The Role of a Company Secretary in Kenya

Who is a Company Secretary?

A company secretary is a senior position in a private company or public organisation, normally in the form of a managerial position or above. Despite the name, the role is neither a clerical nor secretarial one in the usual sense. They are the named representative on legal documents, and it is their responsibility to ensure that the company and its directors operate within the law.

Qualifications of a Company Secretary

The functions of a company secretary are mostly professional. These professional functions require specialized education, training and statutory qualifications as prescribed in Companies Act.

• A company secretary requires particular information on secretarial practice to deal with notice, agenda, declaration, minutes of a meeting.
• A company secretary must have adequate knowledge of the Companies Act, Industrial & Commercial law. To keep a good relationship with all stakeholders a company secretary should have knowledge of human relations.
• They require proper knowledge to work with a computer for documentation conservation and potential use of data or information.

Roles & Responsibilities of a Company Secretary

A Company Secretary performs various administrative and corporate governance tasks in compliance with the provisions of the Companies Act such as taxation laws, shareholder’s rights, business structure, statutory laws, industrial and economics laws applicable to the company namely;

1. Ensures effective and efficient implementation and execution of the management policies decided by the Board.
2. Acts as a communicating channel between the top management i.e. board and the executives and coordinates the actions of the executives according to the directions given by the Board.
3. Ensures the company works in accordance with the rules and regulations of the company’s policy.
4. Ensures corporate governance norms are being complied with.
5. Formulates decisions on which the structure of the company administration is constructed.
6. Act as a secretary to the audit committee; ensure compliance with statutory filing requirements.
7. Ensures compliance with listing agreements and responsible for monitoring the transfer of shares and reporting them to the Board in its meeting.
8. Identify strengths and weaknesses of the functional executives and can apply them to the benefit of the company.
9. Arrange and manage the process of conducting the Annual General or Extra Ordinary General meetings and advise the matter of concerns to be raised at the board meetings for shareholder’s support and vote.

How can we help?

 As Imperial Registrars we shall be pleased to assist your company in recruiting a company secretary for the effective functioning of your company. Kindly get in touch with us for further assistance on the above.

To register a company call Alex on 0722802588