Category: LexBytes

Effect of Sectional Properties Act 2020 on long-term leases – By a Notice dated 7th May 2021, the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning notified the public that it will no longer register long-term leases supported by architectural drawings for units in buildings with effect from 10th May, 2021. This is in accordance with the Sectional Properties Act 2020 (“the Act”) which requires that all properties contained in long-term leases be properly georeferenced and approved by Survey of Kenya. In compliance with the Act, the Ministry has issued draft regulations which, once enacted, will guide the process of converting long-term leases registered on the basis of architectural drawings to conform to the Act and the Land Registration Act, 2012. The Ministry has also assured the public that unit owners of the affected long-term leases will not incur additional stamp duty upon conversion provided that the requisite stamp duty was paid as part of the registration formalities of the long-term leases.

Data Protection in Action: How the Draft Data Protection (General) Regulations aim to protect your personal data – The Draft Data Protection (General) Regulations 2021 (“the Draft Regulations”) were recently published for public consultation. They elaborate the rights and duties of the data subjects, data controllers and data processors, and also provide the procedures for enforcing the said rights and duties. Some of the rights that data subjects enjoy include: right to consent to the use of their personal data, right to request for their data to be rectified or deleted, right to object to the commercial use of their data, right to have their personal data anonymised or pseudomised, right to notify the Data Commissioner of any data breach, among other rights. The Draft Regulations also provide that any server used for processing personal data for actualising public goods or services such as education or elections must be located in Kenya. The Draft Regulations are therefore aimed at substantively implementing and effecting the provisions of the Data Protection Act.