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Government Introduces New Look For Digital Number Plates

SK 2 years ago 2 min read

All motor vehicles in Kenya now have new generation number plates, thanks to the government.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi unveiled the updated digital license plates on Tuesday as part of initiatives to combat forgery, swapping, and duplication.

To increase transparency in the registration of automobiles across the nation, the CS states that each plate will have a special identification that will be linked to the chassis number of its corresponding vehicle.

“Each one of the number plates is going to have a serial number. There will be a correspondence between the serial number and the chassis number, so if the police arrest someone driving a Range Rover and the number plate is registered under a tractor, all that is what we will address with these plates,” said Matiang’i.

He further noted that the plates will be fixed to vehicles imported to the country at the point of entry and will be synchronised with KRA systems to curb tax evasion in the car import business.

“We want to address the security of our country, we want to help other agencies such as the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) function properly. We are also helping the financial sector and improving on transparency,” CS Matiang’i added.

Kenyans will have 18 months to obtain new license plates through the National Transport and Safety Authority and replace their old ones (NTSA).

The typography on the updated license plates is smaller and resembles that on the county government’s current car license plates. They have extra security mechanisms installed for quick tracing by law enforcement.

“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,” Matiang’i said.

The new license plates will need to be installed on all motor vehicles, including motorcycles and large trailers.

James Macharia (Transport) and Joe Mucheru, the respective counterparts of CS Matiang’i, were with him (ICT). The GSU Recce unit Headquarters in Ruiru, Nairobi, where the plates are made, was where they were.