How to Get Your Domain Back From a Web Designer or Transfer a .co.ke Domain

Updated 20 October 2026

Quick answer: If a web designer registered your .co.ke domain, first find out whose name is on the record (the registrant). If it is the designer’s name, ask them in writing to change the registrant to you or your company. Then ask the current registrar for the transfer (EPP or auth) code, make sure the domain is unlocked, and start the transfer at the registrar you want to move to. Transfer fees are set by each registrar; Truehost listed KSh 1,000 for a .co.ke transfer in October 2026. If the designer refuses and the name is clearly yours, KeNIC runs a formal dispute process.

This guide is based on the Kenya Network Information Centre’s (KeNIC) own FAQ, its .KE domain life cycle and its Registrar Accreditation Agreement, plus registrar price lists checked on 19 October 2026. It explains the problem most Kenyan small businesses hit: the website works, but nobody in the business actually controls the domain.

In this guide

1. Why This Happens So Often
2. Registrant, Registrar and Reseller: Who Is Who
3. Step 1: Find Out Who Controls Your Domain
4. Step 2: Get the Registrant Changed to You
5. Step 3: Transfer the Domain to Your Own Registrar Account
6. What a Transfer Costs
7. If the Designer Refuses or Has Disappeared
8. Know the Expiry Timeline
9. How to Avoid This Next Time
10. Frequently Asked Questions

Why This Happens So Often

KeNIC is the registry for every .ke address, but it does not sell domains directly. It licenses registrars, and its own FAQ notes that internet service providers, web designers and solution providers count as registrars or resellers. So when a designer “sets up everything” for you, they often buy the domain in their own reseller account, sometimes with their own name or email as the contact.

KeNIC’s FAQ is clear about who should own it. When a company is paying for a domain, it “should normally be registered under its name”, because transferring it later “is a time-consuming process and may incur additional costs”. In other words, the registry itself warns against the exact arrangement many businesses end up in.

Registrant, Registrar and Reseller: Who Is Who

Role	What it means	Who it should be
Registrant	The legal holder of the domain, shown on the WHOIS record	You or your registered business
Registrar	A KeNIC-licensed company that registers and renews the domain	Any of KeNIC’s licensed registrars (KeNIC says there are 195)
Reseller	A person or firm selling domains through a registrar’s account	Often your web designer or agency
Registry	The body that runs the .ke database	KeNIC

KeNIC’s Registrar Accreditation Agreement makes the registrar responsible for its resellers. Registrars must keep registrant details “up to date and accurate”, and the registry may correct WHOIS information “upon request by the Registrant or Registrar”. That matters if your designer disappears: the registrar above them still has to answer to you.

Step 1: Find Out Who Controls Your Domain

1. Run a WHOIS search for your domain on KeNIC’s website or on any registrar’s WHOIS tool. Note the registrar’s name and, where shown, the registrant’s name.
2. Check your emails and invoices. Search your inbox for the domain name plus words like “renewal”, “invoice” or “domain”. If the invoices came from the designer, they are the reseller.
3. Ask the designer directly for three things: the registrar account login (or proof the domain is in your own account), the registrant name on record, and the expiry date.

Step 2: Get the Registrant Changed to You

Send a short, polite written request, by email so you have a record. Ask the designer to change the registrant to your name or your company’s name exactly as it appears on your BRS certificate, and to put an email address you control as the contact. If your business is not registered yet, check and reserve a business name on eCitizen first so the names match.

Attach proof that the domain is yours: invoices you paid, the contract or quotation, and your business registration certificate. Most designers comply once asked. Many simply never thought about it.

Step 3: Transfer the Domain to Your Own Registrar Account

Once the registrant is right, you can leave it with the same registrar (in an account you control) or move it. A transfer between registrars is the cleanest break. KeNIC’s accreditation agreement requires every registrar to ensure that registrants “can easily transfer registered domain names to another registrar”.

