directors any of the current assets have not a value,
on realization in the ordinary course of the company’s business, at least equal to
the amount at which they are stated, the fact that the directors are of that opinion.
(8) The aggregate market value of the company’s quoted investments, other
than trade investments, where it differs from the amount of the investments as
stated, and the stock exchange value of any investments of which the market value
is shown (whether separately or not) and is taken as being higher than their stock
exchange value.
(9) The basis on which foreign currencies have been converted into East African
currency, where the amount of the assets or liabilities affected is material.
(10) The amount or the estimated amount of any liability to income tax in respect
of the profits made by the company to the date of the balance sheet, together with
the basis on which such amount, if any, set aside for income tax is computed.
(11) Except in the case of the first balance sheet laid before the company
after the commencement of this Act, the corresponding amounts at the end of the
immediately preceding financial year for all items shown in the balance sheet.
Profit and Loss Account
(1) There shall be shown—
(a) the amount charged to revenue by way of provision for depreciation,
renewals or diminution in value of fixed assets;
(b) the amount of the interest on the company’s debentures and other
fixed loans;
(c) the amount of the charge for income tax and any other taxation on
profits to date;
(d) the amounts respectively provided for redemption of share capital and
for redemption of loans;
(e) the amount, if material, set aside or proposed to be set aside to, or
withdrawn from, reserves;
SEVENTH SCHEDULE
[Section 162.]
EIGHTH SCHEDULE
[Section 308.]
NINTH SCHEDULE
[Section 386, Act No. 1 of 1985, s. 204.]
TENTH SCHEDULE
[Section 393.]
CHAPTER 486
COMPANIES ACT
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION
Rule
30. List of names and addresses of persons who appear on the petition.
31. Affidavits in opposition and reply.
32. Substitution of creditor or contributory for withdrawing petitioner.
Order to Wind Up a Company Under Section 211 of the Act
33. Notice that winding up has been pronounced to be given to official receiver.
34. Documents for drawing up order to be filed with registrar.
35. No appointment for settling order.
36. Contents of winding-up order.
37. Transmission and advertisement of winding-up order.
38. Notice to the officer charged with execution.
Special Manager
39. Appointment of special manager.
40. Accounting by special manager.
Statement of Affairs
41. Preparation of statement of affairs.
42. Extension of time for submitting statement of affairs.
43. Information subsequent to statement of affairs.
44. Default.
45. Expenses of statement of affairs.
46. Dispensing with statement of affairs.
Appointment of Liquidator in a Winding up by the Court
47. Appointment of liquidator on report of meetings of creditors and contributories.
Security by Liquidator or Special Manager in a Winding Up by the Court
48. Provisions as to security.
49. Failure to give or keep up security.
Voluntary Winding Up
50. Declaration of solvency.
51. Notification of appointment.
52. Statement of assets and liabilities.
Public Examination
53. Consideration of report.
54. Procedure consequent on order for public examination.
55. Application for day for holding examination.
56. Appointment of time and place for public examination.
57. Notice of public examination to creditors and contributories.
58. Default in attendance.
59. Notes of examination to be filed.
Rule
91. Proof for debt payable at a future time.
92. Workmen’s wages.
93. Production of bills of exchange and promissory notes.
94. Transmission of proofs to liquidator.
Admission and Rejection of Proofs and Preferential Claims and Appeal to the Court
95. Notice to creditors to prove.
96. Examination of proof.
97. Appeal by creditor.
98. Expunging at instance of liquidator.
99. Expunging at instance of creditor.
100. Oaths.
101. Official receiver’s powers.
102. Proofs to be filed.
103. Procedure where creditor appeals.
104. Time for dealing with proofs by official receiver.
105. Time for dealing with proofs by liquidator.
106. Costs of appeals from decisions as to proofs.
Dividends in a Winding Up by the Court
107. Dividends to creditors.
108. Return of capital contributories.
Meetings of Creditors and Contributories in Winding up by the Court
109. First meeting of creditors and contributories.
110. Notice of first meetings in Gazette.
111. Summoning of first meetings.
112. Form of notices of first meetings.
113. Notice of first meeting to officers of company.
114. Summary of statement of affairs.
General Meetings of Creditors and Contributories in Relation to Winding Up
by the Court and of Creditors in Relation to a Creditors’ Voluntary Winding Up
115. Liquidator’s meetings of creditors and contributories.
116. Application of rules as to meetings.
117. Summoning of meetings.
118. Proof of notice.
119. Place of meetings.
120. Costs of calling meetings.
121. Chairman of meeting.
122. Ordinary resolution of creditors and contributories.
123. Copy of resolution to be filed.
124. Non-reception of notice by a creditor.
125. Adjournments.
126. Quorum.
127. Creditors entitled to vote.
128. Cases in which creditors may not vote.
Rule
129. Votes of secured creditors.
130. Creditor required to give up security.
131. Admission and rejection of proofs for purpose of voting.
132. Statement of security.
133. Minutes of meeting.
Proxies to Relation to a Winding Up by the Court and to
Meetings of Creditors in a Creditors’ Voluntary Winding Up
134. Proxies.
135. Form of proxies.
136. Forms of proxy to be sent with notices.
137. General proxies.
138. Special proxies.
139. Solicitation by liquidator to obtain proxies.
140. Proxies to official receiver or liquidator.
141. Holder of proxy not to vote on matter in which he is financially interested.
142. Lodging of proxies.
143. Use of proxies by deputy.
144. Filling in where creditor blind or incapable.
Attendance and Appearance of Parties
145. Attendance at proceedings.
146. Attendance of liquidator’s advocate.
Liquidator and Committee of Inspection
147. Remuneration of liquidator.
148. Limit of remuneration.
149. Dealings with assets.
150. Restriction on purchase of goods by liquidator.
151. Committee of inspection not to make profit.
152. Costs of obtaining sanction of court.
153. Sanction of payments to committee.
154. Discharge of costs before assets handed to liquidator.
155. Resignation of liquidator.
156. Office of liquidator vacated by his insolvency.
Payments into and out of a Bank
157. Payments out of bank.
158. Special bank account.
Books
159. Record file.
160. Cash book.
Investment of Funds
161. Investment of funds.
Preliminary
1. Citation
These Rules may be cited as the Companies (Winding Up) Rules, 1961.
