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New law gives traders leeway to operate across counties
Traders at Wakulima Market in Nakuru on July 2, 2024. Standardisation of the licensing processes across the devolved units is also meant to bring certainty to investors.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
Traders and investors across the 47 counties will from November this year be automatically allowed to operate, if a decision to reject or accept their licence application is not made within 28 days.
The deadline is contained in the County Licensing (Uniform Procedures) Act, 2024 meant to standardise the issuance of licences besides getting rid of multiple fees that traders are currently paying to move products across counties.
Counties have for years been blamed for prolonged and unexplained delays to either approve or reject licence applications, leaving dozens of investors frustrated in their efforts to start operations in the country. Traders also continue to decry the multiple charging of fees to move their goods across counties, a demand that has significantly added to their cost of doing business.
The Act is also meant to get rid of the licensing headache at the counties, a situation that the National Treasury says continues to negate efforts to woo investors into Kenya.
“A licensing authority shall be deemed to have allowed an application if the licensing authority fails to determine the application within 28 days after the application is made or within the time prescribed in the relevant licensing legislation, whichever is earlier,” the Act reads in part.
The Act was signed into law on June 28, but its implementation has been delayed by six months, pushing its start date to November 28, this year. The new Act has exempted four scenarios from this requirement, on grounds that more time is needed to decide based on outcomes of requirements made to the applicant.
They (scenarios) include where the county asks a trader or investor for additional information, any period between the date on which the applicant is referred for assessment and the date on which the authority obtains or receives the results of the assessment.
Standardisation of the licensing processes across the devolved units is also meant to bring certainty to investors, besides ensuring that the devolved units do not negate any efforts that the national government makes to woo investors.
County Licensing Boards will be formed by each of the 47 units and their job will be to grant, amend, renewing, restore and replace licences.
“The Council of County Governors shall provide a platform for consultation and collaboration by county governments in establishing and implementing harmonised processes for issuance of licences and imposition of fees where goods are transported across different counties.”
Manufacturers have in recent years been critical of the multiple charges and fees levied to move goods across the devolved units, saying this had significantly increased the cost of doing business.
The charges that the counties charge include cess which applies to a range of raw materials and agricultural products.
