The government will now target to issue 300,000 new smart driving licences following the 2023/2024 budget revision.
As detailed in the Programme Based Budget, the National Treasury noted that the target programme delivery was revised by 100,000.
Initially, the government was targeting to issue 400,000 licences in the current financial year.
Treasury explained that the revision was necessitated following the revision of the budget estimates for the State Department of Transport.
This revision was occasioned by the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 which was aimed at raising Ksh300 billion.
In the new revision, the budget allocation for the road safety vote, including licence issuance, was reduced by Ksh143 billion.
Following the reduction of the budget, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) will be affected by its plans to produce the licences hence the move to review the target.
According to former Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, the production of licences is costly hence the Ksh3,050 charge which is usually imposed during the acquisition of the new licences.
"The driving licence prices are informed by the costs involved in producing the same," Murkomen stated during a past interview.
Notably, NTSA'a target is to phase out the red book licences within the next three years will be affected by the reduced budget allocation.
"Having established all legal requirements for regulating driving schools and instructors, a much stronger compliance program will now be initiated for driver training and testing.
"This will include establishing a three-year time period within which all drivers will need to have converted to the new driver's licence, and all old licences are legally void," NTSA noted in its National Road Safety Action Plan for 2024-2028.