2. Interpretation
In these Rules, except where the context otherwise requires—
“company” means a company which is being wound up, or against which
proceedings to have it wound up, or proceedings under section 211 of the Act, have
been commenced;
“judge” means a judge of the court;
“prescribed” in relation to fees or charges means prescribed by the rules of the
court;
“proceedings” means the proceedings in the winding up of a company under the
Act, or proceedings under section 211 of the Act;
“registrar” means the registrar or a deputy registrar or a district registrar of the court;
“sealed” means sealed with the seal of the court.
3. Application
(1) Subject to the provisions of this rule, these Rules shall apply to the proceedings in
every winding up under the Act which commences on or after the appointed day, and to all
proceedings under section 211 of the Act.
(2) Rules which from their nature and subjectmatter, or which by the headings above
the group in which they are contained or by their terms, are made applicable only to the
proceedings in a winding up by the court, or only to such proceedings and to proceedings in
a creditors’ voluntary winding up, shall not apply to the proceedings in a voluntary winding
up, or, as the case may be, in a members’ voluntary winding up.
(3) Rules which from their nature and subject- matter, or which by the headings above
the group in which they are contained or by their terms, are made applicable only to the
proceedings in a winding up, whether by the court or voluntarily or subject to the supervision
of the court, shall not apply to proceedings under section 211 of the Act.
4. Forms
The forms in the Schedule to these Rules, where applicable, and, where they are not
applicable, forms of the like character, with such variations as circumstances may require,
shall be used for the purpose of these Rules.
Court and Chambers
5. Proceedings in court and chambers
(1) The following matters and applications to the court shall be heard in open court—
(a) petitions;
(b) public examinations;
Proceedings
8. Title of proceedings
(1) All documents in any proceedings shall be dated, and shall, with any necessary
additions, be intituled in the matter of the company to which they relate and in the matter of
the Act and otherwise as in Form No. 1. Numbers and dates may be denoted by figures.
[Form No. 1.]
(2) The first proceeding in any year shall have a distinctive number assigned to it in the
office of the registrar, and all proceedings subsequent to the first proceeding shall bear the
same number as the first proceeding.
9. Written or printed proceedings
All proceedings shall be written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, on paper
thirteen inches in length and eight inches in breadth, or thereabouts, and shall have a
stitching margin:
Provided that no objection shall be allowed to any proof or affidavit on account only of
its being written or printed on paper of other size.
10. Documents to be sealed
All orders, summonses, petitions, warrants or other documents of any kind in any
proceedings and certified copies thereof shall be sealed.
11. Issue of summons
Every summons in proceedings in court shall be prepared by the applicant or his
advocate and issued from the office of the registrar; a summons, when sealed, shall be
deemed to be issued; and the person taking out the summons shall file in the office of the
registrar a duplicate thereof.
12. Orders
Every order, whether made in court or in chambers, shall be drawn up by the registrar,
unless in any proceeding a judge or registrar making the order otherwise directs; where
a direction is given that no order need be drawn up, a note or memorandum of the order,
signed or initialed by the judge, or the registrar making the order, shall be sufficient evidence
of the order having been made.
13. File of proceedings
A file of proceedings shall be kept by the registrar on which, subject to the directions
of the court, all petitions, affidavits, summonses, orders, proofs when filed in court, notices,
depositions and other proceedings in the matter shall be placed and remain on record.
14. Copies
(1) All copies of petitions, affidavits, depositions, papers and writings, or any parts
thereof, required by the official receiver or any liquidator, contributory, creditor, officer of a
company or other person entitled thereto, shall be provided by the registrar, and shall, except
as to figures, be written out at length, and be sealed and delivered without any unnecessary
delay, and in the order in which they have been bespoken.
(2) Where it is impracticable to make written copies of such documents, the registrar
may authorize the use of photographic copies.
15. Inspection of file
Every person who has been a director or officer of a company which is being wound
up, and the official receiver or an officer duly authorized by him, shall be entitled free of
charge, and every contributory and every creditor whose claim or proof has been admitted
shall be entitled on payment of the prescribed fee, at all reasonable times, to inspect a file of
proceedings and to take copies of, or extracts from, any document therein, or be furnished
with such copies or extracts on payment of the prescribed fee.
(4) The official receiver shall account for the money so deposited to the petitioner, and
any sum so paid by a petitioning creditor shall be repaid to such creditor, except and so far
as such deposit may be required, by reason of insufficiency of assets, for the payment of
the fees of and expenses incurred by the official receiver, out of the property of the company
in the priority prescribed by these Rules.
[L.N 28/1977.]
30. List of names and addresses of persons who appear on the petition
(1) The petitioner or his advocate shall prepare a list of the names and addresses of
the persons who have given notice of their intention to appear on the hearing of the petition,
and of their respective advocates; such list shall be in Form No. 14.
(2) On the day appointed for hearing the petition, a fair copy of the list or if no notice of
intention to appear has been given a statement in writing to that effect, shall be filed by the
petitioner or his advocate in court before the hearing of the petition.
[Form No. 14.]
Statement Of Affairs
41. Preparation of statement of affairs
(1) A person who under section 232 of the Act has been required by the official receiver
to submit and verify a statement of affairs of a company shall be furnished by the official
receiver with such forms and instructions as the official receiver, in his discretion, considers
necessary; the statement shall be made out in duplicate, one copy of which shall be verified
by affidavit, and the official receiver shall cause to be filed with the registrar the verified
statement of affairs.
(2) The official receiver may from time to time hold personal interviews with any of the
persons mentioned in any of paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) of subsection (2) of section 232
of the Act, for the purpose of investigating the company’s affairs, and it shall be the duty of
every such person to attend on the official receiver at such time and place as the official
receiver may appoint and give the official receiver all information which he may require.
[Form No. 21.]
(6) (a) If a liquidator other than the official receiver is appointed, the official receiver
shall, as soon as the liquidator has given security, cause notice of the appointment to be
published in the Gazette.
(b) If a committee of inspection is appointed the official receiver shall similarly cause
notice of the appointment to be published in the Gazette.
(c) The expense of such publication shall be paid by the liquidator, but may be charged
by him against the assets of the company.
(7) Every appointment of a liquidator shall be advertised by the liquidator in a newspaper
circulating in Kenya immediately after the appointment has been made, and the liquidator
has given the required security.
