The High Court has ruled that the Auctioneers Licensing Board overstepped its powers when it tried to take action against banks, credit firms, and companies accused of running auctions without proper licenses.
- •Justice Benjamin Njoroge delivered the ruling in a case filed by Co-operative Bank, which had appealed a decision by the Auctioneers Board allowing a complaint against it and 11 other institutions to proceed.
- •The complaint had been brought by the Kenya National Society of Professional Auctioneers, who claimed that banks and finance companies were carrying out repossessions and property sales that should legally be handled by licensed auctioneers.
- •Co-operative Bank, supported by several of the other firms including NCBA Bank, Stanbic Bank, and Mogo Auto, argued that the Auctioneers Board had no authority over them because they were not licensed auctioneers but financial institutions governed by the Central Bank.
“When the Board pronounced itself on its powers as being all encompassing and extending to the Appellant and the other Respondents who are not registered or licensed Auctioneers, it erred. This Court is therefore entitled to interfere and does interfere with the decisions of the Tribunal,” Justice Njoroge stated.
The auctioneers’ group had pointed to a February 2023 advert in the Daily Nation placed by Co-operative Bank as proof that the lenders were conducting auctions despite being reserved for unlicensed to do so.
In their defence, the lenders said that any wrongdoing in this area would be a criminal matter, not something for the Board to handle. They also argued that the complaint was a repeat of an earlier case that had already been decided in 2022.
Justice Njoroge agreed with the lenders and ruled that the Auctioneers Act only gives the Auctioneers Board power to license, train, and discipline its members, not to investigate or punish people or companies that are not part of the profession.
The judge also found that the issue had already been settled in a previous case in 2022, which made the new complaint invalid. In that earlier decision, the court had already ruled that if banks or others were engaging unlicensed auctioneers, the proper remedy was to report it as a crime, not to file a disciplinary complaint.
“If the Plaintiff has information and evidence that any person is carrying out the business of an auctioneer without a licence, then it may lay a criminal complaint. A broad declaration,such as the one sought, does not serve any purpose as it merely restates what the law is,” the court echoed the decision.
Under the Auctioneers Act, the Licensing Board is tasked with licensing practitioners, enforcing discipline, setting ethical and professional standards, and ensuring training and inspections are carried out. Its mandate is strictly to supervise those already licensed, not to police outsiders or unregistered firms.