1. Make sure you can receive email at the registrant contact address. Approval messages go there.
2. Unlock the domain in the current control panel, or ask the current registrar to remove any transfer lock.
3. Get the EPP (auth) code, the domain’s transfer password, from the current registrar or designer.
4. Start the transfer at the new registrar. Enter the domain and the EPP code, then pay the transfer fee. At many registrars the fee also adds a year to the registration, but check your registrar’s terms.
5. Approve and wait. Confirm any approval email, then check WHOIS until it shows the new registrar.
6. Update your DNS if needed. If the website and email stay on the same hosting, keep the same nameservers so nothing goes offline.

Truehost’s own transfer checklist warns that the international 60-day lock after a contact change applies under ICANN rules, which govern endings like .com. For .co.ke, confirm with your registrar whether any wait applies before you start.

What a Transfer Costs

As at 19 October 2026, Truehost (affiliate link) listed these transfer fees in KSh.

Domain ending	Transfer fee (KSh)	Renewal per year (KSh)
.co.ke	1,000	1,500
.ke	3,000	3,000
.com	1,500	1,600
.org	1,300	Not listed on the same page

Source line: Truehost domain transfer checklist and domain price pages, read 19 October 2026. Other registrars set their own prices, so compare the renewal price, not just the transfer fee.

If the Designer Refuses or Has Disappeared

• Go to the registrar. Write to the registrar shown in WHOIS, explain that you are the paying business, and attach your proof. Ask them to correct the registrant record.
• Use KeNIC’s dispute process. KeNIC publishes a Dispute Lodging Form (DRP001), a Response Form (DRP002) and a list of certified arbitrators on its Domain Disputes page. This is the formal route when someone else holds a name that is rightfully yours.
• Do not let it expire on purpose hoping to grab it later. Under KeNIC’s life cycle the holder can still renew it for up to 90 days, and after day 91 it is released to the public on a first come, first served basis, so a stranger could take it.

Know the Expiry Timeline

Stage (from KeNIC’s .KE life cycle)	What happens
Days 1 to 14 after expiry	Renewal grace period; renew through the registrar
Days 15 to 90	Suspension; website and email stop working, but the domain can still be renewed and restored
From about day 80	Pending delete; restoration must be requested from KeNIC through the registrar
Day 91 onwards	Deleted and open for anyone to register

If your site and email suddenly stop working, check the expiry date before anything else. It is often a renewal the designer forgot.

How to Avoid This Next Time

• Register the domain in your own registrar account and add your designer as a helper, not the owner.
• Use a long-term business email you control as the contact. Our guide on how to create a business email address shows how.
• Put domain ownership in the contract. When you hire from our list of web design companies in Kenya, ask for it in writing. Whoever you hire, including agencies such as Ananke Digital (anankedigital.co.ke), ask for the domain to be registered in your name.
• Turn on auto-renew and keep a calendar reminder a month before expiry.
• Keep the domain in the same legal name as your business. See the legal requirements to start a business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a web designer legally keep my domain?

If the designer is the registrant on record, they hold it on paper, which is why KeNIC advises registering domains in the paying company’s name. If you paid for it and can prove it, ask the registrar to correct the record or use KeNIC’s dispute process.

How much does it cost to transfer a .co.ke domain?

Truehost listed KSh 1,000 for a .co.ke transfer on 19 October 2026. Prices differ between registrars.

What is an EPP code?

It is the domain’s transfer password. The current registrar or reseller gives it to the registrant so the new registrar can confirm the move.

Will my website go offline during a transfer?

Not if the nameservers stay the same. A registrar transfer changes who manages the domain, not where the website is hosted.

How long after expiry can I still recover a .co.ke domain?

KeNIC’s life cycle allows renewal up to 90 days after expiry. From day 91 it is deleted and anyone can register it.

Last checked 19 October 2026 against KeNIC’s FAQ, .KE domain life cycle, Registrar Accreditation Agreement and Domain Disputes page.