(8) If a liquidator in a winding up by the court dies, or resigns, or is removed, another
liquidator may be appointed in his place in the same manner as in the case of a first
appointment, and the official receiver shall, on the request of not less than one-tenth in value
of the creditors or contributories, summon meetings for the purpose of determining whether
or not the vacancy shall be filled; but none of the provisions of this rule shall apply where
the liquidator is released under section 247 of the Act, in which case the official receiver
shall remain liquidator.
[Forms Nos. 24, 25, 26, 108(7), 108(9).]
(3) Where an order is made under this rule rescinding an order for the appointment of
or removing a liquidator, the court may direct that meetings shall be held for the purpose
of determining whether an application shall be made to the court for another liquidator
to be appointed, and thereupon the same meetings shall be summoned and the same
proceedings may be taken as in the case of a first appointment of a liquidator.
Voluntary Winding Up
50. Declaration of solvency
The declaration to be made in accordance with section 276 of the Act by the directors
of a company which it is proposed to wind up voluntarily shall be in Form No. 27.
[Form No. 27.]
Public Examination
53. Consideration of report
The consideration of a report made by the official receiver pursuant to subsection (2) of
section 233 of the Act shall be before a judge in chambers, and the official receiver shall
personally, or by his deputy or advocate, attend the consideration of the report and give the
court any further information or explanation with reference to the matters stated in the report
which the court may require.
54. Procedure consequent on order for public examination
Where a judge makes an order under section 265 of the Act, directing any person to
attend for public examination—
(a) the examination shall be held before a judge;
(b) the judge may, if he thinks fit, either in the order for examination or by any
subsequent order, give directions as to the special matters on which any such
person is to be examined.
[Form No. 31.]
(3) Every person served with a notice of motion may reply thereto by affidavit, which
shall be served upon the party taking out the notice, and filed not less than two days before
the day named for hearing the application.
(4) On the day named for hearing the application, the court may give such directions
as it shall think fit as to the taking of oral evidence, as to cross-examination either before a
judge on the hearing in court of any deponents to affidavits in support of or in opposition to
the application, as to any report it may require the official receiver or liquidator to make and
generally as to the procedure on the notice of motion and for the hearing thereof.
(5) Where any such order as is mentioned in paragraph (4) has been made, then, if
after such order and before the motion has been set down for hearing or adjourned either
party wishes to apply for any further direction as to any interlocutory matter or thing, he shall
restore the motion to the cause list and shall give two dear days’ notice in writing to the
other party stating the grounds of the application; a copy of such notice shall be filed with
the registrar two clear days before the day for which the motion is restored.
61. Hearing of application
(1) A judge shall hear all applications under section 189 of the Act.
(2) Where any order has been made under the said section, any application for leave
arising out of such order shall be made in the winding up of the company in relation to which
such order was made, and the dissolution of the company or the stay of all proceedings in
such winding up shall not be a bar to such application or to the granting of leave.
62. Use of depositions taken at public examinations
Where, in the course of the proceedings in a winding up by the court, an order has been
made for the public examination of persons named in the order pursuant to section 265 of the
Act, then, in any proceedings subsequently instituted under any of the provisions of the Act
mentioned in paragraph (1) of rule 60, the verified notes of the examination of each person
who was examined under the order shall, subject as hereinafter mentioned, and to any order
or directions of the court as to the manner and extent in and to which the notes shall be
used, and subject to all just exceptions to the admissibility in evidence against any particular
person or persons of any of the statements contained in the notes of the examinations, be
admissible in evidence against any of the persons against whom the application is made
who, under section 265 of the Act and the order for the public examination, was, or had the
opportunity of being, present at and taking part in the examination:
Provided that—
(i) before any such notes of a public examination are used on any such
application, the person intending to use the same shall, not less than fifteen
days before the day appointed for hearing the application, give notice of such
intention to each person against whom it is intended to use such notes, or
any of them, specifying the notes or parts of the notes which it is intended to
use against him, and furnish him with copies of such notes, or parts of notes,
except notes of the person’s own depositions;
(ii) every person against whom the application is made shall be at liberty to cross-
examine or re-examine, as the case may be, any person the notes of whose
examination are read, in all respects as if such person had made an affidavit
on the application.
(2) Any contributory for the time being on the list of contributories, trustee, receiver,
banker or agent or officer of a company which is being wound up under order of the court
shall, on notice from the liquidator and within such time as he shall by such notice require,
pay, deliver, convey, surrender or transfer to or into the hands of the liquidator any money,
property, books or papers which happen to be in his hands for the time being and to which
the company is prima facie entitled.
[Form No. 39.]
Calls
76. Calls by liquidator
The powers and duties of the court in relation to making calls upon contributories
conferred by section 255 of the Act shall and may be exercised, in a winding up by the court,
by the liquidator as an officer of the court, subject to the proviso to section 268 of the Act,
and to the following provisions—
(a) where the liquidator desires to make any call on the contributories, or any
of them, for any purpose authorized by the Act, if there is a committee of
inspection he may summon a meeting of such committee for the purpose of
obtaining their sanction to the intended call;
(b) the notice of the meeting shall be sent to each member of the committee of
inspection in sufficient time to reach him not less than seven days before the
day appointed for holding the meeting, and shall contain a statement of the
proposed amount of the call, and the purpose for which it is intended; notice
of the intended call and the intended meeting of the committee of inspection
shall also be advertised once at least in a newspaper circulating in Kenya;
and the advertisement shall state the time and place of the intended meeting
of the committee of inspection, and that each contributory may either attend
the said meeting and be heard, or make any communication in writing to the
liquidator or members of the committee of inspection, to be laid before the
meeting, in reference to the said intended call;
(c) at the meeting of the committee of inspection, any statements or
representations made either to the meeting personally or addressed in writing
to the liquidator or members of the committee by any contributory shall be
considered before the intended call is sanctioned;
(d) the sanction of the committee shall be given by resolution, which shall be
passed by a majority of the members present; and
(e) where there is no committee of inspection, the liquidator shall not make a call
without first obtaining the leave of the court.
[Forms Nos. 48, 49, 50.]
Proofs
81. Proof of debt
In a winding up by the court, every creditor shall, subject as hereinafter provided, prove
his debt, unless a judge in any particular winding up gives directions that any creditors or
class of creditors shall be admitted without proof.
