Treasury wants registration rules for small businesses eased for women, youth

The Treasury wants Parliament to enact a law easing restrictions on the registration of small businesses owned by the youth, women and disabled.

Treasury secretary Henry Rotich said the current Companies Act has a standard registration process for all companies thereby marginalising the three special demographics.

“We need to relax some stringent rules contained in the Companies Act to allow easy registration of small companies,” Mr Rotich told the Joint committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity.

He urged the committee to consider developing a Bill to deal with registration of small businesses.

Mr Rotich appeared before the committee chaired by nominated MP Johnson Sakaja to explain the progress made by ministries in implementing the law that requires all procurement entities to set aside 30 per cent of government procurement for the three groups.

He revealed that the Treasury had registered 57,008 firms owned by youth, women and the disabled.

This figure, he said, excluded companies that have been registered by the 47 county governments. Out of the total 57,408 firms, 34,408 are for youth, 20,408 for women and 2,408 the disabled.

“We need a legal framework for small businesses to be registered in a special way rather than through the normal Company Act requirements. We don’t need to water down what is already in the Company Act for registration of big businesses,” Mr Rotich said.

Mr Sakaja said MPs are willing to explore the proposals for a standalone law to govern registration of small business entities owned by youth and women.

The committee directed Mr Rotich to furnish the House with reports indicating the compliance by procuring entities to the 30 per cent procurement law within two weeks.

Mr Rotich said only four government ministries had complied with the requirement and submitted their reports to the Treasury and the Public Procurement Review Authority (PPRA).

He said a circular will be issued reminding the procuring entities to send their reports to PPRA.

The law require procuring entities in public sector including county governments and State corporations to furnish half year reports to the PPRA on implementation of the 30 per cent procurement for youth and women.

The committee also directed PPRA director general Maurice Juma to table a comprehensive list of State entities that have complied as well as those which have not complied with the law.