WHEN THE DEAL IS NO LONGER ATTRACTIVE: HONOURING CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS IN THE COVID-19 ERA

The spread of the novel COVID-19 virus across the globe has not only resulted health system challenges but has also had reverberations across economies. Due to the nature of the disease, many countries have introduced precautionary measures which have in turn affected social and economic activities. In Kenya, the Government, has tried to limit spread by introducing movement restrictions, social distancing requirements and sanitary and hygiene directives. A detailed overview of some of these measures can be found here.

Both these measures and the spread of the disease have affected business interactions across the country. Performance of contractual obligations in particular is proving to be a big challenge. Contractual parties are facing either the impossibility of fulfilling their contractual obligations or the unattractiveness of maintaining these contractual relationships.

Through our recent webinar- we tried to address the options offered by Kenyan law in response to these contractual realities. We focus on the legal concepts of force majeure and frustration as well as other contractual provisions that contracting parties may invoke to dissolve a contract or exonerate themselves from any liability towards their counter party. You can find a link to the webinar here  https://players.brightcove.net/1785398741/default_default/index.html?videoId=6172152183001