82. Mode of proof
(1) A debt may be proved in any winding up by delivering or sending through the post
an affidavit verifying the debt.
(2) In a winding up by the court, the affidavit shall be so sent to the official receiver or, if
the liquidator has been appointed, to the liquidator; and in any other winding up the affidavit
may be so sent to the liquidator.
[Form No. 61.]
(b) In all other respects the same procedure shall follow the fresh notice as would have
followed the original notice.
(5) Upon the declaration of a dividend, a liquidator, other than the official receiver, shall
forthwith transmit to the official receiver a list of the proofs filed with the registrar under rule
102, which list shall be in Form No. 68 or 69, as the case may require.
(6) Dividends may, at the request and risk of the person to whom they are payable, be
transmitted to him by post.
(7) If a person to whom dividends are payable desires that they shall be paid to some
other person, he may file with the liquidator a document in Form No. 70, which shall be a
sufficient authority for payment of the dividend to the person therein named.
[Form Nos. 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 108(4), 108(5).]
liquidation meetings, but so nevertheless that the said rules shall take effect as to first
meetings subject and without prejudice to any express provisions of the Act and as to court
meetings subject and without prejudice to any express directions of the court.
117. Summoning of meetings
(1) The official receiver or liquidator shall summon all meetings of creditors and
contributories by giving not less than seven days’ notice of the time and place thereof in the
Gazette and in a newspaper; and shall, not less than seven days before the day appointed
for the meeting, send by post to every person appearing by the company’s books to be a
creditor of the company notice of the meeting of creditors, and to every person appearing by
the company’s books or otherwise to be a contributory of the company notice of the meeting
of contributories.
(2) (a) The notice to each creditor shall be sent to the address given in his proof or, if
he has not proved, to the address given in the statement of affairs of the company, if any, or
to such other address as may be known to the person summoning the meeting.
(b) The notice to each contributory shall be sent to the address mentioned in the
company’s books as the address of such contributory, or to such other address as may be
known to the person summoning the meeting.
(3) In the case of meetings under section 291 of the Act, the continuing liquidator, or if
there is no continuing liquidator any creditor, may summon the meeting.
(4) This rule shall not apply to meetings under section 286 or section 294 of the Act.
[Form No. 76.]
(3) The said costs shall be repaid out of the assets of the company if the court by order,
or if the creditors or contributories, as the case may be, by resolution, so direct.
(4) This rule shall not apply to meetings under section 286 or section 291 of the Act.
121. Chairman of meeting
(1) Where a meeting is summoned by the official receiver or the liquidator, he or
someone nominated by him shall be chairman of the meeting.
(2) At every other meeting of creditors or contributories, the chairman shall be such
person as the meeting by resolution appoints.
(3) This rule shall not apply to meetings under section 286 of the Act.
[Form No. 79.]
126. Quorum
(1) A meeting may not act for any purpose except the election of a chairman, the proving
of debts and the adjournment of the meeting unless there are present or represented in
the case of a creditors’ meeting at least three creditors entitled to vote, or in the case of a
meeting of contributories at least three contributories, or all the creditors entitled to vote or all
the contributories if the number of creditors entitled to vote or the number of contributories,
as the case may be, does not exceed three.
(2) If within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting a quorum of creditors
or contributories, as the case may be, is not present or represented, the meeting shall be
adjourned to the same day in the following week at the same time and place or to such
other day or time or place as the chairman may appoint, but so that the day appointed shall
be not less than seven nor more than twenty-one days from the day from which the meeting
was adjourned.
127. Creditors entitled to vote
(1) In the case of a first meeting of creditors or of an adjournment thereof, a person
shall not be entitled to vote as a creditor unless he has duly lodged with the official receiver,
not later than the time mentioned for that purpose in the notice convening the meeting or
adjourned meeting, a proof of the debt which he claims to be due to him from the company.
(2) In the case of a court meeting or liquidator’s meeting of creditors, a person shall not
be entitled to vote as a creditor unless he has lodged with the official receiver or liquidator
a proof of the debt which he claims to be due to him from the company and such proof has
been admitted wholly or in part before the date on which the meeting is held.
(3) This rule and rules 128, 129, 130 and 131 shall not apply to a court meeting of
creditors held prior to the first meeting of creditors.
(4) This rule shall not apply to any creditors or class of creditors who by virtue of these
Rules or any directions given thereunder are not required to prove their debts or to any
voluntary liquidation meeting.
128. Cases in which creditors may not vote
A creditor shall not vote in respect of any unliquidated or contingent debt or any debt
the value of which is not ascertained, nor shall a creditor vote in respect of any debt on, or
secured by, a current bill of exchange or promissory note held by him unless he is willing
to treat the liability to him thereon of every person who is liable thereon antecedently to
the company, and against whom a receiving order in bankruptcy has not been made, as a
security in his hands, and to estimate the value thereof, and for the purposes of voting, but
not for the purposes of dividend, to deduct it from his proof.
129. Votes of secured creditors
(1) For the purpose of voting, a secured creditor shall, unless he surrenders his security,
state in his proof, or in a voluntary liquidation in such a statement as is hereinafter mentioned,
the particulars of his security, the date when it was given and the value at which he assesses
it, and shall be entitled to vote only in respect of the balance, if any, due to him after deducting
the value of his security.
(2) If he votes in respect of his whole debt, he shall be deemed to have surrendered his
security, unless the court, on application, is satisfied that the omission to value the security
has arisen from inadvertence.
130. Creditor required to give up security
The official receiver or liquidator may, within thirty days after a proof, or in a voluntary
liquidation a statement, estimating the value of a security as aforesaid has been used in
voting at a meeting, require the creditor to give up the security for the benefit of the creditors
generally on payment of the value so estimated with an addition thereto of twenty per
centum:
Provided that, where a creditor has valued his security, he may at any time before being
required to give it up correct the valuation by a new proof and deduct the new value from
his debt, but in that case the said addition of twenty per centum shall not be made if the
security is required to be given up.
(2) Except with the leave of the court, no remuneration shall, in any circumstances, be
paid to a member of a committee for services rendered by him in the discharge of the duties
attaching to his office as a member of such committee.
