ADVOKS GLOBAL · KENYA
Societies Act
2. Interpretation
Edition: 2022-12-31 · In force
2. Interpretation
(1)In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—"Cabinet Secretary” means the Cabinet Secretary for the time being responsible for matters relating to societies;"constitution or rules" includes regulations or by-laws of a society registered or exempted from registration before the commencement of this Act;"exempted society" means any society for the time being exempted from registration under this Act;"liquidator" means a liquidator appointed under section 33;"officer", in relation to a society, means the president, vice-president, chairperson, deputy chairperson, secretary or treasurer thereof, or any member of the committee, council or governing body thereof, or any person who holds in the society any office or position analogous to the foregoing, but does not include a trustee, auditor or patron who takes no part in the management of the society;"registered society" means any society for the time being registered under this Act, but does not include a society the registration of which is for the time being suspended;"the Registrar" means the Registrar of Societies appointed under section 8 of this Act, and includes a person appointed under that section to be a Deputy or Assistant Registrar;"society" includes any club, company, partnership or other association of ten or more persons, whatever its nature or object, established in Kenya or having its headquarters or chief place of business in Kenya, and any branch of a society, but does not, except in paragraphs (i) and (ii) of section 11(2)(f) of this Act, include—(a)a company or foreign company registered under the Companies Act (Cap. 486);(b)any corporation incorporated by or under any other written law;(c)a registered trade union within the meaning of the Labour Relations Act (Cap. 233), including a branch of a trade union registered under that Act, a probationary trade union within the meaning of that Act and a trade union or a branch of a trade union whose application for registration has been made and not determined;(d)a company, firm, association or partnership consisting of not more than twenty persons, formed and maintained with a view to carrying on business for profit;(e)a co-operative society registered as such under any written law;(f)a school registered under the Basic Education Act (Cap. 211), Advisory Council, Board of Governors, District Education Board, School Committee or similar organization established under and in accordance with the provisions of any written law relating to education;(g)a building society as defined by the Building Societies Act (Cap. 489);(h)a bank licensed under the Banking Act (Cap. 488);(i)any international organization of which Kenya is a member, or any branch, section or organ of any such organization;(j)any combination or association which the Cabinet Secretary may, by order, declare not to be a society for the purposes of this Act;"unlawful society" has the meaning assigned to that expression in section 4(1) of this Act.(2)For the avoidance of doubt, it is declared that, for the purposes of this Act, where any body of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, is a member of an association, all members of that body are members of that association.