The Kenyan government has introduced a new generation of digital number plates with built-in security elements that enable law enforcement officers to track down the ownership of specific vehicles.
In order to make it easier to track down number plates that are compliant with the 2016 Traffic Act amendments, some of the new elements will be visible to the public and others will only be seen to security agencies.
Interior CS Fred Matiang’i said the plates that shall be fixed to vehicles imported to the country at the point of entry will be synchronised with KRA systems to help rid cases of tax evasion in car selling business.
Matiang’i spoke while launching the new plates at the GSU Recce unit Headquarters in Ruiru, Nairobi where the plates are being produced.
“The work 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,” he said.
The capability allows us to change to the country’s 4.8 million vehicles to the new generation plates but that has been extended to a period of 18 months.
The new digital number plates by NTSA. They will boast of a QR code, hologram, NTSA serial number (front diff from back plate) and Kenyan flag.
“When the NTSA team calls on Kenyans to change the plates, let us obey and get it done within those 18 months,” he added.
According to Transport CS James Macharia, the new plates will cover 12 categories of vehicles in accordance with Legal Notice 62 of 2016 and will make it easier to monitor vehicles entering the country, which is an important transit point in the region.
“They form a basis for tracking and monitoring vehicles in the country which have risen significantly from 3.2M million last year to 4.8 million this year,” said Mucheru.