154. Discharge of costs before assets handed to liquidator
(1) When a liquidator appointed by the court has notified his appointment to the registrar
of companies and has given security to the court, the official receiver shall forthwith put the
liquidator into possession of all property of the company of which the official receiver may
have custody:
Provided that such liquidator, before the assets are handed over to him by the official
receiver, shall first discharge any balance due to the official receiver on account of fees,
costs and charges properly incurred by him, and on account of any advances properly made
by him in respect of the company, together with interest on such advances at the rate of
six per centum per annum, and the liquidator shall pay all fees, costs and charges of the
official receiver which may not have been discharged by the liquidator before being put into
possession of the property of the company, whether incurred before or after he has been
put into such possession.
(2) The official receiver shall be deemed to have a lien upon the company’s assets until
such balance shall have been paid and the other liabilities shall have been discharged.
(3) It shall be the duty of the official receiver, if so requested by the liquidator, to
communicate to the liquidator all such information respecting the estate and affairs of the
company as may be necessary or conducive to the due discharge of the duties of the
liquidator.
(4) This rule and rule 155 shall only apply in a winding up by the court.
155. Resignation of liquidator
(1) A liquidator who desires to resign his office shall summon separate meetings of the
creditors and contributories of the company to decide whether or not the resignation shall
be accepted.
(2) If the creditors and contributories by ordinary resolutions both agree to accept the
resignation of the liquidator, he shall file with the registrar a memorandum of his resignation
and shall send notice thereof to the official receiver, and the resignation shall thereupon
take effect.
(3) In any other case, the liquidator shall report to the court the result of the meetings and
shall send a report to the official receiver, and thereupon the court may, upon the application
of the liquidator or the official receiver, determine whether or not the resignation of the
liquidator shall be accepted, and may give such directions and make such orders as, in the
opinion of the court, are necessary.
156. Office of liquidator vacated by his insolvency
If a receiving order in bankruptcy is made against a liquidator, he shall thereby vacate his
office, and for the purposes of the application of the Act and these Rules shall be deemed
to have been removed.
Payments into and out of a Bank
157. Payments out of bank
All payments out of the Companies Liquidation Account shall be made in such manner
as the official receiver may from time to time direct.
Books
159. Record file
In a winding up by the court, the official receiver, until a liquidator is appointed by the
court, and thereafter the liquidator, shall keep a file, to be called the record file, in which he
shall record all minutes of, and all proceedings had and resolutions passed at, any meeting
of creditors or contributories, or of the committee of inspection, and all such matters as may
he necessary to give a correct view of his administration of the company’s affairs; but he
shall not be bound to insert in the record file any document of a confidential nature, such as
the opinion of counsel on any matter affecting the interest of the creditors or contributories,
nor need he exhibit such document to any person other than a member of the committee
of inspection or the official receiver.
160. Cash book
(1) In a winding up by the court, the official receiver, until a liquidator is appointed by
the court, and thereafter the liquidator, shall keep a book, to be called the cash book, which
shall be in such form as the Minister may from time to time direct, in which he shall, subject
to the provisions of these Rules as to trading accounts, enter from day to day the receipts
and payments made by him.
(2) In a winding up by the court, a liquidator, other than the official receiver, shall submit
the record file and the cash book, together with any other requisite books and vouchers, to
the committee of inspection, if any, when required, and not less than once in every three
months.
(3) In a creditors’ voluntary winding up, the liquidator shall keep such books as the
committee of inspection or, if there is no such committee, as the creditors direct, and all
books kept by the liquidator shall be submitted to the committee of inspection or, if there is
no such committee, to the creditors with any other books, documents, papers and accounts
in his possession relating to his office as liquidator or to the company as and when the
committee of inspection or if there is no such committee, the creditors direct.
Investment of Funds
161. Investment of funds
(1) Where in a winding up by the court, or in a creditors’ voluntary winding up, the
committee of inspection are of opinion that any part of the cash balance standing to the
credit of the account of the company should be invested, they shall sign a certificate and
request, and shall transmit such certificate and request to the official receiver.
(2) Where the committee of inspection in any such winding up are of opinion that it is
advisable to sell any of the securities in which the moneys of the company’s assets are
invested, they shall sign a certificate and request to that effect, and shall transmit such
certificate and request to the official receiver.
(3) Where there is no committee of inspection in any such winding up as is mentioned in
paragraphs (1) and (2), if a case has, in the opinion of the liquidator, arisen for the investment
of funds of the company or a sale of securities in which the company’s funds have been
invested, the liquidator shall sign and transmit to the official receiver a certificate of the facts
on which his opinion is founded, and a request to the official receiver to make the investment
or sale mentioned in the certificate, and the official receiver may thereupon, if he thinks fit,
invest or sell the whole or any part of the said funds and securities in the manner provided
in section 343 of the Act, and the said certificate and request shall be sufficient authority to
the official receiver for the said investment or sale.
[Forms Nos. 86, 87.]
(b) the official receiver or liquidator may appear in such application and object
thereto;
(c) no costs of, or incidental to, such application shall be allowed to the applicant
unless the court is satisfied that the application could not have been made at
the time of the proceeding.
177. Certificate of taxation
(1) Upon the taxation of any bill of costs, charges or expenses being completed, the
registrar shall issue to the person presenting such bill for taxation his allowance or certificate
of taxation.
(2) The bill of costs, charges and expenses, together with the allowance or certificate,
shall be filed with the registrar.
[Form No. 96.]
including, where the company has previously commenced to be wound up voluntarily, such
remuneration, costs and expenses as the court may allow to a liquidator appointed in such
voluntary winding up, shall, subject to any order of the court, be liable to the following
payments, which shall be made in the following order of priority, namely—
(i) the taxed costs of the petition, including the taxed costs of any person
appearing on the petition whose costs are allowed by the court;
(ii) the remuneration of the special manager, if any;
(iii) the costs and expenses which may be allowed of any person who makes or
concurs in making the company’s statement of affairs;
(iv) the necessary disbursements and remuneration of the official receiver when
appointed as interim or provisional liquidator in a winding up by the court,
other than expenses properly incurred in preserving, realizing or getting in the
assets here-in before provided for;
(v) the deposit or deposits lodged with the official receiver on any application to
the court for his appointment as interim or provisional liquidator;
(vi) the necessary disbursements of any liquidator other than an interim or
provisional liquidator appointed in the winding up by the court, other than
expenses properly incurred in pre-serving, realizing or getting in the assets
hereinbefore provided for;
(vii) the costs of any person properly employed by any such liquidator;
(viii) the remuneration of any such liquidator;
(ix) the actual out-of-pocket expenses necessarily incurred by the committee of
inspection, subject to the approval of the official receiver.
