Government launches new generation number plates

Interior CS Fred Matiang'i launches new-look vehicle number plates at the GSU Recce Unit. [CS, Twitter]

In a bid to curb the escalating cases of vehicle theft and fraud in the country, the Government has launched new generation digital number plates with enhanced security features that will ease tracing of car ownership.

Speaking during the launch at the General Service Unit (GSU) Recce unit Headquarters in Ruiru, Nairobi, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i said the new number plates have enhanced features that will be fixed to vehicles imported to the country at the point of entry.

Kenyans have 18 months to confirm to the new system.

"The plates will be sychronised with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) systems to help eliminate cases of tax evasion in car selling business. This job is being done by a multi-agency unit of the security sector and is part of the reforms initiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta after the 2019 Dusit attack," Matiang'i said.

The CS at the same time called on Kenyans to cooperate with the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) officials when called upon to change their number plates,
The replacement of current plates will cost up to Sh3,000.

Transport CS James Macharia said that the plates will cover 12 categories of vehicles in line with the legal notice 62 of 2016 and will ease the monitoring of vehicles being imported through the port of Mombasa.

"The plates that comply with the amended Traffic Act of 2016 and will bear additional features some of which that shall be visible physically and others only to security agencies for ease of tracing in the event they are involved in committing crime."

"Kenya being a transit hub in the larger East African region, the new technology forms a basis for tracking and monitoring vehicles in the country which have risen significantly from 3.2 million last year to 4.8 million this year," Macharia said.