During Jamhuri Day Celebrations last year (12th December 2019) the President of Kenya, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, directed the National Treasury, the Attorney General, and the Judiciary to work together to develop a legal regime for waiver of fees for commercial disputes below KES 1 Million. This was one of the measures aimed at reduction or the elimination of fees levied by government agencies in order to enhance the simplification of processes in trade, access to credit, and consumer protection.
This directive gained the force of law in Legal Notice no. 59 published on 20th April 2020 under the Public Finance Management Act (No. 18 of 2012). Through this notice, the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning exercised his powers under Section 77 of the Act to waive court filing fees in respect of commercial disputes where the value of the suit does not exceed one million (1,000,000) shillings for a period of two (2) years.
Before this waiver, a dispute whose value was one million (1,000,000) shillings would attract a filing fee of about seventy thousand (70,000) shillings.
This waiver takes effect on 20th April 2020 and applies to commercial cases filed after this date and will go a long way in easing the overall costs that go into the institution of cases/claims.
If you have any question regarding this alert, please do not hesitate to contact Scola Kayugira on E-mail: scola@smkadvocates.com, Tel:+254 723 495 054, Skype: Scola Munyao-Kayugira.
This alert is meant for general information only and should not be relied upon without seeking specific legal advice.