(2) No payments in respect of bills or charges of advocates, managers, accountants,
auctioneers, brokers or other persons, other than payments for costs and expenses incurred
and sanctioned under rule 45 and payments of bills which have been taxed and allowed
under orders made for the taxation thereof, shall be allowed out of the assets of the company
without proof that the same have been considered and allowed by the registrar; and the
registrar shall, before passing the bills of charges of an advocate, satisfy himself that the
appointment of an advocate to assist the liquidator in the performance of his duties has been
duly sanctioned:
Provided that the official receiver, when acting as liquidator, may, without taxation, pay
and allow the costs and charges of any person employed by him where such costs and
charges are within the scale usually allowed by the court and do not exceed the sum of four
hundred shillings.
(3) Nothing contained in this rule shall apply to or affect costs which, in the course
of legal proceedings by or against a company which is being wound up by the court, are
ordered by the court in which such proceedings are pending or a judge thereof to be paid by
the company or the liquidator, or the rights of the person to whom such costs are awarded.
Conclusion of Winding Up
183. Conclusion of winding up
The winding up of a company shall, for the purposes of section 333 of the Act, be deemed
to be concluded—
(a) in the case of a company wound up by order of the court, at the date on which
the order dissolving the company has been reported by the liquidator to the
registrar of companies, or at the date of the order of the court releasing the
liquidator pursuant to section 247 of the Act;
Liquidation Account, shall be ascertained as on the date to which the statement of receipts
and payments delivered to the registrar of companies is brought down, and the amount to
be paid to the Companies Liquidation Account shall be the minimum balance of such money
which the liquidator has had in his hands or under his control during the period of six months
immediately preceding the date to which the statement is brought down, less such part, if
any, thereof as the official receiver may authorize him to retain for the immediate purposes
of the liquidation; and such amount shall be paid into the Companies Liquidation Account
within fourteen days from the date to which the statement of account is brought down.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in this rule, any moneys in the hands of the liquidator at
the date of the dissolution of the company representing unclaimed or undistributed assets
or dividends or held by the company in trust in respect of dividends or other sums due to
any person as a member of the company shall forthwith be paid by him into the Companies
Liquidation Account.
187. Liquidator to furnish information to official receiver
In a voluntary winding up or a winding up under the supervision of the court, every person
who has acted as liquidator of any company, whether the liquidation has been concluded
or not, shall furnish to the official receiver particulars of any money in his hands or under
his control representing unclaimed or undistributed assets of the company or held by the
company in trust in respect of dividends or other sums due to any person as a member of
the company, and such other particulars as the official receiver may require for the purpose
of ascertaining or getting in any money payable into the Companies Liquidation Account;
and the official receiver may require such particulars to be verified by affidavit.
[Form No. 102.]
189. Application to the court for enforcing an account, and getting in money
An application by the official receiver for the purpose of ascertaining and getting in money
payable into the Companies Liquidation Account pursuant to section 334 of the Act shall
be made by motion.
190. Application for payment out by person entitled
An application by a person claiming to be entitled to any money paid into the Companies
Liquidation Account in pursuance of section 334 of the Act shall be made in such form and
manner as the official receiver may from time to time direct, and shall, unless the official
receiver otherwise directs, be accompanied by a certificate of the liquidator that the person
claiming is entitled and such further evidence as the official receiver may direct.
(2) The registrar whose duty it is to keep the books prescribed by these Rules shall
make and transmit to the official receiver such extracts from the books, and shall furnish
the official receiver with such information and returns, as the official receiver may from time
to time require.
[Forms Nos. 106, 107.]
SCHEDULE
1. These Rules may be cited as the Companies (Winding-up Fees) Rules, 1961.
2. The fees specified in the Schedule to these Rules shall be paid to the official receiver in
accordance with the provisions of the said Schedule.
SCHEDULE
FEES
1. Citation
These Regulations may be cited as the Companies Regulations, 1961.
2. Forms
The forms set out in the First Schedule to these Regulations shall be used for the
purposes of the Act with such variations as circumstances require, and the particulars
contained therein are hereby prescribed as the particulars required under the Act.
3. Printing processes
(1) Any matter which, by the provisions of the Act, is required to be printed shall be
accepted by the registrar, notwithstanding that it has been reproduced other than by original
letterpress, if it has been reproduced by any one of the following processes—
(a) lithography of any description;
(b) multigraph;
(c) roneotype;
(d) such other process as the registrar may from time to time approve.
(2) Any matter reproduced in a manner referred to in paragraph (1) of this regulation
shall bear a certificate signed by the person processing the same in the following terms—
“Certified that this document has been reproduced by the process of ”
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of this regulation, the registrar may, in his absolute
discretion, refuse to accept for registration any document either printed or reproduced in
a manner referred to in paragraph (1) if, in his opinion, such document is not sufficiently
legible or of durable quality.
4. Names of companies
(1) On payment of the prescribed fee, the registrar shall, on the request of any person
requiring approval of any name as the name of a proposed company or of any name which it
is proposed shall be the new name of an existing company, cause a search to be made in the
index of registered companies and also in the register of reserved names, and shall notify the
applicant that such name is either not available or desirable or is available unconditionally
or subject to specified conditions; and in the event of refusal of any name it shall not be
necessary for the registrar to assign any reason for such refusal.
(2) A name which has been approved by the registrar shall be entered in the register of
reserved names on behalf of the applicant for a period of thirty days or such longer period
not exceeding sixty days as the registrar may allow, and such period shall commence from
the date of notification of approval to the applicant.
5. Additional fees
The additional fees payable under subsection (2) of section 392 of the Act shall be those
set out in Part V of the Second Schedule to these Regulations, and shall be calculated
in respect of the period from the day following the last day on which a document should
have been delivered in accordance with the provisions of the Act to the day on which such
document is received by the registrar:
Provided that if such document is subsequently rejected by the registrar the period from
the date on which he first received such document until the date of redelivery thereof to the
person presenting the same shall be excluded in calculating the period of the default.
