Insight type: Legal Alert

The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning issued the Value Added Tax (Digital Marketplace Supply) (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 (the DMS Amendment Regulations), through a Legal Notice dated 4 April 2022 which was published in the Kenya Gazette on 27 May 2022. The DMS Amendment Regulations were laid before the National Assembly on 09 June 2022 when the 12th Parliament was adjourned and are still yet to undergo the full legislative process and their legal validity is therefore in question.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court at Nairobi (the Court) on 22 April 2022 temporarily suspended the enforcement of the amendments to the National Health Insurance Fund Act, 1998 (the Principal Act) in a petition, by the Federation of Kenya Employers v National Health Insurance Fund Management Board & Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Health and 3 others, challenging the constitutionality of the amendments (the Petition). 

 

In addition to the Employment Amendment Act, the other bill signed into law by the President on April 4, 2022, is the Industrial Training (Amendment) Act 2022 (the IT Amendment Act). The IT Amendment Act amends the Industrial Training Act (Chapter 237 Laws of Kenya) (the Act) which regulates the training of employees engaged in specified industries.

On 23 March 2021, Zambia’s Parliament enacted the Data Protection Act No 3 of 2021 (the DPA) to regulate the collection and storage of “personal data” (that is data that can be used to identify an individual, such as a person’s name or identification number) of individuals in Zambia.

On April 4, 2022, the President signed five bills into law including the Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 (the Amendment Act) which amends section 9 (General provisions of a contract of service) of the Employment Act 2007 (the Act). The purpose of the amendment is to reprieve job seekers who are often required to fulfil heavy documentation requirements when applying for work. These include clearance or compliance certificates from some or all of the following agencies: the Kenya Revenue Authority, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the Higher Education Loans Board, the Credit Reference Bureau and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. 

The Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning (MOLPP) has been undertaking the process of conversion and migration of land titles issued under the following repealed statutes namely the Indian Transfer of Property Act, the Government Lands Act, the Registration of Titles Act, the Land Titles Act and the Registered Land Act.

Banks often have standard terms and conditions with borrowers which entitle them to set off a borrower’s debts against amounts held in different accounts of the same borrower.

Unlike traditional assets which are generally traceable using documents, the main challenge in the process of inheriting cryptocurrency is accessing the deceased’s digital wallet. If the deceased did not leave behind a clue on how to access the digital wallet, then the cryptocurrency will be lost forever.

 

On 13 June 2019, the Parliament of Tanzania passed the Finance Act 2019 (the Act) which came into force on 1 July 2019. The Act amended the Tax Administration Act, Cap. 438 to establish an office known as Tax Ombudsman Service. This Office is established within the Ministry of Finance and Planning under section 28A of the Act.

At an awareness session on the Settlement Procedure conducted by the Financial Services Commission (the “Commission”) on 12 April 2022, the Chief Executive of the Commission stressed that the Settlement Committee is not a ‘whitewashing’ instance and that settlement discussions might take place in parallel with any investigation, inquiry or referral to the Enforcement Committee which have already started.