Govt Announces Plans To Shutdown 50 Companies

Owners of over 50 companies registered in Kenya have only three months to try and salvage their enterprises from being dissolved.

In a gazette notice, the Registrar of Companies Joyce Koech announced that the owners of said firms had up to three months to try and salvage them from being struck off the country’s roll.

Failure to show cause on why the companies should be spared, they will cease operations in the country.

Part of the gazette notice showing the listed firms set for dissolution. PHOTO/ Screengrab by KI

“Pursuant to section 897 (3) of the Companies Act, the Registrar of Companies gives notice that the names of the companies specified hereunder shall be struck off from the Register of Companies at the expiry of three (3) months from the date of publication of this notice and invites any person to show cause why the companies should not be struck off from the Register of Companies,” the notice read in part.

Section 897(3) of the Companies Act in Kenya refers to the power of the Registrar of Companies to strike a company’s name off the register, but only after a three-month period following the publication of a notice in the Gazette stating their intention to do so.

The move gives the company a chance to respond before being removed from the register if they are no longer operating; this is primarily used when a company ceases business activities and wishes to be deregistered.

Although some view this move as a form of sanction, however, it enables a company to cease existence and therefore avoid future legal and regulatory compliance that may be subject to penalties and fines if not attended to.

Companies listed

The listed services across the country. In the notice, Joyce Koech did not specifically explain why each of the firms would be deregistered in the country after the lapse of the three-month window period.

According to the gazette notice dated Friday, February 7, 2025, the listed firms include Collision With Purpose Kenya L Limited, Abacus Hardware Limited, Africa Adorned Jewellery Limited, Africa Payments and Settlement Company Limited, Altech Stream East Africa Limited, Amani Pioneer Group Limited and Ambe Water Resources Limited.

Others are Ammar (EPZ) Limited, Betsson Development Africa Limited, Bids Limited, Bogi Lifestyle East Africa Limited, Brakes and Trailer Parts Limited and Bridgewater Limited.

In the last gazette notice, the Registrar of Companies listed over 100 firms which she argued were on the brink of being shut down.

Most of the firms are struggling due to ever-changing business environment in the country and the newly introduced tax policies including the to some entrepreneurs.

The policies have affected both major business firms in the country and even small-scale traders in the country.