Legal Support in Supply Chains, the Kenyan Experience

published on 15 September 2022 | reading time approx. 3 minutes

The legal office in Kenya prides itself with lawyers in its team who specialise in corpo­rate and commercial law with a focus on good corporate governance through effective compliance management strategies. Therefore, our experts are happy to help concer­ning any questions about the impacts of international supply chain legislation on Kenya.

The German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations For the Prevention of Human Rights Violations in Supply Chains (Supply Chain Act) focuses on various areas. Key compliance areas cover:

1. Human rights and environment-related risks;
2. Human rights-related obligations;
3. Environment-related obligations;
4. Complaints handling procedure; and
5. Business and trade secrets.

From this, seven areas of work can be derived, in which our experts are happy to provide advice and support:

1. General Legal advice on the Supply Chain Act

This will involve undertaking a comprehensive study of the Supply Chain Act and notifying clients in form of an advisory about its salient features. The advisory will create the required awareness by clearly highlighting the human rights and environmental related obligations.

2. Enterprise Risk Management Framework Support

This form of support will involve assisting clients to identify the industry specific risks that are likely to be as­so­ciated with their business operations in Kenya. The use of the CSR Risk Check tool will be quite helpful based on the interaction we have had with this tool. This service will also involve assisting clients develop a risk management culture which involves having a structured framework of identifying risks, measuring their impact, identifying mitigation strategies and continuously evaluating their effectiveness.

3. Policy Formulation and Review

Policies form an integral part when it comes to the implementation of compliance strategies. Having sensitized clients about the salient features of the legal framework in supply chains, developing policies for those who do not have policies and reviewing existing policies for those who have to confirm compliance will be an important service. A lot of focus will be placed on human resource policies and procedures that have been put in place by the clients.

4. Compliance Checklists

Checklists are important tools for enhancing compliance. They help in summarizing and simplifying compliance aspects for the operational teams involved in a business. We will develop due diligence checklists for clients to help achieve compliance at all the critical stages of the supply chain.

5. Compliance Audit/Assessment

A new law or a development in law in terms of amendments always requires a self-assessment exercise for pur­poses of determining the level of compliance and identifying variances if any that should be addressed to en­sure compliance. Compliance audits will be available for clients to help in gauging the level of compliance with the supply chain legislation and assisting them address any gaps that will be identified to avoid non-compli­ance related risks.

6. Review of Employment Contracts

Clients will receive legal support in the review of employment contracts with a view to ensuring that they are aligned to the Supply Chain Act in relation to human rights related obligations.

7. Corporate Governance Statements by the Board/Shareholders

Demonstrating commitment to stakeholders that the enterprise is committed and has indeed invested in ensu­ring compliance and sustaining the obligations arising from the Supply Chain Act is important. Clients will be assisted to prepare these statements and incorporate them in their annual reports clearly indicating measures that have been put in place. This demonstrates transparency and creates an avenue for stakeholders to provide feedback on measures that have been put in place by the board of directors.