Collecting unpaid invoices from Kenyan companies is a different exercise when the creditor is not in Kenya. A local supplier can walk into the debtor’s office or instruct a nearby advocate. A foreign supplier or exporter, whether shipping machinery from Europe or providing services from the UAE, usually manages recovery by email, from a different time zone, through a lawyer they have never met, while the invoice keeps ageing. This guide sets out how that process actually works: the demand stage, choosing the right court, the summary judgment procedure that lets an undisputed invoice be enforced without a full trial, and the currency and security-for-costs complications that arise specifically because the creditor sits outside Kenya.
Why the foreign creditor’s position is genuinely different
Three things separate a foreign creditor’s position from a domestic one. First, representation: under Kenya’s Advocates Act (Cap 16), section 31 bars an unqualified person from acting as an advocate or instituting a suit in any Kenyan court. A foreign supplier’s home-country lawyer cannot personally file or argue the case; it has to be run by an advocate admitted to the Kenyan Bar, instructed by the supplier or its home lawyer. Second, evidence: Kenyan courts expect a documented paper trail, the purchase order, signed contract or accepted quotation, invoices, proof of dispatch or delivery (bills of lading, airway bills, delivery notes, courier records for services), and correspondence acknowledging the debt. A foreign creditor rarely has the kind of signed acknowledgement a domestic supplier collects in person, so shipping and courier paperwork often has to do that work instead. Third, exposure: a plaintiff ordinarily resident outside Kenya can be ordered to put up security for the defendant’s costs before the case proceeds, a risk domestic creditors do not usually face.
Start with a demand, but build the file at the same time
The recovery sequence still opens with a formal demand letter, the mechanics of which we cover in our separate guide to Kenya’s demand letter sequence. For a foreign creditor, treat the demand stage as evidence-gathering, not just pressure: assemble the underlying contract or purchase order, every invoice with its due date, proof of shipment or delivery, and any email where the Kenyan company acknowledges the amount owed or asks for time to pay. If the debt is genuinely undisputed, meaning no quality or short-delivery complaint has been raised, this file is what unlocks the summary judgment procedure below instead of a lengthy trial.
Choosing the right court for the amount involved
Kenya’s Small Claims Court Act, No. 2 of 2016, caps that court’s jurisdiction at KES 1,000,000 (section 12(3)), covered in our Small Claims Court guide. Most commercial invoices from foreign suppliers exceed that, so the claim is normally filed in the Magistrates’ Courts or the High Court. The Magistrates’ Courts Act, No. 26 of 2015, fixes pecuniary jurisdiction by the rank of the presiding magistrate at section 7(1): up to KES 20 million (chief magistrate), KES 15 million (senior principal magistrate), KES 10 million (principal magistrate), KES 7 million (senior resident magistrate), and KES 5 million (resident magistrate). Claims above that ceiling go to the High Court, which has unlimited original civil jurisdiction under Article 165 of the Constitution. Getting this choice right matters: the wrong court invites a jurisdiction objection that costs months before the debt itself is addressed.
Summary judgment: enforcing an undisputed invoice without a full trial
This is the mechanism most foreign suppliers do not know exists, and it is usually the fastest route to a decree. Order 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules, 2010 allows a plaintiff to apply for summary judgment where the claim is a liquidated demand, with or without interest; an unpaid invoice for a fixed sum is a textbook liquidated demand. The defendant must have entered appearance, and the application is supported by an affidavit verifying the cause of action and amount due. Under Order 36 rule 7, the defendant carries the burden of showing a bona fide defence or triable issue to be granted leave to defend; a bare denial or a request for more time is not usually enough. Where no such issue is raised, the court enters judgment for the outstanding sum without a full trial with witnesses and cross-examination, the difference for a foreign creditor between resolution in months rather than the year or more a contested trial can take.
The money questions unique to a foreign creditor
Two issues arise for cross-border invoices that rarely come up for domestic ones. The first is currency. Kenyan procedural law does not fix the currency in which a court expresses judgment on an ordinary contract debt, and practice varies with how the claim is pleaded. What statute does set out clearly is the separate situation of registering a foreign court’s judgment in Kenya: the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act (Cap 43) lets a judgment in foreign currency be registered as a Kenya Shilling sum converted at the exchange rate prevailing at the date of registration (section 7). That Act only covers judgments from a short list of reciprocating countries (currently Australia, Malawi, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, the United Kingdom and Rwanda), so a judgment obtained at home in the United States, the EU, India, or China cannot simply be registered in Kenya. A foreign supplier whose Kenyan debtor’s assets are in Kenya usually has to sue directly in the Kenyan courts, and should discuss the contract’s currency clause with counsel before filing. The second issue is security for costs: Order 26 of the Civil Procedure Rules gives the court discretion to order a plaintiff to secure the defendant’s costs, and rule 4 addresses this specifically for a plaintiff resident outside Kenya’s jurisdiction. A Kenyan defendant facing a foreign claimant may apply for such an order, requiring funds to be deposited before the case proceeds, so this should be budgeted for from the outset.
How We Can Help
Clay & Associates Advocates regularly acts for foreign suppliers and exporters chasing unpaid invoices owed by Kenyan companies, from the demand and evidence file through summary judgment applications and, where judgment is obtained, execution against the debtor’s assets (a process we explain in our guide to enforcing judgments in Kenya). Because instructions are usually run remotely, we handle the case end to end while keeping you and your home-country lawyer briefed throughout. If you are owed money by a Kenyan company, our litigation and dispute resolution team can assess the file and recommend the fastest realistic route to payment.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sue a Kenyan company without traveling to Kenya?
Yes. Once you instruct a Kenya-admitted advocate, the case runs on your instructions remotely, including summary judgment applications, which are decided on affidavits and legal argument rather than in-person testimony.
Do I need a Kenyan lawyer, or can my own country’s lawyer handle this?
You need a Kenyan-admitted advocate to file and argue the case; only advocates on the Kenyan Roll may conduct litigation here under the Advocates Act. Your home-country lawyer can continue to advise you and liaise with the Kenyan advocate.
What if the Kenyan company disputes the invoice?
Summary judgment under Order 36 is only available where there is no genuine, arguable defence. If the debtor raises a real dispute, over quality, quantity, or delivery, the case proceeds as an ordinary defended suit requiring full evidence at trial.
Will the court award judgment in US dollars or another foreign currency?
This is not fixed by a clear procedural rule for an ordinary contract claim. Discuss the currency clause in your contract and how to frame your prayers with your Kenyan advocate before filing.
Sources: Civil Procedure Rules, 2010 (Order 36, summary judgment; Order 26, security for costs), Kenya Law. Magistrates’ Courts Act, No. 26 of 2015, section 7, Kenya Law. Small Claims Court Act, No. 2 of 2016, section 12, Kenya Law. Advocates Act, Cap 16, section 31, Kenya Law. Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act, Cap 43, sections 3 and 7 and Schedule, Kenya Law. Constitution of Kenya, 2010, Article 165 (High Court jurisdiction).