6. Certification of documents
(1) A certified copy of the charter, statutes or memorandum and articles of the company
or other instrument constituting or defining the constitution of the company required to be
delivered to the registrar under subsection (1) of section 366 of the Act in the case of an
overseas company incorporated under the laws of a foreign country shall be deemed to be
certified as a true copy if in such foreign country it is—
(a) duly certified as a true copy by an official of the government to whose custody
the original is committed; or
(b) duly certified as a true copy by a notary public of such nation or place; or
(c) duly certified as a true copy on oath by some officer of the company before
some person having authority to administer an oath in such country.
(2) Deleted by L.N. 44/1969.
(3) A copy of the instrument by which a charge is created or evidenced to be delivered
to the registrar under proviso (i) to section 369 of the Act shall be verified or certified to be
a true copy under the seal of the company or under the hand of some person interested
therein otherwise than on behalf of the company.
7. Certified translations
(1) A translation of a charter, statutes or memorandum and articles of association or
other instrument constituting or defining the constitution of a company or any account,
prospectus or document to be delivered to the registrar of companies under the Act shall
be certified to be a correct translation—
(a) in the case of a translation made in a foreign country, by any person having
authority by law to administer an oath;
(b) Deleted by L.N. 44/1969;
(c) in the case of a translation made within Kenya—
(i) by an advocate; or
(ii) by a notary public of Kenya.
(2) The registrar may in any particular case, if he thinks fit so to do and upon such
conditions as he thinks fit, permit certified copies or translations to be delivered to him,
though not certified in accordance with the above requirement.
8. Fees
The fees payable to the registrar shall be those specified in the Second Schedule to
these Regulations in respect of the several matters mentioned therein.
FIRST SCHEDULE
[Rule 2.]
FORMS
FIRST SCHEDULE—continued
FIRST SCHEDULE—continued
SECOND SCHEDULE
[Rule 3.]
SECOND SCHEDULE—continued
PART IV – ON REGISTERING CHARGES
PART VI – MISCELLANEOUS
1. These Rules may be cited as the Companies (High Court) Rules, 1964.
2.
(1) In these Rules, except where the context otherwise requires—
“company” means a company formed and registered under the Companies Act and
to which any application under these Rules relates;
“Court” means the High Court or includes any judge or other officer who for the time
being exercises the jurisdiction of the High Court in company matters;
“inquiry” means any inquiry made as to the debt, claims or liabilities of or affecting
a company or as to any such debt, claims or liabilities ordered by the Court under these
Rules;
“Registrar” means the Registrar, a Deputy Registrar or a District Registrar of the
High Court.
(2) A form referred to by number means the form so numbered in the Schedule to these
Rules with such variations to the form as the circumstances may require.
3. Any proceedings brought under Rules shall be deemed to be a suit within the meaning of
the Civil Procedure Act (Cap. 21) and any Rules made thereunder, and the general practice
of the Court, including the course of procedure and practice in chambers, shall apply so far
as may be practicable, except if and so far as the Act Rules otherwise provide.
4. Every petition, notice of motion and summons, and all notices, affidavits and other
proceedings under any petition, notice of motion or summons, shall be intituled in the
Court, and in the matter of the company (showing, where applicable, that the company is in
liquidation), in the matter of the Companies Act and in the matter of the particular application.
5. The following applications shall be made by petition—
(a) applications to cancel an alteration of objects under section 8 of the Act;
(b) applications to cancel an alteration in conditions in the memorandum under
section 25 of the Act;
(c) applications to confirm the reduction of any share premium account or any
capital redemption reserve fund under section 58 or section 60 of the Act;
(d) applications to sanction the issue of shares at a discount under section 59
of the Act;
(e) applications to confirm a reduction of capital under section 69 of the Act;
(f) applications to cancel any variation of the rights of holders of special classes
of shares under section 74;
(g) applications to sanction a compromise or arrangement under section 207 of
the Act;
(h) applications to restore a company’s name to the register under section 339
of the Act;
(i) applications for relief by officers of a company or by persons employed as
auditors by a company under section 402 of the Act.
6. Applications to declare the dissolution of a company void under section 338 of the
Act shall be made by petition, except where the dissolution was ordered as a result of
proceedings upon a petition presented to the Court, in which case application will be by
notice of motion in such proceedings.
7. Applications to rectify the register of members of a company under section 118 of the Act
shall be by originating motion or when the company is in voluntary liquidation by summons.
8. The following applications shall be made by notice of motion—
(a) applications for relief in case of default by a private company in complying
with the provisions of its articles under section 31 of the Act;
(b) applications to extend the time for registration of a charge or to rectify any
omission or misstatement with respect to any charge or in a memorandum of
satisfaction under section 102 of the Act;
(c) applications for the appointment of inspectors under sections 165 and 166
of the Act;
(d) applications to inquire into the case of officers and agents of a company who
have refused to produce any document or answer any question under section
168 of the Act;
(e) applications that shares or debentures shall cease to be subject to restrictions
imposed by the Registrar of Companies under section 175 of the Act;
(f) applications for meetings of creditors or members of a company under section
207(1) of the Act;
(g) applications for the purpose of preventing or settling the terms of the
acquisition of shares under section 210 of the Act.
