ADVOKS GLOBAL · KENYA
Co-operative Societies Act
7. Provisional registration
Edition: 2023-12-11 · In force
7. Provisional registration
(1)If the Commissioner is not satisfied that a society has complied with this Act and any rules made thereunder, or is not satisfied that its by-laws conform with this Act and any rules made thereunder, and is of the opinion that steps can be and will be taken with diligence by the persons by whom or on whose behalf the application for registration is made to comply with this Act and the rules made thereunder or to make the by-laws conform as aforesaid, the Commissioner may in his discretion provisionally register the society for such period, not exceeding one year, and subject to its compliance with such terms and conditions and provisions, as the Commissioner may specify in writing to the persons by whom or on whose behalf the application for registration is made.(2)A provisional registration shall, subject to this section, and to any terms or conditions specified by the Commissioner under subsection (1) entitle the society to operate as a co-operative society, and such society whilst so entitled to operate shall be deemed to be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, and with power to hold movable and immovable property of every description, to enter into contracts, to institute and defend suits and other legal proceedings and to do all things necessary for the purpose for which it is constituted; and, subject to the provisions of this Act, any reference in any written law to a co-operative society shall, unless the context otherwise requires, include a reference to a society which is provisionally registered.(3)A society which is provisionally registered shall cause the fact that it is provisionally registered to be stated in legible Roman letters in all billheads, letter papers, notices, advertisements and other official publications of the society, and on a sign board in a conspicuous position outside any premises in which it operates.(4)The Commissioner may for good cause cancel the provisional registration of a society, by a notice in writing addressed to the society, specifying the reasons therefor, and such cancellation shall operate as a refusal to register the society, and the society shall, from the date of service of the notice, cease to be a registered co-operative society.(5)At the expiration of the period specified by the Commissioner under subsection (1), a society, if it has not been registered in the meantime, shall cease to be a registered co-operative society.(6)Where a society ceases to be a registered co-operative society:—(i)the Commissioner may appoint a competent person to be the liquidator of the society, and(ii)the validity of any transaction entered into by that society during the period of provisional registration shall not be affected thereby.(7)At any time during the period of provisional registration of a society, the Commissioner, if he is satisfied that the society has complied with this Act and any rules made thereunder, and that its by-laws conform with the requirements of this Act and rules made thereunder, may register the society under section 5, and thereupon such society shall be deemed to have been so registered on the date of its provisional registration, and this section shall cease to apply to such society.(8)Where a society which has been provisionally registered under this section contravenes subsection (3), the society and every officer, or person who purports to act as an officer, of the society shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings, or in the case of a continuing offence to a fine not exceeding one thousand shillings for each day during which the offence continues.