Is a verbal or WhatsApp agreement valid in court?
Evidence Act and Law of Contract Act · sources read 5 Oct 2026
A loan or deal agreed by word of mouth or on WhatsApp can be proved in court: the law says electronic messages and digital material are admissible as evidence. Land sales and guarantees are different: they must be in writing and signed.
- Deadline
- A case based on a contract must be filed within 6 years from when the claim arose.
- Where
- Small Claims Court for money claims of up to KSh 1 million
Steps
- Keep the WhatsApp chats, SMS, screenshots and M-Pesa messages that show the deal. Courts accept electronic messages and digital material as evidence.
- A printout of business records certified as correct by the business, such as a statement from a bank or mobile money provider, counts as evidence on its own until it is disproved.
- For money owed to you, you can file a claim at the Small Claims Court, which hears claims about money held or received.
- The Small Claims Court handles claims of up to KSh 1 million.
Watch out
- A sale of land cannot be enforced in court unless it is in writing, signed by all parties, and each signature was witnessed.
- A promise to pay someone else's debt (a guarantee) can only be enforced if it is in writing and signed by the person who made it.
- The court decides how much to trust digital evidence, looking at how reliably it was created, stored and sent, so keep the original phone and chats.
- A deal agreed in WhatsApp messages is not invalid just because it was made by electronic message, and a legal requirement for something to be 'in writing' can be met by an electronic record you can still open later.
- That rule gives way where a law sets its own method for a valid contract, such as the signing and witnessing a land sale needs.
Who this covers
- Anyone who goes to court over an agreement. The person making the claim must prove the facts they rely on.
Official sources (5)
- Evidence Act (Cap. 80) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Law of Contract Act (Cap. 23) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Limitation of Actions Act (Cap. 22) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Small Claims Court judiciary.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- Kenya Information and Communications Act (Cap. 411A), version of 31 December 2022 new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026