KENYA Law and Practice Contributed by: Anne Kinyanjui and Loice Erambo, DLA Piper Africa, Kenya (IKM)
2.6 Important Areas of Law for Investors In addition to those discussed in 1.1 Main Sources of Law , the following laws are also sig - nificant: • the Stamp Duty Act prescribes stamp duty payable on the purchase of immovable prop - erty; • the Urban Areas and Cities Act provides for the classification, governance and manage - ment of urban areas and cities; • county by-laws; and • the laws governing investors’ real estate investment vehicles, including the Companies Act 2015 governing operations of companies, and the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2011 governing limited liability partnerships. 2.7 Soil Pollution or Environmental Contamination A buyer is deemed responsible for soil pollution or environmental contamination on their prop - erty. Accordingly, it is critical for a buyer to physi - cally inspect the property to confirm its compli - ance with environmental laws before purchase. 2.8 Permitted Uses of Real Estate Under Zoning or Planning Law Permitted Use The Physical Planning Act and county laws govern zoning and planning at the national and county level, respectively. The use or develop - ment of land must be in accordance with the National and County Physical and Land Use Development Plans. The permitted use of a par - cel of land is usually indicated on the title docu - ment. Where this is not the case, the permitted use can be confirmed by a search at the land registry or survey department.
Development Agreements It is possible to enter into development agree - ments with relevant public authorities in order to facilitate a project; see 4.6 Agreements With Local or Governmental Authorities. 2.9 Condemnation, Expropriation or Article 40 (3) (b) of the Constitution allows the state to compulsorily acquire land for a public purpose, subject to the fair and prompt com - pensation of the interested persons. Section 107 of the LA prescribes the process of compulsory acquisition, which takes place in four stages as follows. The pre-inquiry stage • The Cabinet Secretary or the County Execu - tive Committee Member of the national or county state agency that wishes to compul - sorily acquire the land submits a request for acquisition to the NLC. Compulsory Purchase Compulsory Acquisition • The NLC requests a verification meeting with the state agency, which provides a list of the affected parcels of land and the respective owners, title search details, cadastral maps of the affected areas, a resettlement action plan and a list of persons affected by the acquisi - tion. • The NLC may reject the request if the con - stitutional requirements are not met. If the request is approved, the NLC maps out and values the land. • The NLC then publishes a notice of intent in the Kenya Gazette and the County Gazette, and delivers a copy of the notice to the land registrar and any person interested in the land. • On receipt of the notice, the land registrar makes an order restricting further dealings on the affected land until it vests in the state
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