9. The following applications shall be made by summons—
(a) applications to extend the time for delivery of documents to the Registrar in
cases where sanction of the Court is required;
(b) applications to extend the time for the issue of shares at a discount under
section 59 of the Act;
(c) applications in regard to delivery of certificates or debentures under section
82 of the Act;
(d) applications to inspect any register of holders of debentures or to obtain
copies thereof or of any trust deed for securing debentures under section 89
of the Act;
(e) applications for summoning a meeting of debenture holders under section 90
of the Act;
(f) applications to inspect copies of instruments creating a charge and to inspect
the register of charges under section 106 of the Act;
(g) applications to inspect the register of members or the index of names of a
company or to obtain copies of such register under section 115 of the Act;
(h) applications for and in regard to meetings of a company under section 135
of the Act;
(i) applications that a company shall not be bound to circulate a statement under
section 140 of the Act;
(j) applications to inspect the minutes of proceedings at general meetings of a
company or to obtain copies thereof under section 146 of the Act;
every such affidavit shall be left at the office of the Registrar not later than
one day after the filing off affidavit;
(b) the person making any such affidavit shall state therein his belief that the
list verified by such affidavit is correct, and that there was not at the date
so fixed as aforesaid any debt, claim or liability which, if that date were the
commencement of the winding-up of the company, would be admissible in
proof against the company, except the debts, claims or liabilities set forth
in such list and any debts, claims or liabilities to which the inquiry does not
extend, and shall state his means of knowledge of the matters deposed to in
such affidavit; such affidavit shall be in Form 2 in the Schedule;
(c) copies of such list containing the names and addresses of such creditors, and
the total amount so due to them (including the value of any debts or claims
estimated as aforesaid) but omitting the amounts due to them respectively,
or (as the judge thinks fit) complete copies of such list, shall be kept at the
registered office of the company and at the office of the advocate to the
company and any person desirous of inspecting the same may at any time
during the ordinary hours of business inspect and take extracts from the same
on payment of the sum of ten shillings;
(d) the company shall, within seven days after the filing of such affidavit or such
further or other time as the judge may allow, send to each creditor whose
name is entered in the said list a notice stating the amount of the proposed
reduction of capital, the effect of the order directing the inquiry and the amount
or estimated value of the debt or the contingent debt or claim or both for which
such creditor is entered in the said list, and the time (such time to be fixed by
the judge) within which, if he claims to be entitled to be entered on such list
as a creditor for a larger amount, he must send in his name and address, and
the particulars of his debt or claim, and the name and address of his advocate
(if any) to the advocate of the company, and such notice shall be sent through
the post in a prepaid letter addressed to each such; creditor at his last known
address or place of abode, and shall be in Form 3 in the Schedule;
(e) notice of the presentation of the petition, of the effect of the order directing the
inquiry and of the list of creditors shall, after the filing of the affidavit mentioned
in paragraph (a), be published at such times, and in such newspaper as
the judge shall direct; and every such notice shall state the amount of
the proposed reduction of capital, and the places where the aforesaid list
of creditors may be inspected, and the time within which creditors of the
company who are not but are entitled to be entered on the said list, and are
desirous of being entered therein, must send in their names and addresses,
and the particulars of their debts or claims, and the names and addresses of
their advocates (if any) to the advocate of the company; and such notice shall
be in Form 4 in the Schedule;
(f) the company shall, within such time as the judge shall direct, file in the office
of the Registrar an affidavit made by the person to whom the particulars of
debts or claims are, by such notices as are mentioned in paragraphs (c) and
(d), required to be sent in, stating the result of such notices respectively and
verifying a list containing the names and addresses of the persons (if any)
who have sent in the particulars of their debts or claims in pursuance of such
notices respectively, and the amounts of such debts or claims, and some
competent officer or officers of the company shall join in such affidavit, and
shall in such list distinguish which (if any) of such debts and claims are wholly,
or as to any and what part thereof, admitted by the company, and which (if
any) of such debts and claims are wholly, or as to any and what part thereof,
disputed by the company, and which (if any) of such debts and claims are
alleged by the company to be wholly, or as to any and what part thereof, not
included to the inquiry, such affidavit shall also state which of the persons
who are entered in the list a
(g) if the company contends that a person is not entitled to be entered in the list
of creditors in respect of any debt or claim whether admitted or not or if any
debt or claim, the particulars of which are so sent in, is not admitted by the
company at its full amount, then and in every such case, unless the company
is willing to appropriate in such manner as the judge shall direct the full amount
of such debt or claim, the company shall, if the judge thinks fit so to direct,
send to the creditor a notice that he is required to come in and establish his
title to be entered on the list or as the case may be to come in and prove such
debt or claim or part thereof as is not admitted by the company, by a day to be
therein named, being not less than four clear day after such notice, and being
the time appointed by the judge for adjudicating upon such titles, debts and
claims and such notice shall be sent in the manner mentioned in paragraph
(d) of this rule, and shall be in Form 6 in the Schedule;
(h) the result of the settlement of the list of creditors shall be stated in a certificate
by the Registrar, and such certificate shall state what debts or claims (if
any) have been disallowed, and shall distinguish the debts or claims the full
amount of which the company is willing to appropriate, and the debts or claims
(if any) the amount of which has been fixed by inquiry and adjudication in
manner provided by section 69 of the Act and these Rules, and the debts or
claims (if any) the full amount of which the company does not admit or is not
willing to appropriate or the amount of which has not been fixed by inquiry
and adjudication as aforesaid; and shall show which of the creditors have
consented to the proposed reduction, and the total amount of the debts due
to them, and the total amount of the debts or claims the payment of which has
been secured in manner provided by section 69 of the Act and the persons to
or by whom the same are due or claimed; the said certificate shall also state
what creditors have under paragraph (g) come in and sought to establish their
title to be entered on the list and whether such claims have been allowed or
not, but it shall not be necessary to make in such certificate any further or
other reference to any creditors who are not entitled to be entered in the list
or to any debts or claims to which the inquiry does not extend or to show
therein the several amounts of the debts or claims of any persons who have
consented to the proposed reduction or the payment of whose debts or claims
has been secured as aforesaid;
(i) the consent of any creditor, whether in respect of a debt due or presently due
or a debt payable on a contingency or not ascertained or a claim admissible
to proof in a winding-up of the company, may be evidenced in any manner
which the judge thinks reasonable sufficient, having regard to the amount of
his debt or claim and all the circumstances of the case;
(j) the petition shall not be heard until the expiration of at least eight clear days
from the filing of such certificate as is mentioned in paragraph (i);
(k) before the hearing of the petition, notices stating the day on which the same
is appointed to be heard shall be published at such times and in such
newspapers as the judge directs, and such notices shall be in Form 7 in the
Schedule.
12. Unless in any particular case the Court otherwise directs, every order sanctioning the
issue of shares at a discount shall contain a direction that a copy of such order shall be
delivered to the Registrar of Companies for registration within ten days from the date thereof
or within such further or other time as the court may allow and that the order shall not take
effect till such copy has been so delivered.
13. Where an application is made under section 209 of the Act, the order shall be in Form
8 in the Schedule.
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE 1
[Insert a short description of the immovable property of the transferor company.]
SCHEDULE 2
[Insert a short description of all stocks, shares, debentures
and other choses in action of the transferor company.]