NTSA Director General Nashon Kondiwa has dismissed calls by car dealers to restore the old vehicle verification system, citing security concerns over misuse of KD dealer plates.
The National Transport and Safety Authority has drawn a firm line in the sand. Despite mounting pressure and street protests from car dealers, NTSA Director General Nashon Kondiwa has made it categorically clear that there will be no return to the previous vehicle verification framework — and that the current system governing dealer registration plates is here to stay.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV on Monday, Kondiwa defended the authority's position with blunt language that left little room for negotiation.
"We are not going to the old system. This is a matter of security in terms of vehicle identity; there is a very thin line," he stated.
What Triggered the Standoff
The confrontation between NTSA and Kenya's motor vehicle dealer sector has been building since April, when the authority moved to strictly enforce Section 24 of the Traffic Act — the legal provision governing the use of dealer licences and KD number plates.
The crackdown was prompted by investigations revealing that dealer plates were being widely misused. Under the old arrangement, any vehicle could move using any available KD plate, creating serious accountability gaps that made it nearly impossible for authorities to trace vehicles whenever security concerns arose.
NTSA concluded that this loophole had to be closed, and the enforcement exercise that followed has since disrupted vehicle movement from the Port of Mombasa, Container Freight Stations, and storage yards across the country.
Dealers Take to the Streets
Car dealers in Mombasa were not willing to absorb the disruption quietly. On Monday, June 15, they staged protests, accusing NTSA of introducing measures that have slowed vehicle deliveries, driven up operational costs, and dealt a significant blow to business across the motor vehicle sector.
The Independent Car Dealers Association has since formally called for consultations with NTSA, arguing that the requirement for vehicles to be fully registered before leaving CFS facilities has severely affected the pace of business and delayed the delivery of imported vehicles to waiting customers.
Their core demand is straightforward — restore flexibility to the system so that vehicles can move more freely during the transitional period between importation and full registration.
NTSA's Security Argument
Kondiwa dismissed that demand on security grounds, explaining in clear terms why the old system cannot be restored.
"What these dealers are asking is that we should open it so that any vehicle can use any KD plate and move, and that is the problem — because if we had a security issue, we could not trace who used the plate," he said.
Under the new framework, dealer plates will remain strictly reserved for licensed motor vehicle dealers only. Individual importers will be required to complete vehicle registration and obtain proper number plates before any vehicle can be used on public roads. The days of borrowed or interchangeable KD plates are over, as far as NTSA is concerned.
Digital Verification and Backlog Clearance
To address complaints from dealers and enforcement officers on the ground, NTSA has introduced a digital application that allows officers to identify and verify vehicles using chassis numbers during roadside inspections. The move is intended to make enforcement faster, more accurate, and less prone to the disputes and arrests that have accompanied the crackdown.
On the issue of delayed number plate issuance — a practical bottleneck that has compounded the dealers' frustrations — Kondiwa expressed confidence that the backlog will be cleared within the next three days.
The Road Ahead
The standoff between NTSA and the dealer community is far from resolved. Dealers remain aggrieved, and the Independent Car Dealers Association's call for formal consultations suggests that the sector is not prepared to simply absorb the new rules without pushing back through official channels.
However, NTSA's position, as articulated by Kondiwa, is unambiguous: the security rationale behind the current system is non-negotiable, and the authority is not in the business of reversing reforms it believes are essential to national vehicle traceability.
For now, importers and dealers will need to adapt to the new reality — full registration before movement, no exceptions — while hoping that the promised resolution of the plate backlog delivers the operational relief the sector urgently needs.