Kenyans by and by end up with a deadline to beat and a money to part with in order to comply with a government directive.
On Tuesday, August 30, the government formally sent off the new generation of advanced number plates as a component of safety changes started by President Uhuru Kenyatta directly following the 2019 DusitD2 Terror Attack in Nairobi.
The new plates are inbuilt with a security micro processor that permits policing to follow vehicle possession.
CS Fred Matiang’i gave Kenyan drivers year and a half to ensure they have changed to computerized plates.
“The capability allows us to change the country’s 4.8 million vehicles to the new generation plates but that has been extended to a period of 18 months. When the NTSA team calls on Kenyans to change the plates, let us obey and get it done within those 18 months,” the CS said.
“Ideally, we could have taken 12 months to complete this process as we can change number plates in a year but Kenyans do not want to be harassed so maybe we can do so in the next 18 months,” Matiang’i added.
The Sh3000 expense joined to the switch has obviously caused some protesting among Kenyan online users. Some have promised to challenge the order while asking what could possibly go wrong.
Indeed, the government has forced a fine and a prison term for drivers who neglect to apply for the new computerized number plate in the following year and a half.
As indicated by the revised Traffic Act of 2016, defiant drivers risk a Sh20,000 fine or a prison term of a half year.
“Any person who contravenes any of the provisions in the traffic rules, which no specific penalty is provided, is liable for a fine not exceeding Sh20,000 or imprisonment for six months or both,” states the Traffic Act.
The rollout of the computerized plates will start with recently enlisted vehicles from the ‘KDK’ series while the substitution of the old plates is supposed to begin on October 1, 2022.
