24. Auctioneers Act No. 5 of 1996

The law provides for the practice of auctioneering.

Quick Link: http://www.kenyalaw.org/lex//actview.xql?actid=CAP.%20526

· In Kimwele v Kenya Bankers Association of Kenya & 12 others (Commercial Case E237 of 2020) [2022] KEHC 458 (KLR) (Commercial and Tax) (31 May 2022) (Judgment), the plaintiff representing the interests of auctioneers moved to the High Court complaining about the misapplication of the Auctioneers Act 1996 by banks and their agents by illegally issuing instructions, repossessing, advertising and selling loan securities without the involvement of auctioneers (Plaintiff’s members), prescribing an illegal fees schedule and encouraging undercutting. Banks and their agents had been engaging other persons other than auctioneers to save on costs given that auctioneers could charge up to 2 percent of the value of the property being auctioned. The court held that licenced auctioneers should continue to conduct auctioneering business under the Land Act, 2012 and any other written law unless otherwise excluded, noting that person who authorizes or permits an unlicenced person to carry out auctioneering business risks the having that transaction declared void for contravening statutory provisions (paras 16 and 17). The court however did not grant the various orders sought holding that they were general in nature and only served to restate the law in force.