COUNTY GOVERNMENTS HAVE 6 MONTHS FROM 28TH JUNE 2024 TO IMPLEMENT A UNIFORM LICENSING PROCEDURE
Review of the County Licensing (Uniform Procedures) Act, 2024
On the 28th June 2024, the County Licensing (Uniform Procedures) Act, 2024 was assented to by the President. This new act has been enacted in order to establish a standard uniform procedure for licensing by county governments in Kenya. It is also intended to ensure that the process of applying for a licence from any county government is efficient and effective.
Of importance to note is that the act requires every county government to establish and administer a licensing regime that protect the rights of consumers, producers, suppliers, distributors and service providers in their respective counties as well as a regime that promote the regulation of developing markets.
Below are the key features of this new Act:
| NO. | Item | Relevant requirement | Relevant section in the Act |
| 1 | Establishment of a licensing board | Each county government shall establish a board to be known as the County Licensing Board to perform the function of granting, amending, renewing, restoring and replacing of licences. | Section 7 (2) |
| 2 | Electronic licence application | Each County Licensing Board shall, within THREE YEARS of the commencement of the Act, put in place mechanisms to enable the electronic application for grant, renewal, transfer or replacement of a licence or a variation of a condition for the issuance of a licence. | Section 7 (5) |
| 3 | Single application process | Each county government shall, in the enactment of legislation and for the effective administration of the licensing processes, prescribe procedures for a single application process with respect to an application for more than one licence | Section 8 |
| 4 | Condition for varying licensing fees | Where a County Licensing Board intends to vary the licensing fees it must undertake: Public Participationregulatory impact assessmentprovide sufficient and timely information to members of the public to enable them make inform decisionallow for adequate time for consideration of proposals by members of the publictake into account the comments and proposals submitted by members of the publicpublicize the final decision taken with respect to the proposals | Section 10 |
| 5 | Advertising of applications | Licence applications that require to be advertised must be published by the county licensing board on one daily newspaper of wide circulation within the county, in one local radio station, in a designated public notice board at the county, ward and village levels and on official website or social media platform. | Section 11 |
| 6 | Withdrawal of a licence application. | An applicant may withdraw a licence application at any time before the licence is issued and the applicant shall forfeit any fees paid in connection with such application. | Section 12 |
| 7 | Period of determination of a licence application | The county Licensing Board shall be deemed to have allowed an application if it fails to determine the application within TWENTY-EIGHT DAYS after the application is made or within the time prescribed in the relevant licensing legislation, whichever is earlier. | Section 13 |
| 8 | Notice of decision on application | The County Licensing Board must inform the applicant in writing of its decision to grant, not to grant or grant with conditions within SEVEN DAYS of the decision. | Section 15 |
| 9 | Variation of conditions of a licence. | a County Lisensing Board may vary a condition attached to a licence upon issuance of a notice in writing to the affected licensees and by publishin in a newspaper of nationwide circulation and through such other media: A notice specifying the variation intended to be made with respect to the licence, setting out the reasons for such variance, specify the time within which the variation shall take effect, a requirement for the licensee and any other person to submit any representations WITHIN THIRTY DAYS from the date of the notice | Section 19 |
| 10 | Cancellation of licence. | County Licensing Board may cancel a licence if the licensee fails to meet any condition imposed, fails to comply with the provisions of the licensing legislation or surrenders the licence back with a request that the licence be cancelled. | Section 20 |
| 11 | Review of decisions. | An applicant or any other person who is aggrieved by a decision of a County Licensing Board with respect to the application or cancellation of a licence may apply for a review of the decision to the county executive committee member responsible for matters relating to the subject of the licence. | Section 21 |
| 12 | Timeline for review | An application for review shall be determined within TWENTY-ONE DAYS of the application for review or such time as may be prescribed by the relevant licensing legislation, whichever is shorter | Section 21 (2) |
| 13 | Setting of Licence fees | A county licensing board shall be guided by the following principles in setting the fees for issuance of a licence: accountability, public participation, avoidance of multiplicity in the issuance of licences and multiple imposition of fees where goods are transported across different counties, cross-subsidization, avoidance of multiple licensing in a specific sector etc. and each county government is to formulate a licensing fees policy. | Section 24 |
O recovery of unpaid fees, the Act provides that a fee payable with respect to a licence or an application for a licence may be recovered by the county licensing board as a debt in a court of competent jurisdiction.
On penalties tha act provides that a person who contravenes its provision commits an offence and is liable, on conviction to a fine not exceeding one million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.
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