Kenya's Registrar of Companies Joyce Koech announced the closure of a security company for defying a directive ordering it to change its name.
In a Gazette Notice on Friday, Koech explained that the name of the company, Corporate Security Services Limited, was struck off from the Register of Companies.
"It is notified for information of the general public that the Registrar of Companies has struck off the name of the following company from the Register of Companies for failure to comply with the direction issued under section 58 (1) of the Act," read the statement in part.
Section 58(1) of the Companies Act stipulates that the registrar may direct a company to change its name if it has been registered by a name that is the same as or, in the opinion of the registrar, too similar to another appearing in the registrar's index of company names.
The name could also be struck off if it is too similar to that which should have appeared in that index at that time.
"A direction under subsection (1) may be given only within twelve months after the date on which the company concerned was registered or within such extended period as the Registrar may specify in writing in a particular case," reads the Act in part.
The company was struck off the register alongside 157 others raising concerns over a tough operating environment for local businesses.
According to the Gazette Notice, 122 other companies have already applied for dissolution, which will be done in three months should no objections be raised.
In total, 280 companies stand to be shut down and see their names removed from the register of companies within the first month of 2024.
The development coincides with the continually rising cost of living that has pushed the shilling above Ksh162 against the dollar.
Kenyans are also lamenting the high cost of fuel which, even though decreased by Ksh5, remains well above the Ksh200 mark, its highest ever.
At the beginning of the year, Businessman Buzeki Bundotich shut down a majority of business operations at his logistics company.
The billionaire claimed that hundreds of his employees lost their jobs due to the harsh economic downturn.
"We parked trucks from November 1, 2023, as the increase in fuel prices rendered the business unprofitable,” he explained.
Over three companies have also been assigned a liquidator as per the Gazette Notice.
