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Introduction Newsletter Home Introduction Bowman Gilfillan Africa Group We are pleased to announce that, in addition to our well­known association with Bowman Gilfillan in South Africa, the firm has entered into a strategic alliance with two other leading law firms in East Africa: AF Mpanga, Advocates in Kampala, Uganda; and East African Law Chambers in Dar­es­Salaam, Tanzania. The alliance between the four firms will be known as the Bowman Gilfillan Africa Group The Bowman Gilfillan Africa Group now has a presence in four important economies in constitutional implementation ­ Africa – South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – and has a formally constituted new bills introduced to parliament “best friends” relationship with leading Nigerian firm, Udo Udoma & Belo­Osagie, and a good relationship with leading Ghanaian firm Bentsi­Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah. We Six crucial bills on devolution were expect to grow our presence and reach in Africa over the short­ to medium­term. gazetted and presented before Parliament this month with a view to The success of our association with Bowman Gilfillan has provided a great platform for being passed on 27 February 2012, in Coulson Harney and the other members of the Bowman Gilfillan Africa Group to build on accordance with the terms of the new our capacity to offer clients legal services within Kenya, across the region and ultimately Constitution: throughout the continent. Transition to Devolved Governments Bill 2012 Intergovernmental Relations Bill 2102 Appointments and Promotions County Governments Bill 2012 National Land Commission Bill 2012 Amar Mehta joined Coulson Harney on 1 March 2012 as a Senior Associate with The Land Bill 2012 corporate and commercial experience. Amar previously worked for two other leading law The Land Registration Bill 2012 firms in Nairobi. Alex G. Njage and Cornelius Kigera were promoted to become Senior Associates. Bills Passed Daniel Opijah joined as an associate in the Intellectual Property Department with over Bills Withdrawn ten years experience. Bills Rejected Daniel Mwathe, Kerubo Ombati and Vruti Shah all joined as associates. Coulson Harney has started a work experience programme with Bowman Gilfillan with rankings the secondment of Alex G. Njage to the Sandton office in Johannesburg. In return Bowman Gilfillan has seconded Lebohang Lengoasa from their corporate department to In its recent rankings, IFLR commented work at Coulson Harney for a minimum period of three months. that “Coulson Harney moves up a tier for the second consecutive year. The firm is invariably described by competitors as Draft Regulations "highly respected". "They have done very well," says one peer, while another says The National Security Council Bill, which according to the media allows the government the firm has "a lot of depth and solid lead to have a direct chain of command, is currently being considered by the Constitution partners in Richard Harney and Philip Implementation Committee and relevant parties, after which it will be presented to the Coulson"…….” Both Philip Coulson and Cabinet for approval before being debated by Parliament. Read more Richard Harney were ranked as “leading lawyers Creation of the new Competition Authority under the Competition Act 2012. The Minister for Finance appointed Mr David Otieno Ong'olo as a non–executive chairman of contact details the Competition Authority on 10 February 2012. Read more COMESA develops a model for double taxation. The trading block announced the Unit A development of a new double taxation model which should help member countries Nairobi Business Park negotiate double taxation agreements amongst themselves. COMESA is Kenya's largest Racecourse market for exports. Read more Ngong Road Delay in establishing the National Land Commission leads to government's blanket P.O. Box 10643 ­ 00100 freeze on public* land deals. On 9 February 2012 the Government imposed a freeze by Nairobi local authorities on transactions involving all public land allocation, renewal and grants Kenya of all types of leases, charging and mortgaging of parastatal land, compulsory Tel: +254 (0)20 289 9000 acquisition of land by the State and dealing in community and trust land until the Fax: +254 (0)20 289 9100 establishment of a National Land Commission, as provided for in the Constitution. Read Safaricom: +254 (0)712 205 000 more The Chief Justice allows existing courts to continue hearing and determining land [email protected] cases. The Environment and Land Court Act 2011 came into force in August of last year www.coulsonharney.com and called for the establishment of an Environment and Land Court to hear cases involving land title and the environment and referred from the Court of Appeal, the High Court, subordinate courts and tribunals. Read more Kenya signs a pact with China to curb the proliferation of counterfeits in the Kenyan market. On 21 February 2012 Kenya signed a memorandum of understanding with China to vet the quality of goods originating from China in an attempt to ban sub­ standard products flooding the Kenyan domestic market. Read more Recent Deals Coulson Harney recently successfully represented 24.com Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the Nasper Group in a ground breaking domain name dispute resolution process before the World Intellectual Property Organisation ("WIPO") under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Centre UDRP rules and policy. Read more did you know ……..? You can become a West Indies citizen by paying Sh21m, and are not required to even stay there! The allure of buying full rights is that citizens of St. Kitts & Nevis can travel to more than 100 countries, including Canada and all of Europe without a visa and with no obligation to pay any personal income tax in the islands. In addition the process takes less than three months and an applicant need never visit the islands. EAC Assembly finally approves tax to regulate plastic packaging The EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill 2011 sailed through the third reading in Uganda on 6 February 2012 to become law with the imposition of a levy on producers and consumers of polythene bags. Rwanda had earlier pushed for a total ban on the manufacture and use of polythene bags within the EAC trading unless a special clearance had been obtained from the national environmental standards regulators. Kenya petitioned the East Africa Legislative Assembly for the bill to focus on waste management and the regulation of polythene imports from external markets through the introduction of taxes under the "polluter should pay" model. www.coulsonharney.com Disclaimer: This publication is not intended to constitute legal advice which can only be given having regard to particular facts and circumstances. Any liability that would or could arise from or of the contents hereof is hereby excluded. Always seek professional advice from a suitably qualified lawyer on any specific legal problem or matter..
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