Less than a week ago, I received a long text message from the National Transport and Safety Agency (NTSA). Part of the long message read thus:… NTSA notes your vehicle (Registration Number) has been operating with an expired motor vehicle inspection sticker. In line with the requirements of the Traffic Act, you are hereby required to log into your E-Citizen account and book for annual inspection….
The irony in the long message was that I have never ever taken my vehicle for inspection, as it has been classified as a personal motor vehicle. That is not the key issue; my major concern is the new motor vehicle regulations that have been implemented. In a judgment recently delivered by Justice Maureen Odero in a case filed by the Road Safety Association of Kenya against the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and others, the government might be chewing more than it can swallow.
The new rules introduce mandatory inspections for private vehicles older than four years, as well as annual checks for commercial, public service, and school vehicles. While PSVs, commercial, and school buses pose a higher risk and therefore the need for annual inspection, the catch is the inspection of all private motor vehicles older than four years. I guess that would be like 95% of all the vehicles in Kenya. The NTSA website indicates that there are over 6,000,000 registered vehicles in Kenya. That is quite a high number!
NTSA inspection centers
Interestingly, NTSA has 17 registered motor vehicle inspection centers in the following regions: Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisii, Thika, and Nyeri. Other centers are in Meru, Embu, Kericho, Kakamega, Machakos, Voi, Garissa, and additional operational centers in Homa Bay and Kitui. This means that there is a shortage of at least 30 additional centers if we are to have at least one center per county.
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From the list above, it is evident that some motor vehicle owners will have to pay $100 to have their vehicles inspected and certified. Take, for instance, a motorist in North Horr, who will have to cover close to 500 kilometers to reach the nearest facility in Meru, while those from Lamu will cover 350 kilometers to reach the nearest facility in Mombasa.
To partially remedy the above issue, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Davis Chirchir, while addressing legislators on 15 May 2026, indicated that to set up one inspection center, the government requires KSh 3 million. This means that setting up 30 inspection centers requires at least Ksh. 9 billion plus personnel and operating costs. An unnecessary expenditure when the Kenyan Economy is wobbly. Further proposed remedial measures, as proposed by the CS, include hiring private garages through a public-private partnership, another unnecessary expenditure given the current pressing economic needs.
From my perspective, if we estimate that about 3 million units will be taken for inspection and assume each unit takes about an hour, that would require 3 million hours to inspect all the vehicles. This translates to 125 days, equivalent to 4.5 months, assuming the work runs 24 hours nonstop. If we consider that the inspection would consider weekends and public holidays, it might stretch to a year. This is a huge economic loss for the state, the vehicle owners, and businesses.
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Let us admit that for now, NTSA does not have the capacity, personnel, wherewithal, and logistical support to undertake this massive venture. It will be a logistical nightmare that might be prone to corruption, given the long queues currently at the inspection centers, as some people will see it as a loss of time and opportunities to queue for months for inspection slots.
For now, let us concentrate on the enforcement of the necessary traffic regulations to avert accidents and deaths on our roads.
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This article was written by Lucas Kimanthi, who is an Assistant Director at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR). He, however, writes in his personal capacity. Contacts: [email protected], www.lucaskimanthi.co.ke.
